Festival of Quilts 2016

Thank you so much to everyone who came over to say hello during the Festival. It was wonderful to meet so many of you, and we received a fantastic number of seaside quilt blocks along with many completed quilts and blankets. Don’t worry if you haven’t got round to making any challenge blocks yet, just send your completed blocks to the address below or pass them to your local coordinator – there’s no deadline!

The theme for 2016 is “Seaside“. There are two simple patterns available (a beach hut and a sailing boat) but let your imaginations run wild. The only constraints are that all blocks need to be 12.5 inches unfinished.

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

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

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.

Newsletter – May 2015

Lyn | News from HQ

March and April were busy months. We had a presence on the Quilters’ Guild stand at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Olympia. They were running beginners workshops showing people how to make a simple block and then how different colour schemes and arrangements produced different quilts from the same basic shape. Liz Powderham from Surrey provided a display of Linus quilts so that visitors could see just how effective a simple block can be and how much pleasure it can bring to a sick or distressed child.

In April there were two events taking place on the same weekend. There was the Quilt Village at Uttoxeter and also the Quilters’ Guild AGM in Harrogate. Celia Wright, Helen Scales and Heather Russell manned the stand at Uttoxeter and sold scraps, bags and old magazines to raise funds as well as telling people about our work. I went to Harrogate where we had some sewing machines at the AGM – helpers put together 13 tops from the blocks made at Olympia, and started on some more packs.

Now I just need to catch up with the paperwork that has been piling up while I was preparing for the shows and driving across the country to go to them!


Betty | Londonderry

At the Creative Crafts Belfast we raffled quilts and made £320.00 as well as giving out 400 leaflets about Project Linus and 700 free knitting patterns. We had a great response and met a lot of ladies who had never heard of Linus and also met one potential coordinator. I was given 30 little knitted blankets which I have passed on to Craigavon Area Hospital and met a lot of nurses who want us to make incubator covers etc. I was also given a donation of £500 from Northern Ireland Children’s Cancer fund to make quilts for them. I am also doing a banner for them to put up in the hospital. So we are keeping busy over here!


Joan | Dumfries & Galloway

Yesterday, the “Sorbie Stitchers”, a wee group in a nearby village, who meet weekly in someone’s kitchen, and who are giving so many quilts, held a wonderful soup and sweet lunch (with raffle) and raised £465 for their own funds to buy fabric, fleece etc. The room was decorated with quilts, and as well as leaflets on the tables, their leader spoke to all to thank them for coming and spoke of the work of Project Linus. As a WPC she has first-hand knowledge of how much the quilts mean to the children – and the families. There was one wee girl there, enjoying lunch who had received a quilt. I was just there as a question/answer-er, and dogs body!


Marion | Barnsley and North Sheffield

We delivered 64 quilts to Barnsley Hospital’s neonatal unit yesterday that had been made by a group of women doing a quilt-a-thon for red nose day. In addition to making the quilts for Linus they raised £2000 for children in need. An excellent result all round.


Pip | Edinburgh

A couple of thank you letters:
“Ladies: my son was in the sick kids in October, and he received a lovely quilt from your project. It is lovely and we use it often. Many people admire it. My son is doing well and is now 9 months. I am sorry it took me so long to get in touch to say Thank You – Many thanks, you are all very talented and very kind.”

“I would like to say a huge thank you for the beautiful blanket my son received when he was in hospital in January. My son Alexander (aged 3) came down with Scarlet Fever and pneumonia and had to stay in hospital for twelve days. It was a horrible experience but the hospital were amazing and Alexander was really brave. He got his blanket about five days into his stay and has held onto it ever since. He loves the planets that glow in the dark and the soft furry side. He has been using it to wrap up his favourite soft toy ‘Little Doggy’ ever since and has it on his bed at night.

Alex has fully recovered now and you would not know he had been dangerously ill. Thank you for such a beautiful and kind gift. The blanket has become a symbol for me of all the kindness, goodness and love people have. Many thanks and all the best with all your future blanket making.”


Ann | Chesterfield & South Sheffield

Don’t you just love a challenge! The sister of a member of sew4others in Dronfield runs a printing business selling personalised pillowcases made from 100% soft cotton and just the right size for baby quilts and gives us the surplus. We enjoyed planning, designing and cutting up the pillowcases to make baby quilts. The finished quilts have now been donated to Chesterfield Neo-Natal unit.


Jacki | Gloucester

My first sensory quilt! Corduroy, fur, fleece and towelling. All washable. Of course. I only sent it to show off as I’m really pleased with it. I made my husband close his eyes to ‘see it’ and he thought the different textures and shapes worked well. Mind you, what does he know? The odd crazy pieces are surprisingly good as the texture of the seams is great. I think other branches of SENSE would be interested too.


Ingrid | Pembrokeshire

A lovely letter from Nora, a former coordinator in Pembrokeshire:

“I first heard about Project Linus in the autumn of 2002. As there was no local coordinator I became a volunteer and set about making quilts and enlisting friends to make some too. I handed over the coordinating side of things after about four years and concentrated on making more quilts.

After a few years I realised what a splendid excuse it was to try out yet another idea. Amish designs in wild colours, or how many different layouts were possible using just nine-patch blocks or friendship stars. My local group were very good at supporting me by buying wadding: other people gave me fabric for piecing and backing. I have always tried to keep photos of all the quilts I made and recently I realised that not only was I averaging 40 a year but must be approaching a total of 500! Having recently moved into a much smaller house with a very small workroom it seemed like a good time to wind down once that total was reached.

Nora Squibbs”


Caroline | Liverpool

Last year Liverpool Project Linus put out an appeal via Radio Merseyside for shirts to make into quilts. We were contacted by Joan, whose late husband loved buying shirts: she’d been loathe to part with them until she heard about Project Linus, and liked the idea of them being used to cheer up children.

Two volunteers cut the shirts into squares and we held a sew-in at The Button Boutique where quilts were created. In April 2015 these were displayed at Liverpool Central Library in an exhibition entitled “62 shirts – in memory of Pat” and Joan was our guest of honour.


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.

Newsletter – November 2014

Lyn | News from HQ

Ani Catt, APQS importer and South Devon coordinator recently handed over the Lucey long arm quilting machine donated by the American manufacturers. They are great supporters of Linus in the US and have decided to support us as well. The machine is currently set up in my studio/Linus office. This will mean that I can quilt the backlog of tops that I have been given.

Many people enjoy piecing but don’t have the space to layer larger quilts. My husband helped me to set it up, but Ani says that she can set one up on her own when she takes it to shows. Obviously I am not yet an expert on it, but it is surprisingly easy and quick to quilt a top.

The Warm Company have also been supporting us by providing wadding for use at Linus workshops. So far, 11 coordinators have received packs of wadding with some more on the way. I expect that many groups will be busy making and delivering quilts for Christmas as this is a popular time for giving them out to brighten the dark days and keep everyone warm and cosy.


Caroline | Liverpool

Pupils at The Hawthorne’s Free School, Bootle made a selection of great quilts for Project Linus in their art and textile after-school club. They are making more this term and we look forward to seeing them.

We had a stall at Bridge Quilters exhibition in September – we were in the same room as the refreshments (including great cakes!) and had a lot of interest shown in the Project. The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Halton attended the exhibition and took an interest in our work.


Philippa | Edinburgh

When someone has died, Richmond’s Hope is a place where children and young people can explore their feelings and find ways of coping. This is a small Edinburgh charity that has been supporting bereaved families since 2003 and is now expanding. Members of Edinburgh Linus Group worked together to produce this special quilt to be hung on a wall at their new centre at Carricknowe. A similar quilt had been made by another group for their first centre some years ago, and it has been much valued. Linus Group member Isabel Alexander designed this new quilt. Each block has a light self-coloured applique shape on which children can write messages. This quilt has animal shapes to appeal to younger children and geometric ones for older ones and was fairly easy but creatively appealing to make.


Jacki | Bristol

The Severnside Stitchers at their Quilt and Stitch Show in Minsterworth, Gloucestershire made 20 quilts for Project Linus, which are all going to the new intake at a special school in South Gloucestershire.


Ann | Chesterfield and South Sheffield

At sew4others our monthly meeting coincided with the Macmillan’s Coffee Morning day – so we held a coffee morning and mini quilt exhibition to highlight to our visitors the kind of quilts and blankets we make and give away on behalf of Project Linus. We raised £280 for MacMillan Nurses, had numerous visitors who expressed a lot of interest in the quilts and knitted blankets, ate a lot of buns and cakes – and these two nurses (from Walton Hospital in Chesterfield and Jessop Baby Hospital in Sheffield) took 75 baby quilts, no-sew blankets and shawls back to their respective hospitals.


Mary Ann | Derby

I recently collected quilts from The Derby Quilters – as always a wonderful variety for all ages, some of these have also gone to Rainbows Hospice. A big thank you to all our stitchers and volunteers

The Stitching, Knitting and Natter ladies from Darley Dale in Derbyshire have made 15 quilts for Project Linus. They all include shirt fabric. Some of the blocks have colour detail such as a yellow patch in each. They started with large squares of shirt fabric and as the pieces got smaller ended making crazy patchwork blocks. What a great idea!

45 quilts were taken to the Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young Adults. To celebrate their 20th Birthday they had an Open Day so we were able to see what fantastic facilities they have for the youngsters. They were thrilled with the quilts which will be a great comfort for the children and also the teenagers, who often get overlooked.


Sally | Fife

Three of us attended the Kidz Scotland (Disabled Living) Event which took place at Ingliston near Edinburgh on the 11th September – it was a wonderful and humbling day. The event is described as a free UK event for children and young adults with disabilities and special needs, for their families, carers, and support professionals. There are other ‘Kidz’ events in Manchester, Coventry and the south of England during 2014-2015.

The three Linus reps were Elspeth (Lanarkshire/Glasgow East) who organized us all, Marion (Glasgow South/Renfrewshire), and Sally (Fife). Elspeth had prepared a batch of leaflets describing Linus, which we handed out to many of the other charities and organisations that had stands, in addition to the families who attended.

Many people visited our stand – most had not heard about us, so we put that right! Quite a number told us that their child had received a blanket/quilt from us at some time and thanked us, which was very gratifying. We gave out several quilts which we had brought along. There were visitors from many areas of Scotland and Northern England, so be prepared for some calls requesting quilts!


 

Lesley | Lancashire

I recently had an e-mail from a lady asking if we could provide a quilt to a young lady now so poorly she has had to use a wheelchair. I wasn’t sure we covered where she lived but set about making the quilt. Purple was her favourite colour. After several lovely communications to and fro, quilt made, I set out to deliver it. No-one at home. Back to the email. She and her mum had gone to Anglesey for respite. So the quilt was delivered the following week to a lovely young girl and her super mum. When I got back from my trip collecting donated fabrics and delivering the quilt another email from Switzerland thanking me and Project Linus for making a difference. I had no idea I was international!


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

Newsletter – July 2014

Lyn | News from HQ
April was a busy month. Traplet Publications kindly donated a stand for us at the Uttoxeter Quilt Village. We sold more raffle tickets and also sold scrap packs and fabric remnants which had been donated but were either not in child friendly colours or not of patchwork fabric. The scrap packs in particular were very popular. We raised enough money that way to supply wadding for Linus days across the country and to produce more publicity material. We have had posters and flyers with simple patterns for quilts and blankets printed to give out to anyone who is interested in supporting us.

The Quilters Guild gave us some workshop space at their AGM in Portsmouth. Jane Lambert and Lourdes Ball brought lots of ready cut pieces for attendees to piece together. We put up posters and gave out leaflets. Of course most Guild members know about Project Linus and many are regular supporters but it is good to keep them up to date with what is happening.

It seems that there are a number of knitting and crafting magazines who are interested in charity knitting so our blanket patterns have been requested by several magazines along with information about our organisation and where our quilts and blankets go. They don’t always tell me what they have published though, so it’s hard to keep track!

Preparations are already under way for the Festival of Quilts at the NEC in August. There will be another quilt to raffle and local Linus coordinators will be selling tickets. We hope to see you there, or you could take part in our Block Challenge.

Elspeth Russell in Falkirk has reported that Asda offer free use of meeting rooms in some of their premises. She has booked one for a Linus event and will report back on how it goes.


Sandra | East Kent

herne-bay-show-07-14

I thought you would like to see how my banners turned out. I am very pleased with them and had several good comments about them. I think you can just about make out the dog quilt which is the one I have all my ladies making for The Kent Association for The Blind. It has been very popular, so if there is any wadding going it would be much appreciated!

We certainly had a good fundraiser, organised by our local coffee lounge Mackaris. He said he would arrange a celebrity but I didn’t expect Stephanie Beecham and Russ Abbot, I felt so honoured. Russ Abbot was lovely and certainly made everyone laugh.


Jane | North Cornwall

These children at their kindergarten in Romania live in a very poor community, where most adults live on the few pounds doled out by the government for families, eked out by their own very small scale farming efforts and charities such as Rora Christian Centre, Devon. My cousin Christine and her husband (both in their late seventies now) travel out three or four times a year with a lorry of goods that have been donated in this country to help the community at Vulcan and other local communities. Their support isn’t just practical in goods and the provision of a school and canteen. They also help the children’s parents fill out government forms and try to access what little they are entitled to. If you want to know more, I can send you Rora’s latest newsletter from Romania. These often make heartrending reading, so I’m very pleased indeed we’ve been able to cheer the children up with quilts.

Ed – Many of us made quilts for Romania before Linus got started in the UK. There was some anxiety that they weren’t always reaching the orphanages they were aimed at but Jane Anstey has a direct link and her makers were happy to send these to the children. I know this stretches the Linus remit and I would always insist that makers know and are happy with where their quilts were going, but I would hate to think that we ignored need that we knew we could meet – Lyn.


Sylvia | Warrington

We had a wonderful coffee morning on 12th April. The ladies worked hard both before and during the event making craft items, cakes, jams and marmalade etc but it was well worth the effort as it gave a big boost to our funds and will allow us to buy more fabric and wool to keep us out of mischief!


Ann | Chesterfield and South Sheffield

Beryl is a PACT nurse at Sheffield Childrens’ Hospital, and she wanted to visit sew4others and personally thank the ladies who make the quilts (this includes quilts made by Quilt Time in Stannington) and to express just how much the children love their quilts – which they bring back with them for subsequent treatments at the hospital. She also told us a little bit about what PACT is, and does (Parent’s Association of Children with Tumours and Leukaemia).

The PACT nurses work with the children and supervise all their treatments but they also care about the whole family too. The quilts also help to liven up the house that the parents can stay in to be close to their child whilst they are undergoing treatment in hospital. Beryl has been nursing patients with cancers for a number of years and her devotion and passion for her work shone through so much so that when we had a ‘show and tell’ of the quilts she was mentally matching up the different quilts with her patients.


Sylvia | Warrington

In February we did a presentation to a team from Warrington Youth Club about “Crazy Quilters for Linus” and Project Linus UK, explaining about the history of Project Linus, the work we do and a little about the recipients. We had a display of quilts and blankets we had made and an incubator cover and some vent bonnets. The four teams within the youth club had each chosen three local charities that they were to consider and then set about fundraising. We were fortunate enough to be chosen as our team’s charity. This was for their personal development and team work over the next six weeks as part of their “National Citizen Service” (NCS). The NCS help young people discover the value of volunteering, make new friends, challenging activities and learn life lessons that can’t be taught in the classroom. They felt we were a small local charity who did our own fundraising for a worthwhile cause.

They had agreed that our talents were best used knitting and sewing and they would use their talents in their own ways. They did various activities including sponsored bike rides, dress down days, coffee mornings, cake making and making posies to sell for Mother’s day. We had been told that any money they raised would have to buy goods rather than be given directly to us. We had a meeting to discuss the type of fabrics and wools we use and where to shop for it. A few of them set off to choose things to buy. We were then invited to their graduation. The youth club leaders said they like to make this a special occasion for them and they certainly did. Five of our committee members were able to attend. The youths, their leaders, some parents and family, the Lord Mayor and representatives from the other three successful charities were there. The tables were full of food and drinks and looking very festive with party poppers and balloons. The youths too were all dressed up and looking very smart. I had the opportunity to tell everybody about Project Linus UK and our group in particular, the work we do and the recipients before thanking them for all their efforts. I was then presented with £440 worth of fabrics and wools, tied up with coloured ribbons. My four friends had to come a give me a hand. I thanked them again and said our ladies would think it was birthdays and Christmas all rolled into one. Alex, one of their leaders, then introduced a video they had made whilst they were having fun, dancing and singing around Warrington Town Centre. This can be seen on NCS undefeatable crazy quilters. (If that is not successful try NCS Warrington) They couldn’t thank us enough for the experience, how much fun they had during the fundraising and the shopping, very evident if you manage to see the video. We are so grateful to them for ourselves and for the children and young people who will get the ultimate benefit. They have promised to keep in touch and a few of them helped us at our own coffee morning the following week. As my daughter said after watching the video, it is good to see the youth of today getting so involved and doing some really good work.


Get in touch
Please send any articles or photographs for inclusion in the next newsletter to Ann by 15th August 2014.

Newsletter – January 2014

For updates on Project Linus read the summary of our latest newsletter below or join us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up-to-date with all the latest news and photos.

Download the full newsletter (PDF) to see photographs of the beautiful quilts described below.

A huge thank you

2013 was our most successful year to date with a total of 23,109 donations of quilts and blankets. Thank you so much to all our co-ordinators, quiltmakers and knitters for their support.

Meg (Staffs Moorlands)
It’s with great sadness that I am sharing with you the passing of a wonderful lady – Joan Dengel of Great Longstone, Derbyshire. She has been a massive contributor to Project Linus over the last few years, making lovely quilts along with her daughter Paula, her last count was 431! Although her health was not good, she was a cheerful and inspirational lady, getting others to help too with knitted and crocheted blankets. We met twice a year to ‘put the world to rights’ and shared lots of quilting ideas and tops; hers always much better than mine. I personally shall miss her very much and the organisation will be a few quilts less without her generous contributions. God bless you Joan.

Barbie (North Dorset)
July was a very busy month for us with our record number of 92 quilts donated. We held an exhibition in Shaftesbury with the North Dorset Quilters and raised £74 from donations. Several people came in and said they had a grandchild who had received one of the Project Linus quilts and how they loved them.

Each year a different group of children who have been affected by the Chernobyl disaster come over to Sherborne for a month’s holiday with host families, this month gives them an extra unbelievable 3 years of life. We have been involved with this group called ‘Chernobyl Children’s Life Line’ for 3 years now and give all the children a quilt to take home. it’s wonderful to see how they blossom in this short time and the delight on their faces when they choose their quilts.

We were recently contacted by Homestart who were very keen to be supplied with quilts for children under 5 so our first delivery of 41 quilts was made in July, with more to come in the future. They are most appreciative of them and have sent a lovely letter saying thanks to all our ladies.

We would like to thank Carol Scott for all her hard work for Project Linus in this area as she has now retired as co-ordinator but will surely keep in touch and continue to make quilts for us. Carol and Anne started the group in 2008 and it continues to gain momentum every month.

Ann (Chesterfield/South Sheffield)
We had a ‘monster’ time at a sew4others meeting – all the ‘monsters’ were made from strangely shaped scraps that we all have after cutting out shapes from bond-a-web backed fabric. We just added the eyes! This quilt went to the Children’s Hospital in Sheffield via the PACT nurses who said the boys would be fighting over who had this one! So as not to leave them out we made a monster quilt for a girl too which will soon be on its way to the hospital.

It was still school holidays during our August meeting and the grandsons accompanied their grannies. The boys had a lesson in knitting squares for blankets and joined in the fun of show-and-tell.

Angela (West Dorset)
The Melpash Show in August was very successful making £236. Gill did her stuff again and organised a competition using a quilt called ‘Little Dragons Everywhere’. The competition involved naming dragons and the quilt was won by a lady from Weymouth. Our thanks go to the organisers of the show who gave us a free pitch again, and to Joan Hawes and Margaret Read who helped us on the stand.

Many of you came to the Flower and Quilt Festival held in Askerwell Church in July. As I sit here now with the central heating on, it seems a long time ago but the weather could not have been more perfect for us. Everyone worked so hard for the event and it was a resounding success. Every pew in the church was draped with quilts and almost everyone who walked through the doors and saw the colourful display said ‘wow’. We exhibited approximately 60 quilts and most of these were given to various recipients a week later. The PCC and Project Linus made an amazing £689 each. Our thanks go to Askerwell PCC for agreeing to hold the event and all their hard work, and also to all those people who made quilts for the show.

Lesley (Selsey)
In July 2013 a group of ladies from around West Sussex joined the Selsey Quilters for a workshop day making quilt tops for Project Linus. This was the second year that we had a lovely sunny day to come together and what a great day we had. This year we took along our small stretching bars as well so we could show how to stretch a quilt top with a fleece back or with wadding and a backing as some of the girls hadn’t done this before. 10 quilt tops were completed and a good day was had by all.

Jacquie (West London/North Surrey)
It’s been quite a busy time in the West London/North Surrey area. In November a member of Honeybees Quilting Group organised a Project Linus day at Tysons Sewing Centre in Southall. Tysons offered free facilities and we had a great time choosing fabrics and making a variety of quilts. Thanks should go to Tysons and to Anna East for organising everything including the biscuits! All the quilts will go to Ealing Hospital.

Also in November, Thameside Quilters held a Christmas quilt-giving evening. Several of the quilts had been made at the annual Quiltathon in July from a pattern by Karen Hellaby and it was interesting to see the same pattern with different interpretations. Altogether 45 quilts and blankets were donated to charity, as well as 4 incubator covers for St. Peter’s Hospital. A great evening spent with generous ladies.

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

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

Festival of Quilts 2014

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. 2014’s theme is “In the Jungle”

Exotic animals and birds, foliage and flowers or characters from cartoons. Any style of patchwork or just squares of fabric. Blocks should be 8 1/2″ square and unquilted ready to be pieced together.

Bring them to our stand next year or send them to:

FoQ Blocks, 18 Alison Road, Church Stretton, Shropshire SY6 7AT

We will also be having a quilt raffle and a sale of fabric remnants. Last year our ‘pot luck’ scrap bags were amazingly popular. These funds enable us to buy fabric, wadding and fleece for our volunteers to use

Newsletter – April 2013

A huge thank you
Elspeth Russell sent in this letter from a grateful Mum:
“I would just like to say a HUGE thank you … to Project Linus UK and everyone involved in getting these blankets to sick kids in hospital. My daughter spent some time in Wishaw General Hospital after suffering with a condition called Masenteric Adentitis. She received this blanket from the nursing staff and has loved it since she took ownership of it. It brightened up her bed on the ward and she loves to wrap it around her as she tries to get better at home. Although she is still in a lot of pain, she is happy to be home. Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to make this blanky. The workmanship put into this is remarkable and a blanky my 9-year-old will no doubt treasure for a lifetime.”

A Royal thank you
You may remember that Prince Charles paid a visit to Angela Hartle’s group at Pauline’s Patchwork. At the time, volunteers were making a rabbit quilt that he commented on as being appropriate to give to a grandchild – this was about 10 days prior to announcement. They were very good and kept quiet but made him a duplicate quilt (not using Linus funds or fabric). Angela sent it off and received a letter in reply from Clarence House which read:

“Dear Mrs Hartle,
I am writing on behalf of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to thank you for your letter of 2nd February enclosing the beautiful patchwork quilt made by Project Linus volunteers. It was extremely kind of you to send this to His Royal Highness and it is obvious a great deal of work has gone into making it. His Royal Highness was delighted to receive this gift and has asked me to send you and volunteers at Project Linus his warmest thanks and very good wishes.”

Women’s Aid Refuge, Sheffield
Jo from the Women’s Aid Refuge in Sheffield came to visit Sew4Others in Dronfield, Derbyshire, and collected 22 quilts to take back to the Haven House Centre. She also collected quite a number of drawstring bags which are used as ‘welcome bags’ for the children and ladies who come to the refuge. These are filled with toys, toiletries, pens etc and together with the gift of a quilt say “welcome” in a very practical way. The children get very excited opening their welcome bags and the quilts stay with them even when they have left the refuge. It was heartening to hear where our quilts were going and Jo’s talk has spurred us on to make even more quilts.

Update from North Yorkshire
Beryl Homes recently received the lovely note below:
“One of my colleagues, Heather, recently passed on a quilt made in the Northallerton area for our daughter Rosa. Rosa is an eleven year old who has Rett syndrome, diabetes and epilepsy. She really feels the cold in winter so the quilt has been great for covering her up in her wheelchair. Can I express our great thanks for this kind gesture; the quilt has been really useful. Helen and Jerry”

Cushions for Manchester Children’s Hospital
Manchester Children’s Hospital recently asked if we could make some cushions, as the older children had asked for them. We’re always up for a challenge, and these were much appreciated.

Westhope College Linus Day

Last October Heather Russell had a Project Linus stand at Shropshire Quilters Exhibition where she met Bronja Gardener, the new Principal at Westhope College. As a result, a Linus Day was held at the college in February. Many of the volunteers were patchworkers but others were novices. It was wonderful to see four young teenagers who had never before made a quilt, getting stuck in and having a go with some guidance from their mothers and Heather. 19 quilts were completed on the day and everyone said how much they had enjoyed the time. The next day is already booked in for May!

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.