Invitation from the SOVREN Guild

We received the following invitation from the SOVREN Guild:

Share our dream…vintage racing to benefit Seattle Children’s Hospital The SOVREN Guild is presenting a unique opportunity for your guild to participate in a fundraising event where 100% of funds raised and matching money earned by your guild’s efforts, will be allocated to your area of special interest at Seattle Children’s and your guild will receive soft credit in the hospital’s Annual Report. On Friday, June 19th, we will be presenting the 6th Annual PNW Karting Challenge at PGP Motorsports Park located at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington. The event fields 25 karting teams, each consisting of 4 drivers and as many supporters as possible. The race is catered to the new drivers as well as experienced kart drivers. The cost of registration, which covers the cost of kart & track rental, staffing and insurance is $250 per team.

Donations for your team’s efforts are raised from business associates, friends and family...Donations can be sought for laps completed within the 2 hour time frame or a flat pledge to the team. We can help each team set up their own online donation account through RAZOO, which makes it easy for drivers, guild members and supporters to email friends and/or business acquaintances letting them know of your guild’s participation in the race and how they can donate to your team online. Team drivers do not have to be guild members but could be spouses, children, grandchildren or friends. The only restrictions are that they are at least 15 years old and 5 feet tall and before the race, have some experience driving a kart. But, we make that easy too with special pricing and help, from the staff at PGP Motorsports Park, to get both experience and to qualify….give them a call at (253) 639-7223 (RACE) and let them know that you are participating in the Seattle Children’s karting race on the 19th.

The most exciting news for guilds is that through our generous matching sponsor, Jackson Dean Construction, we have $20,000 of matching funds available and each team has the opportunity to add to their earned donations. For the first 15 teams to raise $1000 in donations, Jackson Dean will donate an additional $1000 to their team’s funding focus. The next 5 teams to reach $2000 (Prior Jackson Dean matching donation $ not included in this total.) will receive an additional $1000. After the race is concluded, SOVREN Guild will allocate whatever your team has earned (including any matches) to your area of special interest. All Karting Challenge donations will flow through the SOVREN Guild and on to the Guild Association in your guild’s name. One more piece of late breaking news is that an anonymous sponsor has offered to add $250 to the fundraising efforts of the first 12 teams to register and sign up for online fundraising through Razoo (please see instructions attached.)…what a great way to quickly get to the minimum fundraising level of $500!

 Here is the link to follow:
www.razoo.com/team/2015kartingchallenge

If you have questions, please contact: Larry Duffield, SOVREN Guild
Seattle Children’s Hospital PNW Karting Chairman
Tel:( 206) 412-6643 or (425) 823-6081
lduffield@allstate.com
l.duffield@comcast.net

Thank You, Ellie & Phil!

We have a wonderful group of Guild members and friends who have a variety of gifts and talents which they share with us. Some of them knit, some crochet, some sew, some cut fleece into blankets, and some donate funds. Those funds are very important, as we use them to purchase materials and to ship fabric to those who will convert raw materials into quilts of comfort.

Ellie helping with a quilt delivery at SCH with Child Life worker Julie and KCG President, Karen

Ellie is a Guild member who has been a supporter from the very beginning. She and her husband Phil provide donations from time to time, and they just sent another one. We used it to purchase a huge roll of batting with which to make quilts, and to ship fabric to a Guild member who lives in another part of the state. This gift is every bit as important as the gifts of sewing, knitting, crocheting and cutting fleece.

Phil helping with a quilt delivery to SCH

We always need donations of time, talent, materials and funds to help us continue our work. Whichever is your favorite way to donate, we appreciate you and we thank you!

Thanks, Ellie & Phil!

Calling All Guild Members: Help Needed

We've received an invitation from Barbara Mann of Seattle Children's Hospital Guild Association to participate in the Seattle Children's Hospital Calendar all-guild fundraising event. Though our guild generally focuses on raising blankets rather than funds, this is an easy way to get involved and raise support for the hospital. To quote from her letter:

"Established in 1938, the Children's calendar is one of the hospital's longest standing fundraising projects. Sold by various merchants including Safeway and QFC, the calendar reminds our community of Children's vital role in providing expert medical care to children in our region. Last year over $55,000 was raised for Children's uncompensated care through calendar sales."

If any of you would like to help with calendar sales in our area to benefit the uncompensated care fund, please let me know!

Calling All Quilters!

We have a need for experienced quilters who would like to lend their skills to help us turn some gorgeous tops into finished quilts for sale to support our Guild's work. We always need funds for fabric, batting, binding and so on, and we have received beautiful unfinished pieces which deserve to find an appreciative home. You might have some questions about this:

Question: Why do you need help finishing these?
Answer: Because they are old, beautiful and deserve to be handled by someone who possesses greater sewing skills than I have.

Question: Why do you plan to sell these, rather than donate them to patients?
Answer: Because the fabrics are from various sources and of different ages (some appear to be antiques), we cannot donate them to sick children. There is nothing wrong with them, but the hospital has very strict rules about quilts/blankets for patients.

Question: Where will you sell the quilts?
Answer:  We are hoping to open an Etsy shop (online) where we will offer these and some other gorgeous finished quilts for sale.

Question: What will you do with the money raised? 
Answer: It will go into our Guild's bank account, which is managed by our Guild's Treasurer. Our plan is to purchase materials (fabric, batting, binding, etc.) for making more quilts and blankets. It may occasionally be used for shipping costs when we receive quilts from faraway donors, or to ship fabric and supplies. If there is a surplus of funds, we may decide to donate some of it to Seattle Children's Hospital.

Question: What sizes are these quilt tops and pieces? 
Answer: The dimensions are underneath the photos.
Please take a look at these beauties and let me know if one or more of them is calling to you to take it from this state to finished work of art! If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

39" x 49"

Various sizes, to go with Sunflower quilt above

Various sizes (two top-left squares can also go with Sunflower quilt at top)

31" x 52"

54" x 62"

52" x 40" (4" squares)

39" x 52" (4" squares)

58" x 61" (1.75" squares)

39" x 50" (4" squares)

50" x 59"

12" x 12" each (12 of 20 total)

12" x 12" each (8 of 20 total)

Various shapes/sizes

If you are a seamstress or quilter, or if you know a seamstress or quilter who might like to help us, please leave a comment here, or on facebook, or email me. You may "adopt" and finish a quilt - or you can let me know if you would like to buy one of these as a finished quilt!
All of this is to benefit Katie's Comforters Guild at Seattle Children's Hospital - to help us continue our mission of comforting the patients there.

Calling Experienced Quilters!

Calling all experienced quilters/sewing friends:
we have been given a collection of absolutely lovely quilt tops that need experienced hands to finish them. If you or someone you know is willing and able to do this, we plan to auction these beauties to support our work, once they are finished.

Here are the gifts we've received from Kathy W., from her late mother's incredible "stash:"

Three lovely quilt tops

The quilt on the right is made of these elements. Check out the chicken mash bag! It's from Kansas. I think this quilt top may be something historic - and really special.

This quilt is made from hexagons - individual hexagons, each one made of two pieces of cotten, filled with a piece of flannel, and then sewn to six other hexagons - then incorporated into the quilt top. Kathy donated several assembled hexagon flowers, along with some of the individual pieces, cut and ready to sew. Complex and original - just waiting to be finished!

Part of a fan type of quilt. It's even signed in embroidery in the center, with more pieces ready to finish.

Beautiful squares - unique.

This photo doesn't do justice to these squares. They are super soft, and I've never seen a pattern like it before. There are quite a few of these.

More assembled squares, waiting to be made into a quilt

A top and some individual pieces; very interesting patterns!

Awesome Alaska scene on the left; beautiful diamond/squares on the right

Close-up of the Alaskan quilt

Close-up of diamonds

If any one of these quilts takes your fancy, leave a comment or email me and you are welcome to finish it! This bounty deserves to be finished and enjoyed.

Thank you, Kathy W. and family, for the gift of your mother's beautiful handiwork.

One Big KISS at the Ballpark

Here is a way to support Seattle Children's Hospital and enjoy a baseball game at the same time: