Lucile & Noble

I've written about Lucile and Noble before.

They are a dynamic and attractive couple in their 80s who inspire me.

Lucile sews, knits and crochets. She is very, very active and talented.

Today I met them in town, and picked up a donation of 13 quilts and one blanket, all made by Lucile. The variety of fabrics is going to please a lot of children!

Lucile also donated three enormous bags of yarn that she received from a neighbor.

If any of you needs yarn in order to make a blanket for Seattle Children's Hospital, or knows someone who needs yarn for making blankets, please leave a comment here.

It's all free.

Thank you, Lucile and Noble!

FREE YARN!

Calling all knitters & crocheters (is that a word?): we have just been offered an enormous stash of yarn - 100+ skeins!

Do you need materials for knitting/crocheting blankets for the hospital?
If so, please leave a comment here, or email me at karenlboren@yahoo.com, & I will share the wealth, so you can turn it into comfort for patients at Seattle Children's Hospital! Thanks to our friend Lucile Nilsen for this bounty!

14 Quilts from Joan!

From kindergarten to 5th grade, Katie attended Poulsbo Elementary School. She had some wonderful teachers, and I was a volunteer in a number of her classes: as an Art Docent, Rolling Reader and general helper. It is one of the things that I loved about the privilege of being a stay-at-home mom. My dad is still a Rolling Reader for some of the teachers at Poulsbo Elementary.

One of the ladies who was a secretary at Poulsbo Elementary is also the sister of a friend of Gregg's, from high school. It was always fun to see her and talk about that connection when I had business in the school office. Her name is Joan.

Joan moved away from our area, and recently, she moved back. She contacted me and offered to help sew with our guild. Joan is a professional quilter, and has a "real" machine in her home. That is a blessing to us, because we have been given some fabric and quilt tops that are beyond my sewing ability...but they are not beyond Joan's.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting Joan to drop off three beautiful quilt tops for her to finish, and to pick up 14 gorgeous quilts that she has made for our guild to donate to Seattle Children's Hospital. These are photos of her work.

While I was with Joan, I also got to see:

Katie's Girl Scout troop leader, Karene, who is working with her girl scouts on quilts to donate to the hospital,

Katie's 3rd and 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Berg (who I love) and

Joanie, another of the school secretaries, whose husband helped us to coordinate Katie's "celebration of life" - enabling us to shoot off the fireworks that Katie had requested.

It was like "old home week."

Thank you, Joan!

A Harbour Tour & A Quilt Donation - from Hawaii!

Today, I had the fun "job" of meeting a Camp Goodtimes camper/staffer and his mom in Seattle, to pick up a batch of quilts. "Doppler" and his mom, Jane, met me at Argosy Cruises, and we took a picnic lunch on board the Lady Mary for a Harbor Tour. We talked about Camp Goodtimes and the cancer journey, laughed a lot, and admired the fabulously beautiful quilts that Jane has made to donate to the hospital through our guild.

I think these quilts have the distinction of having travelled the farthest to be donated, since Jane lives in Hawaii! She sewed them there, and brought them with her when she came to visit her son. That's quite a trip!

Here are photos of Jane, "Doppler" and the fabulous quilts on board the Lady Mary:

and here are some close-ups of the fabrics:

Thank you, Jane and "Doppler!"

The kids are going to love these.

A Quilt Delivery with Dad

Today, my dad and I went to deliver quilts to the hospital. It was his first time on a quilt delivery, and I enjoyed showing him the routine. We gave some of the quilts to the volunteer office, and took some up to Childlife in the Hematology-Oncology department. It was great to see our friends in Childlife, Julie and Ashley, and to have a surprise visit from Tanya (our social worker when Katie was a patient). We haven't seen Tanya in many months, because she has been on maternity leave recently, with her beautiful baby girl.

It makes me happy to know that the quilts that we donated will bring comfort to children who are in the hospital. Thank you, Lucile and Linda, for your beautiful and loving handiwork!

We also visited the Guild Association office to collect a gift from a brilliant, local fashion designer named Luly Yang: fabric remnants and samples that can be used for making quilts. These are some of the most beautiful fabrics I have EVER seen, from notable designers. They can't be used in making quilts for children, because they are made of fine fabrics such as chiffon, silk and lace (and those can't be machine-washed); but they CAN be used to make beautiful art quilts that we could sell - to raise money for the guild! 

If you are an experienced art quilter and would like to help, or have advice and/or suggestions for us, please leave a comment here.

Thank you, Luly Yang, for this exciting and inspiring gift!