blankets

Newsletter – September 2018

/ Project Linus UK

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 – May 2017

/ Project Linus UK

Heather & Helen | HQ

Heather Russell and Helen Scales manned the Project Linus stand at the Quilt and Stitch show at Uttoxeter. We would like to thank everyone who supported Project Linus through the purchase of fabric, books, magazines and raffles tickets. We look forward to seeing you at the Festival of Quilts in August.

Heather and Helen in Uttoxeter

Jan | Norfolk

I collected 18 beautiful quilts & gave a talk about Project Linus in Norfolk to the lovely group at Leziate Village Hall. They were made from the fabric donated to them by a husband of a late member. I collected another 12 quilts from a regular donator, Freda and her friend Ann at the same event. The quilts have been given to a local hospital and Nelson’s Journey, a charity that supports children bereaved in Norfolk. Thank you ladies for your support, it’s greatly appreciated.

Norfolk quilt donations

Caroline | Liverpool

We recently donated quilts to Foxfield School, Wirral for children with special needs. The photos show some of the pupils with the quilts which they were very pleased with and the lovely thank you gift they sent in return.

“I hope by now that you have received the thank you letter that I posted on Friday to say how delighted we were to receive the beautiful quilts that you and your colleagues made for pupils at this school. We have shared them out between two classes and they are already being well used. I was asked to send you some photographs that you might want to use on your website so I am attaching four nice shots that have been taken in class. I hope you like them. If I can help in any other way to support the great work you do please don’t hesitate to get in touch.”

Foxfield school quilts

Val | Surrey

QGBI Region 2 organised a Block Party in Surrey recently. I was able to take along all my donated UFO’s and many sets of pre-cut squares. We had 15 happy sewers for the day, and ended up with 17 finished tops, which then were kindly taken to be long arm quilted. I’m really looking forward to getting them back!

I was also asked to represent Project Linus at the Knitting and Stitching Show last week at Olympia. The Quilters Guild had a free drop-in workshop running for the whole show, with 6 sewing machines with tutors, and hand piecing too. The aim was to encourage people to have a go at making a block. The blocks were then all donated to Project Linus. Over the 4 days 591 ‘Corner in the Cabin’ blocks were made which are now being made into quilts. We were also able to introduce many people to the Project. It was very satisfying to meet people who had never attempted any patchwork, then proudly putting their finished blocks on to the design wall. It was also great to meet other co-ordinators, and many supporters over the four days. I arrived home on Sunday night completely exhausted but very happy! Many thanks to the Quilters Guild for their great support for our organisation.

Pip | Edinburgh Mid & East Lothian

“Hi, I received one of your donated blankets from ward 6 at sick kids. Just want to send a huge thank you from me and my little girl Isla. She has decided to use it as her new playmat as it gives lots of room for her to learn to crawl! Love Jenni & Isla”

Isla May 17

Sarah | Herefordshire

This is a photo sent by Mary Wood, coordinator for Herefordshire, picturing her with her daughter Gill from York, also a patchwork enthusiast, when Mary went to receive the magnificent total of thirty quilts from patchwork teacher Ann Jermey. Meeting at Doughty’s Warehouse in Hereford, Ann told Mary that she and a friend Chris had completed the quilts using fabrics and blocks kindly donated by some of her friends and students. Given the number of quilts made, this must have taken quite some time. Mary was particularly grateful to receive them at this time as she had just delivered the last of her collection for the use of the children from the latest group of refugees from Syria who will live in Hereford. Apparently, they have settled well and were delighted with their gifts.

Herefordshire quilt donations

Elspeth | Lanarkshire & Glasgow East

“Hi, I would like to say thank you for the kids blankets and teddies I received from Motherwell Woman’s Aid which some of your volunteers made – if you could pass on a thank you to them. I have attached a couple of pictures. Thanks Michelle”

Ann | Chesterfield & South Sheffield

“To the members of the Project Linus: Please accept a massive thank you for your most generous donation of quilts and blankets, recently received for Baby Basics in Chesterfield. They were all so beautiful and will be treasured by our receiving mums for years to come. Many, many thanks, Jane and the Baby Basics team”

Let us know what you’ve been up to

Please send articles and photographs for future newsletters to Ann at peter.ann.smith@gmail.com

Newsletter – November 2016

/ Project Linus UK

Lyn | News from HQ

Well, the Halloween quilts have been distributed now. There is never enough boy’s fabric but I came across some lovely creepy cartoon skeletons at the Malvern show which seemed just the job. I was able to use large panels of the picture fabric with border of squares in black, white and a ghastly lime green to complete the spooky effect. These went to our local Foster Carers Association. Of course, there were girlie ones too and a couple of weighted quilts for autistic children to help them calm down. One of these was for a girl to help her sleep and one as a lap quilt for a boy who can’t sit still in class. All the fabric shops seem to have lots of flowers and also little kiddies cartoon stuff, but nothing for the bigger boys. Does Minecraft (which my 8-year-old grandson adores) charge too much for the use of its imagery?

Now, I guess quite a few of our supporters are doing the same as me – making quilts in Christmas colours. I have to admit that I am doing this with fabric that I bought several years ago and never got around to making up. This time it’s a simple rail fence pattern in black, red, green and white strips. I know that quite a few of you are making quilts for Syrian refugee children – they have a different requirement as Islam obviously doesn’t celebrate Christmas but they also do not approve of pictures of people or animals and want quilts with simple colour patterns. Variety is a really key part of our thinking so that each child can have a quilt which appeals to them and is, in some way, unique. So, use your imagination and your scraps.

Joy | Birmingham South

Well, the last couple of weeks have been very busy indeed! We spent two days sewing and quilting and made more quilts than I could have ever imagined.  On the first day at the Cadet Centre the troops completed 43 quilt tops made from squares and donated orphan blocks and had a thoroughly enjoyable day at the same time! There were a number of visitors throughout the day from organisations that benefit from the donation of Project Linus quilts. Amongst them were representatives from the QE talking about Teenage Cancer patients, Therapists, Bereavement counsellors and a lady talking about the work at Women’s Refuges. We all love to sew, but it is great to hear about the brilliant work that all of these people do to make the lives of children in need better, and gives us even more drive to keep donating time to make the quilts that we hear mean so much to the children that receive them.

Quilt workshop November 2016

The second day was held at the Cotton Patch Studio, where we managed to quilt 50 quilts over the course of 5 hours. We utilised all of the quilting frames and machines, along with the Sweet Sixteen.  Several Ladies set about sewing metres and metres of binding on to help completely finish 16 quilts by the end of the day. Any offcuts of fabric and wadding were not wasted either, they were swiftly packed into pillowcases, sewn up and ready to take to Hollytrees Animal Sanctuary for bedding. Another 31 are ready for delivery. The lengths of quilts just kept growing and growing! And again, we had some lovely visitors, this time from Acorns Hospice and Family Foster Care representatives, who see first-hand the joy and comfort that the quilts bring to children who sometimes have very little to call their own.

Quilting day in progress

Ann, Chesterfield & South Sheffield

This is Gill from The Craft Tree in Sheffield holding the quilt which was given to Project Linus, and which has since been given away to Baby Basics. During the Walkley Festival in Sheffield, Gill invited visitors to her shop to do a block for this quilt and at the same time learn about Project Linus.

Gill with her quilt

A letter from Gill

I am so pleased that I found you when I was looking for something to occupy my spare time in the evenings. I have been knitting and crocheting blankets since the spring and I would like to say that my local coordinator Lesley has been a wonderful inspiration to me and a great help guiding me in the right direction. I know I haven’t been doing this for long but I like to check your site to find out what has been happening and how other people are getting on and see what they have done.

Crochet blanket

Looking at your Gallery I have noticed that, almost exclusively, the pictures are of quilts rather than blankets. While I am full of admiration for the skill put into these, something that I cannot do, I would like to see some knitting and crocheting included. I am aware that a plain knitted blanket is not very inspiring but I am sure there are other people like me who are a bit more adventurous. Perhaps you could include a few of these each month to give us an idea of how to make our blanket more fun for the children. You could get your coordinators to sent you some snaps of what comes in to them, I am sure they would like to help. I am away now to start making my last batch of squares up (oh boy these are a bit bright) but I hope someone will love them as I do. Here are the first blankets I made – very best wishes and lots of admiration to every person involved in this most wonderful project.

Pip | Edinburgh

A lovely email:

Hi. You can share this message with anyone you think would like to know: Just think when I was at a show a year ago and saw hug quilts, that a year on, I would receive one – I am not so well at the moment so to get this quilt made by someone who does not know me but like my Grandma who is in WI and made a quilt for hug, you made it with love for me. It has made my day to think someone cares so much. I am awaiting going into surgery today. I am sending an email so please pass on a message from me saying a BIG thank you to the maker of my hug quilt, it’s fluffy, cuddly and cool.
Love from Oliver, Age 11

Newsletter – July 2016

/ Project Linus UK

Lyn | News from HQ

We’re busy planning for our stand at the Festival of Quilts (11th-14th August) at the NEC. The organisers are kind enough to let us have a free stand, but that does mean that they fit us in around their paying customers. Our stand number will be shared on Facebook and Twitter once it becomes available. We will be selling scrap fabric and raffle tickers to raise money for supplies. The Warm Company, who already provide free wadding to lots of Linus events around the country, have provided a number of packs of fleece and fabric as raffle prizes.

Linus coordinators have also taken stands at various other quilting and craft events around the country, several for the first time this year. I don’t know whether there are more shows, or whether we are just getting more involved. Either way, it has been a great way of meeting more people.

Maybe it is just the company I keep, but I feel that there is a real growth in the number of people willing to get involved in activities to help their communities, or perhaps it is that there are now increasing numbers of baby boomers like me reaching retirement and getting stuck in to organising things. There are lots of people with skills and time who are a great and often untapped resource who can make a real difference to the quality of life in their communities. There are some really active Linus ladies around the country who have managed to inspire their fellow needlewomen. This not only benefits the children who receive the quilts and blankets, and their families, but also provides a creative outlet, good company, and a sense of purpose to their makers. Let’s celebrate this sense of a community coming together and take that spirit out into the wider world.

Sylvia | Warrington

Crazy Quilters and Knitters for Linus celebrated their 10th anniversary at their April meeting with a coffee morning. There was a display of the quilts and blankets they had made since Christmas in the church. The event was well attended and we managed to raise lots of funds to continue our work. Regular visitors to our fundraising events have collected several tote bags for their £1 entrance fee from previous events and they proudly bring them, prepared to fill them with their neighbouring areas too.

Screen Shot 2016-07-26 at 21.40.31

Our star prizes for the raffle were a large Japanese style quilt and an Afghan blanket. Each group member had been involved in one or other of these projects. The cushion tombola proved to be popular with everyone. For the younger visitors we had balloon modelling, name the doll and lucky bags. We are very fortunate in getting lots of donations of fabric and wools and although these are not always suitable for Linus, our ladies keep very busy making lots of craft items for our stalls. At the end of the day, the children enjoyed getting involved by picking out the winning raffle tickets. Thank you to all our supporters.

Anita | Biggin Hill

“I just wanted to write to send you on my sincere thanks to yourself and your team at Project Linus for the support that you have recently given to the Biggin Hill Children and Family Centre. As you are aware , our purpose is to support families across the Borough during both difficult and desperate times for many different reasons. Many of the families that we support are impacted from many different situations and rely on professionals and kind-hearted people like you to support them through these difficult periods.

I am pleased to share with you that the blankets that you made and kindly donated have all been gratefully received by parents/carers and children locally that we felt would benefit the most. Thank you once again for all your hard work and support and I wish you every success for the future with the continuation of the amazing work that you do. We hope that you will come and see us again soon at the Children and Family Centre.”

Elspeth | Lanarkshire and Glasgow East

“Dear Elspeth, Just wanted to drop you a wee note to say thank you for the beautifully made quilt that my daughter received when she left Wishaw General yesterday. She loves it and is using it through her recuperation. Please pass on my thanks to the lady or gent that put so much of their time into making it, she will treasure it. Anne Henry”

Screen Shot 2016-07-26 at 21.40.56

Jacquie | West London and North Surrey

Last September I was invite to give a talk about Project Linus to Harlington WI. This went down very well, and there was a lot of interest as I passed around a variety of quilts for the ladies to handle. Not long after this I was contacted by the Chairman of the Middlesex Federation of Women’s Institutes. She had decided to offer a challenge to all of the WIs in Middlesex (50) to make quilts for Project Linus. I provided guidelines for the quilts, and two rolls of wadding were donated by The Warm Company for the challenge.

After their AGM in April (where the quilts were on display) I picked up 55 quilts and 34 knitted blankets which filled my car! The Middlesex WIs had really risen to the challenge and produced a variety of quilts in lots of different designs and sizes – perfect for Project Linus. I am hoping that some of the quilters will continue to make quilts for me as this has proved such a wonderful project.

Sally | Fife

Last week I attended a morning assembly at Masterton Primary School in Dunfermline where I gave a small talk about Linus and received 17 quilts made by P6 and P7. The children also said a few words about what they had been doing:

“Masterson Sewing Club runs every Thursday lunchtime by Mrs Campbell and Nana Barbara for P6 and P7 children who can sew. We try to do our best to use as many recycled materials with our sewing as we can from Masterton jumpers, duvet covers, Dads shirts and a lot more.”

This is the third year I have collected quilts from the school, they are so enthusiastic and keen it does you good to meet them.

Clare | Trossachs, Stirling and Surrounds

I had booked a holiday to Ecuador, and shortly before I left, the devastating earthquake occurred there. I asked my travel company if they had a local contact who could distribute quilts to children affected if I could take some with me. They are involved with supporting this charity and their representative was so very appreciative of the thought, and the quilts. They really were so touched to receive quilts from Project Linus UK. It meant a lot to them that the wider world cared about them.

Jacki | Gloucestershire and Bristol

Four year old Erin had five heart operations cancelled before finally having her surgery in May 2016 at the Children’s Hospital in Bristol. Erin’s Mum Tara has asked if Erin could have a quilt, and by the time she had the surgery, she had two – a hospital quilt and big girl quilt in pink and purple. She’s made a fantastic recovery and is a remarkable little girl.

Get in touch

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