Gifts from Near and Far

On Saturday evening, we hosted a gathering of local friends, and one of them (Angela) brought a soft, lovely baby blanket which she had knitted; what a treat it will be for the patient, and for the parents of a sick child. This is a busy friend with a full-time job and three children, so we appreciate what a gift of love and time it is!

Thank you, Angela!

Just this morning, another friend -Nan, also a mother with three active, growing kids - posted this photo on facebook:

This batch of five blankets was made by her daughter, Ava (a talented ballerina).

Ava's brother was treated for cancer when he was young, and he is not only in remission, but has grown into a talented musician; we rejoice with their family in his healing. The family moved from the West Coast to Colorado, so Nan will be shipping Ava's blankets to the hospital all the way from there - another act of generosity.

Thank you, Ava and Nan!

These gifts of warmth, softness and exuberant color will cheer the hearts of all who receive them.

A Visit to Lucile and Noble

We stopped by Lucile and Noble's house with a batch of material - cotton and fleece - for her to use in making blankets and quilts. We had a nice visit, and I got to see her new sewing machine; wow! That is one modern, "smart" machine! She is already enjoying it.

While we were there, Lucile gave us another 8 fleece blankets and 7 beautiful quilts to donate to Seattle Children's Hospital. Here they are:

We are running low on satin blanket binding, so she has been making her own quilt binding (our supplier has stopped carrying the binding we use, so we are in the process of switching to another supplier). Soon, we will purchase pre-cut satin binding to make things easier for Lucile.

Thank you, Lucile and Noble, for your continuing generosity to Katie's Comforters Guild at Seattle Children's Hospital! Your devotion warms our hearts, and the hearts of so many patients and families!

A Gift Card from a Generous Donor

Yesterday's mail brought a happy surprise: a gift card for use at Pacific Fabrics from a donor who I've never met, Lorrie T.. She sent a lovely note with it, which was forwarded to us from the Guild Association office (thank you, Melissa!).

We deeply appreciate Lorrie's generous gift, and will put it to good use, buying supplies for making more blankets.  

Thank you, Lorrie! Your gift will bring warmth and comfort to many patients.

A Surprise from Kim D. and Good News from Lucile

As I was going through the bags of gorgeous fleece donated by Kim D., I found this treasure,

almost finished, with just a seam open on the binding. I am going to see if Lucile can work her magic on it.

Speaking of Lucile, she has shared good news with us: the sewing machine repair shop - which could not fix Lucile's machine - has replaced it with a newer model! They had given her a new model as a "loaner," which Lucile enjoyed using, and they have now given her the "loaner" to keep, for good. We're rejoicing with her!

We're in the Guild News!

Katie's Comforters Guild is featured in this month's Guild News!
If you haven't received your copy, you can read it here:
http://www.seattlechildrens.org/Guilds/Guild-News/2015/Winter/Feature-Story/
Thank you for all you do to make this possible - you are Seattle Children's! Without you, there would not be any blankets and quilts for us to donate!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Quilts and Blankets from Mary M.

After posting about Kim D.'s recent donation of fleece (see below), I received a message from Mary M., expressing her interest in making blankets. We arranged to meet so that I could give a batch of fleece to her, and she surprised me by having 10 blankets ready for us to deliver to the hospital! Mary made six beautiful quilts and four thick, soft, cozy fleece blankets with knots tied around the edges.

I flipped up the corners show you both sides of the quilts and blankets.

Mary's choices of color and patterns are sure to please patients at Seattle Children's Hospital, and will bring much comfort and warmth to them and their families. Receiving something personal, made by hand, by someone who is thinking of you (even if you've never met the donor) is a true source of solace when you are isolated in a hospital. Blankets silently communicate compassion, hope, love and solidarity to patients and families, which really helps if you are sick and miss being in your own home.

Thank you, Mary! We appreciate your gifts of time, talent and materials!

Kim: A Generous Quilter with Fleece to Share

I received an email from Kim D., a woman I had never met:

"I saved your email address from the 2013 newspaper for donations of new fleece.  I am downsizing my fabric collection and have at least 30 pieces of fleece suitable for children's blankets.  Almost all are at least 1 yard, some print and some solid." 

Kim had been making fleece hats for cancer patients, but had accumulated more fleece than she needed for making hats.
The answer is a very happy YES! - we can ALWAYS use fleece; it's a soft, cozy, lightweight, warm, washable fabric which dries quickly, comes in a huge variety of colors and patterns, and is loved by children. It is also the preferred fabric to give to patients in the intensive care unit.

Kim arranged to meet us today at a convenient location to make her donation. We were amazed at the variety and quantity of her generous gift: four huge bags of fleece, in all sorts of colors and patterns, as well as four fleece blanket kits.

This is just a sampling of the cheerful variety of Kim's gift.

Thank you, Kim, for your thoughtfulness in remembering our guild from the newspaper article, and for your generosity to patients in need of comfort.

Now, we have the opportunity to make this bounty into blankets! 
If any of you reading this would like to make fleece blankets for patients of Seattle Children's Hospital, please leave a comment here, via email, or contact us on facebook. We have plenty to share - enough for individuals and groups!

Lucile and Noble: Patchwork Fleece

Gregg and I stopped by Lucile and Noble's house to wish them Happy New Year, and to pick up some quilts and blankets she had made for Katie's Comforters Guild.

Lucile has had a lot of trouble with her favorite sewing machine. She takes good care of it, but she also gives it a real workout because she sews so many quilts. It has been in the repair shop for quite some time, and is predicted to be there for a while longer. She has other, older machines to use as backup, and the shop has given her a "loaner," but as any crafter or hobbyist knows, you have your favorite tools and prefer to work with them.

In the absence of her favorite machine, Lucile knows how to improvise. She has taken a variety of fleece squares (which could confound a less dedicated seamstress) and turned them into patchwork blankets.

She also donated two quilts and other blankets in this batch: a total of 15 fleece and two quilts.

Thank you, Lucile and Noble!

I hope your machine is back from the shop soon so that you can enjoy sewing to the fullest.

{If you know of a Bernina machine which someone would like to donate to Lucile for her work, please leave a comment! I'd love to see her have the very best tools available, and that is her favorite brand.}