Newsletter – September 2018

NEC Quilt Show | The Directors
Many thanks to everyone who gave us a quilt, top or block. Over the 4 days we received a total of 178 and these were distributed among our coordinators who came to the show. We would also like to thank you for your support through the purchase of the various items and raffle tickets we had on sale.

The Sewing Place had a challenge and some of the ladies who took part donated their quilts to Project Linus UK. There were 9 in all.

Linus stand at the NEC Sewing Place Challenge


Pip | Edinburgh East &  Midlothian
Our East Lothian coordinator Beth regularly holds Linus workshops. Here’s a photo of the attractive strip quilts made at a workshop at Dunbar library recently which was well attended (although Beth thinks some people come for the cheese scones!)
The October workshop in Edinburgh is full with a waiting list!

Strip quilts

We have a Project Linus display at a shop Be Green in Dunbar High Street for 2 weeks. The organisation gave us a grant for £240 recently and asked if we’d like to use their window. We’ve had quite a lot of interest. People are going into the shop to ask if the quilts are for sale, the answer is no, but you can have one of our leaflets or help us make them.

Be green shopfront

We’re delighted to announce that Edinburgh Linus Group have been awarded £1,500 by Foundation Scotland. This is to contribute towards the purchase of fabrics, fleeces and wadding for quilts.

“I just wanted to say thank you for the lovely quilt that was given to me when I was in the Sick Kids in Edinburgh last week. It really made my Mummy smile when she came to pick me up from recovery after my operation. Unfortunately, due to this warm weather and being in a Spica cast I’m a bit too hot to get much use out of it at the moment, but I look forward to snuggling into it when the weather cools down a bit. Thank you again. Harris”


Elspeth | Lanarkshire and Glasgow East
“I just received three beautiful quilts from my social worker and the craftsmanship is exemplary. I am forever grateful and would like to thank everyone involved in your incredible organisation…once again, thank you ever so much.”


Caroline | Liverpool
A knit and natter group meet weekly at The Brain Charity in Liverpool and knit squares for blankets which they donate to Project Linus. Amanda who set up the group says making squares is ideal for people who have difficulty following patterns and that if people are not well enough to come to the group they can knit at home and still feel involved. She has watched people blossom in confidence and is now teaching people to knit – she loves it when you can see it just click!

Knit and natter Liverpool


Betty | Northern Ireland
I just wanted to share a story with you for the newsletter to show that all our work is appreciated. I broke my arm 9 weeks ago on the first day of my holidays by falling out of my brother-in-law’s campervan. While I was on holiday last week in Scotland I received a beautiful bouquet of flowers via Interflora. They were sent from the Trustees of the Children’s Cancer Unit Charity because I send quilts to the unit. I thought it was so lovely of them to think of me.


Diane | Calderdale
The lovely people at Jubilee Quilters in Ossett, West Yorkshire, have made 30 quilts and 2 blankets for Project Linus. They have been quilting and stitching together for many years supporting local hospitals and charities with their beautiful work.

I was invited to join them for lunch to collect the quilts. They always have a buffet, which was delicious. We spent the afternoon together labelling and cataloguing everything. The quilts will be given to a local children’s hospital as well as the St Augustine’s Centre in Halifax who support refugee families in Calderdale.

Jubilee Quilters


Barbara | Allerdale and Copeland
The results of a recent workshop at Handmade by You, Maryport, with owner Lisa Harrison and members of the Thursday quilting group. The ladies hand pieced the blocks which I then machine stitched together and quilted.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the day and we are looking forward to another workshop before Christmas. Thanks to all involved.

Maryport quilters

 

Newsletter – January 2017

Heather | News from HQ

Once again, we have surpassed our previous year’s total of quilts delivered throughout the United Kingdom. This year we have delivered just over 36,000 quilts compared to 30,000 last year. This is all down to the commitment of our co-ordinators and their volunteer quilters who want to give as many children as they can a hug they can keep.


Ann | Chesterfield and South Sheffield

Hi – My name is Denise and I am a very very proud mummy to Theo. He is an amazing little boy and has fought all his short life to stay alive. He has recently had his 37th operation and we met a little girl with one of your Linus quilts at Bluebell Woods Hospice – I thought it was amazing and thought that I would love Theo to be the proud owner of a quilt!

Theo-January-2017

Theo was born 4 month early and had 5 strokes in the first week of life. He has lost his stomach, is fed into his bowel which is now failing. Two years ago, meningitis took his sight but he still keeps fighting to be here. We are under Bluebell wood children’s hospice as Theo is palliative. He’s back in the hospital tomorrow – but want to send you this picture of him with his blanket. He’s taking the blankie with him. You must be a very special people and we really appreciate everything you do. Bless you all.

Thank you so much


Angela | West Dorset

I started as Coordinator in December 2010 and the Dorchester & District Angling Society (DDAS) have supported Project Linus in West Dorset every year. (The link is my father who was a very keen angler). When collecting membership fees every year they ask members to include an extra sum as a charitable donation and we have had the benefit of this. They have also had a duck race with the proceeds being divided between Project Linus and Julia’s House, the local hospice for children. This year they also had a fishing competition – guess the total weight of carp caught in a 24-hour period. A very cold 24-hour period with fish not biting I am told! Biting or not, it resulted in a massive cheque for £625 being presented to us.

I have totalled up all the donations from DDAS over the last years – £2604. They have been superb – so thank you lads!


Elspeth | Lanarkshire and Glasgow East

Jax January 2017

Hi there, My little boy has just received a lovely blanket from yourselves. I just wanted to message and say what a lovely thoughtful idea this is. Just as we were beginning to feel a little down in the dumps after being in ward 19 at Wishaw for 2 days the beautiful blanket we received has perked us up. This is my son Jax enjoying his blanket. Keep up the great work!

Maria x


Pip | Edinburgh Mid and East Lothian

Women’s Aid for East and Midlothian sent us this:

Hello to all you wonderfully skilled and generous women. I’m writing to tell you a little about the impact your quilts make in our service. I work for Women’s Aid East and Midlothian; I currently manage the children’s services. I’ve been around for 9 years. Our organisation supports Women, children and young people who have experienced domestic abuse. At times this can mean that a family comes to live in our accommodation with little more than what they carry in plastic bags. They have left all their possessions, friends, pets, toys and familiar things. Very often children are the last to know what is happening and are bundled up without any explanation or time to gather their most important things. They move into a new house, with lots of new rules about keeping safe. “Don’t tell anyone your address” “You can’t have your cousins over for a sleep over” At a sad and confusing time, we work hard to make things as best they can be. This is where your quilts come in. We believe that every child and woman should have something that belongs just to them (unfortunately our funders won’t pay for these things).

The quilts we receive from you go a massive way to providing way more than warmth. They are bright and cheerful, when all looks gloomy. They are handmade- a massive signal to a family that someone has spent time and care for them- a message of love. They are unique, like each of the family members who receive them. They are security as they are wrapped around a body. They are a story telling blanket, a magical carpet and a tent to hide in. The quilts you make and give to our service users, may be the first thing they have that no one will take from them, threaten to destroy or laugh at their connection with. Your hard work means so much to us, but more than, so much to our service users. So please accept our warmest gratitude and thanks for your effort, care, love and attention. It goes a long way to helping those on a journey of recovery and healing. Keep doing what you do so brilliantly

Fiona McCabe


Jane | Perth and Kinross

I recently held a Linus Workshop Day with Perth Quilting Group “Piece Partners”. A total of 14 quilts were made on the day and great fun was had by all.

Quilting day 1-17-news


Catherine | Carmarthenshire/Ceredigion

I would like to tell you about the Sew Saturday that was hosted on 15th September by our wonderful Kate Barnes, the owner of Calico Kate fabric shop in Lampeter, here in West Wales. Kate has always been a huge supporter of Project Linus, donating large quantities of fabric and completed quilts that have been on display in her shop. Her shop is an Aladdin’s cave of fabric spread over 8 rooms and two floors which brings quilters from many miles around. She decided to host a Sew Saturday to support Project Linus, Pyjama Fairies and the Air Ambulance and invited us to the shop to demonstrate our work and talk to those who were interested.

I made up 20 packs for tiny quilts to go to our local Special Baby Unit in Glan Gwili hospital and was able to hand out 14 of them – so far so good. I also handed out information sheets about Linus. Since that day my phone has been red hot with ladies wanting to tell me they had finished their quilts and could they have more packs, and I have given out another 10 packs with many more on order! Most delightfully of all, one lady runs a children’s club allied to her local church and they raised £180 via their Harvest festival which they are going to use to buy fabric and the children are going to have a go at making the quilts.


Pip | Edinburgh Mid and East Lothian

Poldrate Quilters, who meet in Haddington, East Lothian, have been staunch supporters of Project Linus for many years. They set themselves a challenge to make 100 quilts for Linus during 2016 and achieved this in December. Many congratulations and thanks to the group for this remarkable effort.

Newsletter – May 2016

Lyn | News from HQ

April is a busy month for me.

The Quilters’ Guild have made a space for us to have a sew-in at their AGM in Llandudno 15-17 April. They also had their Beginners workshop at Olympia Knitting and Stitching Show which was very successful with lots of people learning how to make a block and seeing how it is turned into a quilt for Linus. April 22-24 we will have a stand at Uttoxeter Quilt Village selling scraps and raffle tickets to raise funds. Ani Catt will be running a Quiltathon making Linus Quilts out of donated patchwork tops and showing visitors how the APQS long arm quilter works. Do come and see us if you can. A number of other Linus ladies have been taking stands at shows around the country so, wherever you are, look out for us.

It is not only quilts and blankets that are made by Linus groups around the country, although that is our official mission. There are quite a few specialised items for the hospitals as well as the usual teddies and premature baby clothes. Some of the other things we are asked to make are featured in this month’s newsletter.


Helen | East Staffordshire

The volunteers in East Staffordshire have been providing incubator covers and small quilts to a local special care baby unit for several years. The SCBU ward was very plain and the staff wanted to brighten it up to make it a more friendly and welcoming area.

Incubator covers in use

The incubator covers are made to the requirements of the unit. (They do not have any wadding, flaps or curved edges.) The size required was given to us by the SCBU. Two rectangles of fabric are stitched together, the underneath fabrics being either dark navy or dark green cotton and the tops are made with cotton curtain fabric in bright colours. The dark backing is necessary to protect the babies’ eyes from the bright ward lighting. The small incubator quilts are generally used for the babies to lie on in the incubators.

Ed: Many hospitals have their own specification for incubator covers. A few patterns are available here but please do check with your local coordinator on which pattern is preferred in your area.


Susan | Norfolk

We run a sewing group, in Norfolk, called Bezalel (a man in the bible gifted in all crafts). At the end of last year, we were offered some material by a lady called Jeanne who was going back to the States, little did we know it was a LARGE curvier box FULL of beautiful big pieces of material.

In December, I got in touch with Heather, a Project Linus coordinator, and she offered us some free wadding from The Warm Company, which we were delighted to receive. We are given a lot of lovely girlie quilts, but we get fewer quilts which are really suitable for boys, so a decision was made to go with a black, grey, white theme and make as many as we could in larger sizes for older boys and brighten them with a few music notes. Some are finished and some are in the making.

We are also having fun making the Sun Bonnet Sue and animal appliqué quilts. We make little kits so that the members of our group can do a simple single block and when we have enough they are put together and the quilts are soon made. The quilts we are making will go to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital for the children’s ward.


Pip | Edinburgh, Mid & East Lothian

Here are two lovely thank you letters:

“My baby boy received one of your wonderful quilts on his arrival at Sick Kids. It’s a fabulous blue with yellow trim and the material is tractors on one side and diggers on the other. He along with his identical twin brother were born at the Royal Edinburgh at 25 weeks on 4th November. They were transferred for ongoing care to SK at around their due date 17 February.

In amongst all the drama and upheaval of moving hospitals the quilt let us hang onto normal love and kindness as opposed to medical, sterile intervention. The simplest things are often the best. Thank you so much it will always be treasured.”

“I wish to pass on my thanks to the person who made the safari blanket which was given to my 2 year old, Jamie.

Jamie absolutely loves animals so to receive this after 3 days of being in hospital, he was one very happy little boy. Thank you once again”


Ann | Chesterfield & South Sheffield

At sew4others we were asked by Beryl (who works for P.A.C.T. at the Children’s Hospital in Sheffield) if we could make Beads of Courage bags as well as quilts. These drawstring bags with a lining are used for storing the beads patients receive after undergoing treatments. A few months ago we were asked if we could make some larger sized bags as some patients have so many treatments that the normal sized bead bags were not large enough.

There are obviously a lot of courageous youngsters out there who bravely undergo lots and lots of treatments – and for us to make a bag for their beads is the very least we can do.

Kas with a Project Linus bead bag

We make ‘wiggly bags’ for them too – and no, the bag isn’t wiggly! The ‘wiggly’ is the tube, usually, with two clips on the end. The tubes are used to give medicines and to take blood from children who are having treatments – instead of endless needles. These tubes are stored in the bags and tied around the neck of the patient using the tape – and as you can imagine the bags become contaminated fairly quickly, so they need lots! The bags may become a child’s best friend as it means an end to endless needles – and these bags only take a few minutes to make.


Sue | Buckinghamshire

I recently held a sewing day for Project Linus at a friend’s house in St Albans. I provided ready-cut packs of disappearing 4 patches and 9 patches, so everybody could start sewing straight away. Between breaks for coffee, lunch and tea, all generously supplied by the hostess, we completed 11 quilts with several more having been taken home to be finished.


Anne | Rye

I have had various health problems since Christmas and not been able to attend my embroidery group Rye Creative Stitchers. When I got there yesterday evening they presented me with a ‘Linusometer’ wall hanging which a few of them had made for me. It shows that we have reached nearly 600 quilts (we are quite a small group in a country area) and has its own bag with some extra red tape for me to add for future donations. I was so amazed at their kindness.


Caroline | Liverpool

A Ward Sister on the Intensive care unit at Alder Hey Hospital sent a letter to the Liverpool Echo asking for bright coloured sheets for the cots and incubators, saying it makes a big difference for families to see their seriously ill child on these rather than stark white sheets. The letter was posted on the Project Linus Facebook page asking if the Liverpool branch could help – and of course we could!

Sew-in for Project Linus

A great local charity – Team Tree – that raises funds for Alder Hey got in touch and offered to pay for the fabric, and Abakhan Fabrics, Liverpool agreed to us using their workshop for a sew-in. We had a productive day with 12 sewing machines in constant use and other people cutting and ironing fabrics, and produced 226 sheets for the Unit. We also donated quilts and blankets and received a thank you letter stating “you have no idea how appreciative we are with these donations that transform the place.” One of the quilts was given to a 7 year old girl who had been in the Unit for 50 days – when shown a daisy quilt she put her thumbs up and this then went with her when she transferred to Newcastle for a heart transplant.


Get in touch

Please send any articles or photographs for inclusion in the next newsletter to Ann.

Newsletter – January 2016

Lyn | News from HQ

Congratulations and thanks to all our coordinators and their supporters across the UK. With numbers still coming in we are already up to a record 28,758 quilts and blankets donated in 2015. This is over 1,000 more than last year. There were also countless premature baby hats, teddies, cushions, baby clothes, and other knitted or sewn items.

Several coordinators ran fundraising efforts (raffles, coffee mornings, stands at local show, talks to WI, Rotary groups etc). We also received money from Waitrose, a few local councils, and other grant making bodies. Some of this money was used locally and some came back to the centre. With that, we bought lots of fabric for local workshops, particularly fleece and backing. We do spend a bit on admin (postage, flyers etc) and also getting our accounts audited. However, almost all our work is done by volunteers at their own expense.


Jacki | Gloucestershire

Incubator cover being delivered

We have been making incubator covers for St Michaels Hospital in Bristol. This is the last of the 20 covers being delivered. Little Patrick was born in Southmead Hospital and quickly transferred to the special baby unit at St Michaels Hospital due to various problems. He’s now a very bonny eight month old and we all got a cuddle when his Mum brought him in for a visit. Gromit always gets in on the act around here!

We were asked recently for some sensory quilts with ‘feely bits’ that didn’t meet with our usual specification for no embellishments etc. We compromised with some ‘supervision only’ quilts which enabled more knobbly bits to be included. A workshop in North Nibley run by Ruth Kirkup provided many varied sensory quilts for Sense, Bristol. Some of final quilts were masterpieces, including an audio quilt made by Margaret Davie in Swindon. There are 10 animal sounds sewn into the quilt, and tabs to allow the quilt to be displayed on the wall when not in use.


Margaret | Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich

We’ve had a very successful year. In total we have donated 143 quilts. Some of these have been given to us by other local quilters as word of our presence is getting around! Several weeks ago we received a message from one of the other London coordinators about a young lady with a lot of fabric for us. Travelling by train and bus (and not sure what ‘a lot’ might be) Margaret took a not-too-big wheelie suitcase and a bag which ended up being stuffed to overflowing. Unpacking for the ladies in our group was like being in fabric heaven – we were all planning in our heads what we would be making and we won’t be shopping for a while!

Daryl recently gave a talk to the members of the Emmanuel Quilters in Dartford. it went well despite the lack of heating and we were set home with 19 quilts and the proceeds of their entry charge, sale of goods, and raffle.

Lately we’ve been experimenting with preprinted panels. Kim contacted an eBay seller to see if we could get some more and mentioned what we’re doing. The outcome was that they are putting another panel in for free and are going to look into sending any scraps that we can use. They are very willing to help as they said it’s nice to know that we’re out there volunteering to try to make children’s lives more comfortable.

The most moving request we’ve had was for a quilt for a stillborn baby. The mother was going to order one from the US but heard about our group so were able to get one to her within a few days. We also made a tiny matching square for the mother to keep with her.

We used to keep an album of photos of our quilts but Chris has now set up a Pinterest board to act as online storage. Our New Year’s resolution is to finish off some UFOs we have sitting in the cupboard – with all the donation of fabric and unfinished patchwork pieces we need to make some space!


Joan | Dumfries and Galloway

A while back the local branch of MIND contacted me. Their therapeutic craft group has made quilts for Alzheimers and had heard about Project Linus and wanted me to visit. Their work was good; they had had a good tutor. One problem – our council had slashed their craft budget severely – however I was able to let them have fabric, fleece, and wadding from donations made to me. I didn’t hear from them for a while as their tutor had moved, but this month they presented me with six lovely quilts.

I feel this is a real circle of care, donations to our group being put to good use, the ladies making quilts benefit and the quilts are produced for various outlets.


Get in touch

Please send any articles or photographs for inclusion in the next newsletter to Ann.

 

Newsletter – July 2015

Lyn | News from HQ

The early summer is a relatively quiet time for me. The year starts with the Linus annual accounts. March is the Guild stand at Olympia where we show beginners how to make a simple block and how it gets turned into a Linus quilt. April is the Guild AGM and the Linus stand at Uttoxeter. Now I can actually do some sewing. The current project is to make 18 larger quilts to go on the bunks at an adventure camp for inner city kids who would not otherwise get a holiday. I am privileged to live in the beautiful South Shropshire hills at the bottom of the Long Mynd. This is prime country for schools in the West Midlands and Birmingham to send pupils to do their Duke of Edinburgh awards. Pontesbuy Deanery, based near us, has been organising these holidays for many years and I was delighted to get involved because I know from my own children how important it is for City children to be able to run around in open country.

Now that I have the Lucey long arm quilter, donated by APQS, it is really easy to make a top into a quilt. I made two tops, each approx 42inches square. The Warm company have donated quite a few rolls of wadding 90″ so I put both tops on one piece of wadding with a length of 60″ lightweight cotton for the backing. It took less than one hour to do the quilting on the two tops using a random meandering pattern. This is worked from the needle side of the machine so you can see what you are doing which makes it much easier than trying to follow a pantograph. How many of you took part in ‘Knit in Public’ day? We had a little group knitting in our local library and chatting – libraries have changed since my youth. It was just as well that we met indoors as it rained all day. It’s good to show people what we do. Apparently the NHS is even considering prescribing knitting as therapy for depression and dementia. How boring life would be if we didn’t keep making things.

Happy quilting – and knitting too


Ann | Chesterfield & South Sheffield

Hilary Jackson and Sarah Humphreys are a Mum and Daughter team who have recently started to organise quilting retreats in Kegworth, Derbyshire. The first retreat, in October 2014, proved so popular that in May of this year they held two retreats – attended by a total of 52 ladies from all over the country. Hilary and Sarah have been supporters of Project Linus UK for many years, having made and donated several quilts through their local quilt groups. They were sure that many of the quilters attending the retreat would love to support Project Linus as well so set a little ‘preretreat challenge’. They circulated the instructions for a simple 10” quilt block and asked each quilter to make one block in bright colours, suitable for a child, and bring it with them to the retreat.

The response to the challenge was fantastic. In all, 160 blocks were donated – enough for ten quilts. During the retreat weekend, Sarah and Hilary sorted and stitched the blocks. Hilary then took them away to quilt and bind. Everyone was delighted with how the quilts turned out and commented on how – with the same instructions – quilters can end up making such diverse blocks. It is amazing though that the blocks still go together so easily to make a wide range of quilts which will hopefully appeal to children of different ages. These quilts have now been given to Home Start in Sheffield for the families to enjoy A big thank you from Sarah and Hilary to everyone who donated a block. They’ll certainly have another challenge ready for quilters at the next retreat!


Janet | Caithness

We had a very productive day’s workshop at Caithness Quilters and made enough blocks for about 5 quilts. This idea came about as some of the ladies had heard that they could make a foundation pieced house block for the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham in August which would go to make Linus Quilts.


Jacki | Gloucester

I have been asked to provide 20 incubator covers – quite a task! The first of these have now been delivered to SCBU at St Michaels Hospital Bristol. The only stipulation was that they should have dark backs to minimise the light. Apparently the babies are then able to open their eyes without the glare of the lights and the mothers say that bonding begins properly at this point. I have been able to use up ‘ugly’ on the back and also light damaged dark fabrics so it is proving quite useful. Only the centre is quilted – 40 x 20 – which I do free motion quilting to ensure it can’t come adrift anywhere. When folded back it folds exactly on the wadding line so stays put.


Pip | Edinburgh, Mid & East Lothian

A few of the Thank You letters received:

“I’ve attached some pictures of your beautiful handmade quilts. Feedback from the families has been great and they all are so thankful of the gift. In one picture the little boy is unwell and is lying in bed with his quilt on top. Another child voiced her excitement of receiving the princess quilt as princesses are her favourite thing. I just want to thank you for you continued support and donations of the quilts; they really mean so much to our families living in our refuge.” Family Support Worker

“We received a beautiful quilt last week when our little boy was in the sick children’s hospital in Edinburgh. I don’t know if it is possible to thank the person who made it. It has a cockerel weather vane in the middle and is edged in deep red and green and is fleece backed. The background colour is yellow. It kept Finn, 16 months, warm and reassured during his time in intensive care and recuperating on the wards after a terrifying episode of septicaemia and toxic shock. We are very grateful for your kindness.”

“Our son has just recently come out of the Sick Kids hospital. The day we were leaving we were giving a beautiful blue/cream teddy bear and balloons patchwork quilt which is now keeping our 1 year old very cosy. Thanks so much for giving us such a lovely gift. It put a smile on our faces after having such a worrying time in hospital with our son. We really appreciate it and it will take pride and place in our son’s bedroom”.


 

Get in touch

Please send any articles or photographs for inclusion in the next newsletter to Ann.

Festival of Quilts 2015

Every year at the Festival of Quilts we set a challenge. How many blocks can our visitors make on a given theme? These blocks are then made into packs to give to our volunteers across the UK who make them into quilts for sick, disabled or disadvantaged children to provide cheer and comfort. Our theme this year is Homes and Gardens.

Houses, trees, flowers, gardens, beach huts, anything you’d like. Any style of patchwork or just squares of fabric. Blocks should be 12 1/2″ square and unquilted ready to be pieced together.

Download our PDF containing a simple house block (To view PDFs you’ll need to install a free copy of Adobe Reader).

For more patterns and inspiration take a look at our latest Pinterest board.

Bring them along to our stand at the NEC in August (6th-9th) or send them to:
FoQ Blocks, 18 Alison Road, Church Stretton, Shropshire SY6 7AT.

Easy Fundraising

Do you shop online? If so, you could be raising funds for Project Linus with many of your purchases.

By registering for the free Easy Fundraising website and selecting Project Linus as your nominated charity, each time you shop online with any of the 2,000 Easy Fundraising retailers (including Amazon, John Lewis and M&S) a small donation will be made to the charity. It doesn’t cost you (or the charity) a single penny.

While the amounts are only small, they quickly add up and help us to create more blankets and quilts for young people and vulnerable adults in the UK. Your donations keep the charity going and contribute towards buying fabric, wadding and other sewing and quilting supplies.

It’s quick and easy to register if you take a look at http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/projectlinus

Newsletter – April 2012

Total donations: 213,578
This year to date: 3,550

Around the Country
Richard Armitage quilt
Apologies for not including in the last issue the splendid eBay auction of the Richard Armitage quilt donated by American quilter Carol Jehu. Jacquie Cranfield organised the auction on eBay with the support of the Richard Armitage UK Fan Club and raised the amazing sum of £650. The second quilt Carol so kindly donated is going to be raffled at the AGM. Please contact me if you are willing to sell tickets. The quilt won second prize two years ago at the Hannah Dustin Quilt Show in New Hampshire – the first time Carol had ever entered a pieced quilt. Carol is delighted it is going to be raffled and hopes it makes lots of money for Project Linus.

Jan Jones (South East Wales)
We had a very enjoyable day at our Quiltathon at Llantarnam Church Hall with lots achieved including donations to the project along with 34 quilts. The quilts donated and made on the day will be part of a package to be taken to the new Crown Bridge School for special needs children opening after Easter. This replaces an older building and hopefully we will be able to supply each class in turn. There are roughly 80 children ranging in age from 3 to 19 years. There are also quite a few knitted quilts which hopefully will be taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital for the stillborn children, to help and support bereaved parents.

It was a very jolly day with people coming from a wide area, with lots of tea drunk and quite a bit of cake and biscuits eaten which all added to the atmosphere. Quilter love cake! We’re now planning another Quiltathon for the future.

Sue Wilson (Ceredigion)
The last three months have been busy for the area – we have had two craft fairs (both at our local woollen mill) and have made items to sell as well as having a raffle. The fairs have raised money and also the profile of Project Linus in the area. We now have regular contact with two women’s refuges as well as finding many sick children in the community. Our main base is the West Wales Hospital where we supply quilts to the children’s ward and SCBU. Liz Coles and myself visited SCBU to present 6 incubator covers, 12 small bags and 21 quilts making a total of 300 quilts donated to the unit since we took over in January 2007.

Helen Scales (East Staffs)
Our Linus Day in March was a great success. There were 20 of us working hard all day – sewing and eating cake! Kim and I had put together about 40 packs to make quilts between 24 and 42 inches square. Several quilts were finished on the day and many volunteers took extra packs to make quilts at home. The finished quilts will go to the local women’s refuge, the children’s hospice and a school for children with multiple health problems.

Val Lillie (Surrey)
I have a wonderful supporting group called Prospect Quilters whose leader Mary is now 94. They have made more than 400 quilts since 2007, and in fact she has just written an article about Project Linus for her local Parish magazine,
Ed – One of our coordinators has confessed she will be 90 this year, but doesn’t want to own up in public! Jackie Molloy says one of her knitters, Madge, is 91. Is needlework good for you?

Ann Smith (North Derbyshire)
Quilt Time, Stannington, Sheffield, have a special day every year to make quilts for Project Linus and this year it was held on Saturday 5th February. It was a hive of activity with lots of fabric and wadding being cut alongside the whirr of sewing machines. There was a lot of chatter (mostly about patterns and techniques) and a lot of hard work, as well as lunch and tasty cakes. There was a ‘show and tell’ of all the quilts given to Project Linus (lots of oohs and ahhs – and ‘how did they do that’). The result was over 20 quilts being donated and the promise of more when the quilts from teh day are finished. The quilts donated were a veritable collection of bright colours, patterns and patchwork shapes, all beautifully quilted by the ladies of Quilt Time.

Quilters’ Guild AGM
Alison Drayson (Tayside) organised a Project Linus activity at this years AGM in Dundee. She had been left a stash of fabric by Dorothy Bell from Dundee who was one of the early quilters in Scotland and a stalwart of the Quilters Guild. The bits from this were cut into angled strips, joined, then cut and cross-joined. A number of volunteers at the AGM came and helped sew – claiming that they were suffering from withdrawal symptoms while listening to the speakers.

The Quilters’ Guild gave us a stand (and provided sewing machines). It went very well and we had lots of donations of fabric and quilts, and our helpers made enough scrap blocks for 5 quilts.

The Guild is struggling with the cost of running St Anthony’s Hall in York. They are hoping to renegotiate the rent in the short term and to run a lot more workshops and other events to make the place pay for itself in the longer term. Otherwise they will have to close the museum.
Ed – The speakers were amazing as always but I can’t imagine being able to produce that sort of quilt. I’m happy making jolly Project Linus quilts!

Do you have any stories or photographs for the next edition of the newsletter? Please do send these in to share with other volunteers.

Happy Quilting.