Seattle Children's Cancer Advocacy Network (CAN)

There is a new blog on the block! The Seattle Children's Cancer Advocacy Network (CAN) is a group that is meeting monthly to prepare for September's Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, and it now has a blog: http://www.seattlechildrenscan.blogspot.com/. Please visit (and follow) to learn what is going on with the guilds that support cancer research. Everyone is welcome!

Katie's Comforters Guild is listed as one of the guilds that supports cancer research. The guild's connection to cancer research is 1) because Katie died of cancer, 2) our family and friends created the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment for Cancer Research in 2007 and 3) we began our work by sewing quilts for children in the cancer ward at Seattle Children's Hospital - and we've now expanded to blanket the entire hospital. As you know, Katie's endowment is for solid tumor research, to help find a cure for the kind of tumor she had (adrenocortical carcinoma). Since adrenocortical carcinoma is very rare, Katie's endowment supports ALL solid tumor research with the income that is generated by the principal in the endowment. At last count, the principal was just over $100,000.
We are thankful for the creation of the Seattle Children's Cancer Advocacy Network (CAN), and excited to see what lies ahead!

Guild Notes Available Now

Did you know that you can receive a copy of the Guild Association's newsletter, Guild Notes, via email? There is a new issue available now. Just contact the Guild Association by following this link.

West Coast Oddball Knitters

Yesterday, I had a speaking engagement at Seattle Children's Hospital (I'll post about that on my blog soon), so I arranged to meet with Janet D. of West Coast Oddball Knitters at the hospital for a blanket delivery. Janet's group donated 9 handmade blankets, and picked up the bags of yarn that Lucile and Noble donated recently (see the posting below). West Coast Oddball Knitters is going to use that yarn to make more blankets for Children's Hospital.

Please visit West Coast Oddball Knitters' blog - you'll be glad that you did (and don't you just love their name)! It's original and inspiring. They knit blankets as a group, but one section at a time. In other words, one person knits a section, and then sends the blanket on to the next person. That person knits another section onto the same blanket, and sends it on - and so, the blankets grow. Each one is original, with varied colors and stitches. They are a pleasure to look at. When you visit their blog, take time to scroll down and look at the blankets and how different each one is. Their method keeps everyone from feeling overwhelmed, and it clearly keeps the inspiration fresh!

HUGE thanks to Janet and Steven for coming out on a Sunday to make the delivery. I was also able to deliver quilts made by Joan and Lucile (photos posted below), for a total of 31 blankets donated yesterday to Seattle Children's Hospital by Katie's Comforters Guild.

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!

An Offer of Quilting Services

I received an email recently from a friend, Joan, who has known our family for many years. Her brother is a great friend of Gregg's from WAY back, and Joan was the secretary at Katie's elementary school. We saw her often during the grade school years. A while ago, she and her husband moved away, and after they moved back to our area, I received this message:

"Mark bought me a longarm quilting machine. I am now quilting for people. I would love to donate quilts... I would love to do some quilts that I can machine quilt on my large machine...I would love to help in any way that I can. You are always in my thoughts and prayers."

"If you have anyone that has pieced a quilt and would like me to quilt it for them I will donate my time and the machine. This is so great. I have been looking for something to do to fill the down time that I have, not that I have much but the machine is just sitting there, it begs to be used." - Joan Morey, Henhouse Quilts  

What a great name for a business! And isn't that a lovely offer? If any of you need help with quilting a larger quilt for the guild, please contact me, and I will put you in touch with Joan.

We have been given three large, pieced quilt tops and I think Joan's offer may be the answer to our prayers. We could have them finished, and then auction them off to raise funds to benefit the hospital, or our guild.

Our guild has been invited by Kelley Stryer to participate in the Children's Hospital Calendar Project. It has been one of the top guild fundraisers for over 70 years, and they provide lots of support to make it easy. Does anyone want to spearhead this project? Please leave a comment or send me an email!

Thank you!

Guild Luncheon

Dr. Gordon Cohen

Today was the annual Seattle Children's Hospital Guild Association Luncheon at the Westin Hotel. It was a wonderful event, and this was my first year attending. Friends & family (guild members) came from Poulsbo, Bainbridge, Arlington and Seattle to support our guild and the event.

Thank you all!

One of the highlights, for me, was hearing Dr. Gordon Cohen (pictured above), who performed the cardiac part of Katie's life-saving surgery. Dr. Cohen is a genius and a warm and kind human being.

I love him.

He is the surgeon who took the tumor out of Katie's heart, and gave her sub-cutaneous (under the skin) stitches, so the scarring was minimal on her chest. That meant that she could wear a bathing suit or t-shirt with very little evidence that she had had major surgery. To a 12 year-old girl, that has meaning.

Dr. Cohen is making wonderful changes and progress for children with heart issues right here in our Pacific Northwest.

Paul & me

We were seated with Aileen Kelly, the creative, energetic, thoughtful and encouraging executive director of the Guild Association, two lovely board members, and Paul (Mooselips) Dudley, the Master of Ceremonies (maybe we got to sit with Paul because his wife is a member of our guild). It was a great table:

Julie, Denise & Heidi (Mrs. Mooselips)

Mom, Linda (my sister-in-law, and our guild's treasurer) & me

We shopped at the booths of other guilds and bought some things they were selling (a fleece vest for me and raffle tickets for mom). We heard inspiring stories of fundraising success, fellowship, innovation and progress. We heard about medical advances that need and deserve to be funded.

I am so excited by what I heard, and grateful for Seattle Children's Hospital, its dedicated staff and their love for our kids!

Guild Association Facts from Fiscal Year 2009

Number of Guilds: 500

New Guilds Formed: 15 (we're one of these!)

Project Revenue (net): $10,200,000

Number of Volunteer Hours: 140,000

Guild affiliated revenue in Foundation Programs: $5,500,000

Total Guild Association contributions: $15,700,000