New Donations

Our guild received some wonderful donations this week.

We are grateful to Linda K-H, who donated four more beautiful quilts...

and to Lucile & Noble, who drove to Poulsbo to deliver 23 more fleece and quilted blankets,

as well as 9 bead bags for the

Beads of Courage program at Seattle Children's Hospital

(see the posting before this one).

Thank you, Linda

and

Lucile & Noble!

Guild News

Dear Guild Members,

Greetings! This message brings great thanksgiving for each one of you and your unique contributions to Katie's Comforters Guild. We have such a lovely variety of talented members: some of you knit, crochet, cut fleece, sew quilts and blankets, some donate funds, some donate time and talent, and some donate all of the above. In every case, your gifts combine to bring comfort to sick children at Seattle Children's Hospital - and their families - and we are deeply thankful for you!

The Guild Association sent me some information to share with you. One of the most important items is the date for next year's Annual Meeting & Luncheon Celebration. Those of you who attended this year know just how inspiring and empowering it is to gather with other guilds and guild members and listen to what is new, what we have accomplished over the past year, and what is on the horizon for next year. Please mark your calendar for Friday, April 27, 2012 and join us there!

The hospital has a few projects in the pipeline which they want us to know about, and to lend our support, if possible. Project Teen is the drive for this year - please see the attached page of information about it. Project Giggle is complete (last year's drive to benefit infant patients), and now we are looking after the teen population.

The Beads of Courage program is looking for guild members who sew to make small bags that will hold beads for Hematology/Oncology patients who are creating crafts designed to help them cope with their illness. The attached flyer has two pages of information about that program. Our friends at the Better Bilt Furniture Company in Fremont have generously offered fabric swatches for this purpose.

HUGE gratitude to our Vice President, Maribeth Hinderer; Secretary, Andrea Cunningham, and Treasurer, Linda Case. If any other members are interested or willing to serve on our board, please let me know! As President, I need to be thinking about my replacement.

We have learned recently that fleece blankets are highly desired in the hospital. They do not require sewing, the variety of materials is HUGE & can be purchased on sale (and using your JoAnn Stores V.I.P. discount card). They are lightweight and easy to wash, dry quickly, and are the only kind of blanket allowed in the Intensive Care Units. If you don't sew, please consider contributing fleece blankets! You can find patterns and suggestions for cutting fringe into the edges of fleece blankets on our blog.

You will also find attached here a couple of pages about the Research Champions program in which our guild has been invited to participate. It is a program designed to support (you guessed it) the Seattle Children's Research Institute. It's a rather big financial commitment, and is well-suited to guilds whose purpose is to raise money. Since our guild's purpose is to raise blankets, this may be a bit outside of our bailiwick...but if any of you would like to take on the challenge of raising the funds for our guild to join the Research Champions, please GO FOR IT!

Be sure to check our blog www.katiescomfortersguild.blogspot.com and our facebook page frequently for updates, news, photographs of all of the beautiful blankets you have donated, and various relevant information. Please invite your friends & family to "Like" us on facebook, and invite them to join us!

If any of you are in the Poulsbo area on Thursday, August 11th, please stop by Dairy Queen to thank them for donating $2 from the sale of every Blizzard Treat sold that day to Seattle Children's Hospital! They would love to meet our members and hear from you. This is a nationwide program, but our DQ has elected to participate very generously, holding a yard sale to increase donations and selling the "balloons" that you see everywhere.

Lastly, heartfelt THANKS to those of you who have sent in your payment for this year's dues. We know what a difficult year this is (financially) for many people! If you haven't yet sent in your dues payment, please do so at your earliest convenience. If it is easier for you to renew online, here is a convenient link: https://secure.seattlechildrens.org/guilddues . Remember, you are welcome to specify the area of the hospital to which your dues are applied - you can direct your payment of dues to any department or area of special concern to you. Regular Membership dues are $25.00 per year; if you are a senior citizen, dues are $10.00. There are other levels available if you prefer to donate more.

If you have any questions, please contact me! Again, my deepest heartfelt thanks to you for your membership in Katie's Comforters Guild and your support of patients at Seattle Children's Hospital!

Blessings to you,

Karen B. Gerstenberger

President, Katie's Comforters Guild at Seattle Children's Hospital

karenlboren@yahoo.com

www.karengberger.blogspot.com (my blog)

www.katiescomfortersguild.blogspot.com (the Guild's blog)

www.katiegerstenbergerendowment.blogspot.com (Katie's Endowment's blog)

Quilts from Linda K.-H.

We met Linda K.-H. through our dear friend, Kathleen. Kathleen's younger son, Hayden, was a patient at Seattle Children's Hospital over a decade ago, and it was because of Hayden's journey with pediatric cancer that we knew a little bit about it before Katie was diagnosed. Their family moved into Ronald McDonald House, so we knew that was a good option for our family. Though we are deeply sorry, beyond what words can express, that Kathleen & her family had to walk such a difficult path (both of her sons have passed away) we will always hold them in loving gratitude for lighting our way when we had to embark on the cancer journey several years after them.

Linda has sewed for our guild before, and last week, she donated 10 more beautiful quilts.

 The variety of fabrics, colors and themes is terrific!

Thank you, Linda,

and thank you, Kathleen, for introducing us to Linda!

Lucile & Noble's Latest Contribution

Fleece blankets by Lucile

Quilts by Lucile

I met Lucile & Noble yesterday for a quilt & blanket delivery. She has made 21 fleece blankets and 12 quilts for Katie's Comforters Guild since we last met.

This delivery was particulary exciting to me, because I had recently given Lucile some of my "stash" of fabrics, and she turned them into finished quilts for the hospital!

Olivia quilt

I don't have as much time to sew as I originally did when we started Katie's Comforters Guild. Being president means that I "wear a lot of hats," and most of my work is now in pick-up & delivery of quilts, keeping up with this blog (& photography), sending "thank you" notes, and networking for the guild. I don't often get time to sit down and use my own sewing machine nowadays.

Detail of Olivia quilt

Lucile is a much faster and more highly-skilled seamstress than I am, so it is more efficient for her to sew than it is for me to do it, but sometimes I miss the process. My favorite things about sewing are selecting the fabrics, pinning them together, and admiring the finished product. So in giving my fabric to Lucile to sew, I got to do two out of the three of those favorite things. And look at what she did with what I gave her!

European travel (left) and floral (right)

Old-fashioned beach print with mosaic fish

Butterflies with watercolor abstract

Flamingo quilt and dolphin camo quilt

Musical instrument quilt and crocodile (or alligator?) quilt

Pink curlique & bubble quilt

If you love to select fabric, but are not a skilled seamstress, consider buying what you like, and donating the fabric to our guild. We have guild members who will be happy to turn your materials into blankets and quilts!

Thank you, Lucile & Noble!

Fleece blankets from Kathy H.

Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting Kathy H. & her husband. Kathy and Gregg went to the same high school, and she read an article about our guild in the local newspaper. The article inspired her to order a LOT of polar fleece. Kathy has been diligently cutting and knotting fringe on the blankets.

Yesterday, she delivered 29 fleece blankets to our guild!

 Here is a sample of what Kathy has made:

A great variety of different colors, designs and themes, for all ages, boy and girl!

That was just the contents of the smaller box. The taller box is also FULL of blankets!

Thank you for this generous gift, Kathy!

Dairy Queen Miracle Treat Day: August 11, 2011

Dairy Queen Miracle Treat Day

(Click on the link above to learn more)

On August 11, 2011, Dairy Queen Restaurants will donate at least $1.00 of the cost of every Blizzard Treat they sell to Children's Miracle Network Hospitals!

Seattle Children's Hospital and its supporters appreciates our local (and national) Diary Queens for doing this!

Thank you, Poulsbo Dairy Queen!

Please spread the word to all of your friends and family, and

go to your local Dairy Queen for a BLIZZARD on August 11th!

Please remember to THANK them for their support of Children's Hospitals.

Blankets from Terry

Yesterday, Gregg and I took a drive to visit his Aunt Barbara and cousins Pam and Terry. Terry has been generously making blankets for our guild for many months now. Look at her latest fleece and crocheted creations:

 Fleece and crocheted blankets.

Terry created her own binding by cutting one piece smaller than the other, and wrapping the edge of the larger piece over the smaller one. It makes a nice contrast.
The turquoise blanket has a matching hat!

The bright colors and patterns in these double-layer fleece blankets are going to make patients very happy!

Thank you, Terry!

Five New Quilts from Darla R.

Darla R. lives north of our area, and has shared her beautiful quilting skills with us in the past. Today, I had the privilege of picking up five more beauties which she donated to Katie's Comforters Guild:

 Aren't they gorgeous?

 The lovely top-stitching (quilting) details don't show up in these photos, but it is there!

 The variety of colors, fabrics, sizes and styles will be sure to please the patients!

This intricate one with so many squares is a gem.

Thank you, Darla!

And thank you, Andrea, Chuck & Cheri for delivering them to us.

New Quilts from Bonnie P.

Look at what we received this week, from guild member Bonnie P.:

Wrapped up like a gift, which it is!

 The variety of colors, patterns and textures is wonderful!

Bonnie has an eye for striking details.

 For example, doesn't most everyone like frogs?

Bonnie created these frog patches and sewed them onto the quilts.

Some people tell me that they have been encouraged by frogs as a reminder to F.R.O.G. (forever/fully rely on God).

 And look at this heart-shaped quilting detail on the pink quilt. It is going to make a little girl's heart so happy!

Note the home-made label by Bonnie, using our guild's business card.

Very clever!

One of my favorite quilts, using donated materials from Better-Bilt Furniture! Bonnie is our first guild member to try using these 100% cotton fabric samples, and what beautiful results!

If you'd like to try this yourself, please let me know and I will give you what we have. Better-Bilt is a custom furniture company in Seattle that donates gorgeous fabric samples to us. The machine washable ones can be used in making quilts.

Thank you, Bonnie!

Thank you, Better-Bilt Furniture!

Turning Donations into Blankets

Yesterday, we stopped by Lucile & Noble's house for a quick visit. We had some donated materials (fleece, cotton, flannel and satin blanket binding) to give to Lucile, and Lucile had quilts to give to us.

Lucile has made 29 new quilts since we last saw her!

A dozen of those quilts were made with materials donated by the Coleman family. You may recall from this posting that Pat Coleman had purchased and organized beautiful materials to make 12 quilts. Unfortunately, Pat passed away recently. Her family generously donated the materials to Katie's Comforters Guild in her memory. Lucile kindly sewed them up, and the result is pure beauty:

Thank you, Coleman family,

and

thank you, Lucile & Noble!