Stitch 'n' Bitch

Today, six friends gathered at my house to make fleece blankets and quilts - we had food, beverages, lots of fun conversation and laughter. We call it a "Stich 'n' Bitch" (pardon our language), and it resulted in

12 new blankets & quilts for

Katie's Comforters Guild

to donate to Seattle Children's Hospital!

Carol, Heidi & Julie



Suzanne, Denise & Cami

Cami, Denise, Suzanne (in front), Julie, Carol and Heidi

Carol, Heidi, Denise and Suzanne with quilts and fleece blankets

Thank you, Stitch 'n' Bitches!

What Size Blankets?

Many people ask, "What size shall I make the blankets?"
The answer is, any size that you like.
Having said that, you might prefer a little more guidance, so here are a couple of suggestions:

1. Fabric comes in bolts, usually 44" - 45" wide. Bolt width is a good width for a blanket.
2. A yard is a good length for younger children and babies. It can be easily carried and packed.
3. Older kids and teens prefer longer blankets (a yard and a half to two yards in length).
4. One package of satin blanket binding is enough to make a blanket that is a yard long, with a bit left over. If you are making a larger blanket with this edging, buy two packages of binding.
5. If you are still undecided, make the blanket larger. That way it can go to either a teen or a tiny.

If you have any more questions, feel free to post them here or on our facebook page, or email me. Thank you for your support of Katie's Comforters Guild!

It's Here: The EHL Newsletter Article!

Here is the link to the EHL Insurance Newsletter, with their article about Katie's Comforters Guild and the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research.
Thank you again, EHL Insurance!

Blankets from Elsie

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting a new member of our guild: Elsie. She brought 4 beautifully crocheted/knitted blankets for us to donate to the hospital:

Can you see the lovely detail in those stitches?

Elsie told me that she had been praying about how she could do more for others, and then she saw a piece in the newspaper about our guild. She contacted us, and now she is joining our guild!

I'm thankful for her listening heart, and for those articles that share news about us.

Thank you, Elsie, and

welcome to Katie's Comforters Guild!

A True Quilt Story

I received this note from a friend on facebook:

"...We had a kids' financial carnival...One little girl came through, & she had written on her "Give, Save, Buy" sheet that she wanted to save her money for her brother & give it to her brother and donate to Childrens' Hospital...I said 'That is really nice - you want to give your money to your brother & donate to Childrens'.' She said, 'Well, my brother lives at Childrens' right now, but he will be home this weekend.' She was 7. We talked a little bit more & I asked her if he had been given a blanket; she said 'No, but they gave him his own quilt.' :-) Made me smile & think of you!"
Thank you for telling us this precious story that shows the impact of one quilt, Renee!

Good Question

I just received an email with a good question in it:
Are there links for design ideas for fleece blankets?
Because you asked, NOW there are; check our sidebar, or click on these links:

http://tipnut.com/fleece-blankets/

http://www.linusidaho.org/finishafleeceblanket.htm

http://sjlinus.org/Documents/FleeceBlanketinstructions.pdf

You might also try typing "Fleece blanket patterns" into your search engine and see what pops up.

Thank you for the excellent question, Gabriele!

Abundance of Gifts

We are having a banner week at Katie's Comforters Guild, and we need to stop - share - and give thanks.

Lucile and Noble Nilsen dropped off 48 new quilts and blankets for our guild to donate to Seattle Children's Hospital.

Noble & Lucile with 48 blankets

Yesterday, I delivered 53 blankets to the Volunteer Office, and they were thrilled - they told me that every one of the 53 was needed, and would be given to a patient that same day! They also very warmly stated how much they LOVE OUR BLANKETS, especially the quilts and fleece blankets. Apparently, patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU, which includes cardiac, neonatal and regular ICU) can only have FLEECE blankets. If you are wondering what kind of blanket to make, that might be a good way to begin...fleece blankets are easy and fun to make. Check the sidebar of the blog (or email me) for ideas!

Lucile & Noble have been awarded Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce's Citizen of the Year Award. They deserve it - they make blankets for our guild and for Jefferson County Hospital. To date, the Nilsens have donated nearly 3,000 blankets. There were articles in two newspapers about this. Congratulations, Lucile & Noble!

Noble & Lucile holding their awards

We also give thanks to Edgren, Hecker & Lemmon Insurance company for their donation to our guild. They delivered a check yesterday, and are featuring our guild in their February-March Client Newsletter. This publication goes out to 5,000 households, and we hope that it will spark more interest in, and donations to Seattle Children's Hospital through Katie's Comforters Guild. As soon as the new issue of the newsletter is available online, I will post a link here.
Thank you, EHL Insurance!