Helen | Head Office
On behalf of the Directors and all the PLUK Coordinators we would like to thank Lyn for all her work over the past 10 years as the fourth PLUK President and also as a Director of Project Linus UK. Lyn decided to retire from these roles on 31st December 2017 but she will continue to be involved with PLUK as the South Shropshire Coordinator.
As many of you know, during her time as President, Lyn has worked hard on ensuring there is good communication between Head Office and the Coordinators through regular newsletters, she has been proactive in ensuring that we have kept up with social media advancements and in 2013 was instrumental in registering Project Linus UK as a Community Interest Company. We were thrilled that the Quilters Guild agreed to put an article (2 pages with pictures!) about Lyn and her involvement with Project Linus UK. If you are not a Guild member, hopefully one of your volunteers will be able to let you see the Winter 2017 magazine.
Lyn and the remaining three Directors have decided not to appoint another President as it is not felt necessary now that we are a Community Interest Company which is run by the Directors.
Helen | East Staffordshire
The volunteers of East Staffordshire have had a busy year. The Whittington Wharf Quilters learnt how to stitch traditional English pieced shells for their turtle quilts, and Shenstone Quilters autumn challenge was to make primary colour quilts.
Ingrid | Ceredigion
We had our Summer Exhibition in Narbeth, Pembrokeshire this year. Many of the ladies who donated a quilt were members of the Landsker Quilters.
Caroline | Liverpool
A special thank you to Bill and Eddie who deliver quilts and blankets for Project Linus to the Special Care Baby Unit and Ronald McDonald House at Arrowe Park Hospital. They are volunteers for the Milk Bank and combine us with their trips.
Heather | East Shropshire & West Staffordshire
On the 18th/19th of November I had a stall at the Quilt Show in Eccleshall, Staffordshire. The show was organised by Jane, the owner of Corner Patch in Eccleshall, to celebrate the 5th birthday of her shop. It was a change to actually be trading in the church. The church was lovely, albeit a little cold, and we had organ music playing throughout the day which added to the atmosphere. As there was a service on Sunday the show did not open until 11.15am. As soon as the door opened there was a large flurry of visitors. I later learnt that it was a coach load who, after visiting the show, were going off to lunch. Now that’s what I call a day out!
As usual, everyone I knew had been very generous in giving me items to sell: Magazines, templates for patchwork, stencils for quilting, small packets of cross stitch (the ones you get on the front of the magazines), various tools surplus to requirements and much more, most of which I sold on the Saturday. Having done so well I had to bring more fabric to fill the gaps and thanks to the visitors I took very little home.
Pip | Edinburgh, East Lothian & Midlothian
During an unexpected stay at Edinburgh Sick Kids we were gifted a beautiful blanker from your project. We were completely overwhelmed. It was so lovely and kind, it made us smile at a horrible and stressful time. Our little girl was just a few weeks old when she was in and looked so tiny in the huge cot. The gorgeous pink blanket made her look much more comfortable and was a welcome distraction from the hospital environment. Fortunately she is now home and enjoying her blanket in much happier surroundings. We will keep her blanket to remind us of the the lovely thoughtful people who made it and how something lovely came out of a horrible time.
Elizabeth Black
During 2017, I have been Lady Captain at Wilmslow Golf Club in Cheshire. I had no doubt that my Ladies would be very generous with their money for my chosen Cancer Charities. But as an enthusiastic sewer, I wanted to encourage some of them to give the gift of their time, by working on items I could pass over to Christine Rush, my local Project Linus contact, who had connections with Manchester Children’s Hospital and Wythenshawe Hospital’s Starlight Ward.
Enjoying patchwork, I had known about Project Linus for many years. So, I looked on their website, found my local contact, talked to her, then held a meeting at the Club. About 20 Ladies expressed an interest in making quilts, cushions, ‘Beads of Courage’ bags and knitted items. So, we worked away at home, during the winter months until March when we met again to show our offerings. Amazing. Christine was delighted. She took away our pieces.
My sewing machine was put back into the cupboard for the summer so I could concentrate on my golf. On October 1st, it was back out on the dining table again. We then had 2 months before our next meeting with Christine. We all worked hard to the deadline date. One of the ladies added this message to the back of her quilt ‘May the love that has been sewn into this quilt keep you safe and warm’. I have been thrilled at how much pleasure this whole project has given me and the group of lady members.