events

Newsletter – November 2014

/ Project Linus UK

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

/ Project Linus UK

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

/ Project Linus UK

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.

Festival of Quilts 2014

/ Project Linus UK

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

/ Project Linus UK

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.

Newsletter – January 2013

/ Project Linus UK

Rectory Quilters Stir It Up!
You’ve heard of stir-up Sunday; well this was stir-up Monday, a pudding basin full of Christmas fabrics well stirred and made into Christmas quilts for Poole and Southampton hospitals. Rectory Quilters based in new Milton organised a wonderful day where lots of sewing went on along with a few laughs an lots of chat. With their help we are on target to meet the 40/50 quilts to gift over the Christmas period.

Point-to-Pointers
Alison Still collected from lovely quilts from a group in Galleywood, Essex. The ladies meet near the old race course and very appropriately call themselves Point-to-Point. As well as having made individual quilts, they had also done a workshop for the foundation technique where they had all made blocks featuring dogs which were subsequently sewn together and donated as a group quilt.

Sew4others Heart Quilt
Once The sew4others meeting coincided with Macmillan’s coffee morning so we invited others to come along to our meeting to show them what we do. As well as raising £220 for Macmillan we encouraged visitors to have a go at making a pin cushion, a Christmas coaster, and sew a heart for Project Linus. The hearts were stitched onto purple squares which were in turn joined together to form a quilt. This quilt has now gone to the North East Derbyshire Women’s Aid Refuge.

Letter from a social worker
Elspeth in Lanarkshire received the letter below from a local social worker:

“I just wanted to let you know how much K loved her quilt. I told her you had made it especially for her and no-one had one exactly like hers. She immediately wrapped it around herself and twirled and twirled all around her room grining from ear to ear while rubbing the fleece section against her face. Everyine in the children’s home had to be shown her ‘special quilt’. She then very carefully folded it so that ‘my huge’ were clearly displayed and gently laid it on her pillow. Thank you again for making this wee girls day so very special.”

Baby Lucas
“I just wanted t send a short note of my appreciation for the beautiful snuggly blanket which my ten month old son received while he was in Wishaw General. It certainly brightened up his little cot in hospital and, I’m sure, his little cot at home for a long time to come. It certainly brought a smile to both our faces. it also reminded me of the gift of a little hooded towel we received when he was born. Again your kindness was very much appreciated. Many thanks, Andrina and Baby Lucas”

News from West London Branch
Six The Thameside Sewing Bees recently presented me with a batch of quilts, having taken on Project Linus as their next charity project. In addition, one of their members kindly quilted three tops I had sandwiched but not had time to quilt. I came home with 13 quilts- all beautifull sewn – just in time for a delivery to Your Sacntuary (a Surrey women’s refuge). I’ll also be delivering 10 quilts made by 1st Oatland Guides from Woking. It’s a lways nice to hear of youngsterssewing, let alone quilting, so thesequilts are very special.

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.

Newsletter – June 2012

/ Project Linus UK

Total donations: 209,878
This year to date: 6,700

Around the Country
Lyn Antill (Warrington Crazy Quilters)
In May, I had the pleasure of visiting a show and fundraising event by the Crazy Quilters for Linus in Warrington. They are a splendid example of the benefits of teamwork. They have a very active committee who share the work. This means that, between them, they get a great deal done and obviously have a lot of fun doing it. They had a cake stall, plant stall, book stall and tombola, ‘Linus had lost his blanket’ treasure hunt and goodness knows what else. They meet in their local Methodist church hall which was packed and they raised a lot of money. But what really blew me away was the display of quilts in the church. Every place in every pew had a quilt draped over it. there was a pile of baby blankets in front of the altar and there was a crib, well actually a mock-up of an incubator, with a quilted cover. The colours of the quilts complemented the colours of the stained glass windows and all the quilts seemed to be joining in the worship. Their committee and all the helpers were wearing their Linus tshirts.

Christine Rush (Manchester)
I want to say a big thank you to Barbara Droop for setting up the Manchester Project Linus and doing the coordination for seven years. As a result of her work, there are many groups and individuals making Linus quilts all over the area, and thousands of quilts have been donated to children via the area’s hospitals and childrens’ prokects. That’s a lot of hugs! I am taking over a thriving area, and only hope I can do half as well as Barbara has done.

Carol Scott (North Dorset)
Once a month I go to Little Giants special needs youth club in Shaftesbury, Dorset to give quilts to any new child. Ella is a lovely happy little girl who recently received one of our quilts. She suffers with San Filippo Type B Syndrome. To find out more about Ella and her condition visit her website.

Joan Lambert (South Dorset)
We had a wonderful day at the Wimbourne Folk Festival, raising money and awareness for Project Linus. it is the first time we had done a fundraiser at the festival but I somehow don’t think it will be the last. I made a quilt for the festival which was based on photographs taken at last years festival. Linus ladies voted on 25 photos and I was quite pleased with the results and the quilt proved a great hit among the folk dancers. We had two other quilts which had been donated by Gundry quilters (a local group who support Project Linus). The folk festival quilt was won by the Purbeck View School, which is a residential school for severely autistic children ranging from 9 to 17. We are currently working on providing a quilt for each child, we all felt the quilt had gone to a wonderful home where it will make an interesting wall-hanging for children, families and staff.

We had all worked very hard making items for the sales table ranging from cot quilts, bags, placemats etc. One idea I had was to make and decorate felt hearts and we sold these for £1 as ‘buy a heart for Linus’ with a table of how many hearts it would take to make a large quilt, 2 medium quilts or 4 small quilts. These proved very popular and we sold almost all we made, although I suspect that my very pretty niece with a basketful of hearts may have helped!

Jacquie Cranfield (Hounslow, Richmond & North Surrey)
Last year I was contacted by a Guide leader in Isleworth and went along to talk to both Guides and Brownies about Project Linus. I went back recently and was amazed at what they had achieved. I expected half a dozen quilts, but was shown 40! The troop are going to present 12 to the special care baby unit at their local hospital (sewing on the Linus labels themselves), and I have the rest. I was particularly impressed by the quilt made by the Rainbows. They are only aged 5 to 7 and have put a lot of thought into their quilt which features (naturally) a rainbow. Well done to the leaders that inspired them, and well done to all the girls for producing such beautiful. high-quality quilts.

Lynne Adams (Worcester)
Six year old Lara recently received a Linus quilt during a hospital stay to receive treatment for leukaemia. I gave her Gran the quilt on Thursday and three days later she was able to have her quilt by her side as she came round from a lumbar puncture.

Pat Thompson (SW Essex)
Recently, I once again visited the inspiring Sunshine Quilters of Harlow to collect 23 quilts and two knitted baby blankets. They are a very enterprising group, raising funds for wadding and backing by taking a table in boot sales. The church where a member of the group attends has kindly offered the use of the church hall for one afternoon a month which means they can spread out, take their sewing machines and sandwich quilts together very easily on the large tables available.On the afternoon I visited, they were all very busy ‘auditioning’ fabric for their next batch of quilts, sewing and comparing their work. The group is a shining example of the concept of cooperation. They all contribute, meeting weekly in each others homes and there is always something interesting they are working on. From Linus quilts, quilts for older people or for the Help for Heroes charity.

Lyn Hillier (Cheshire)
Our annual Linus sew-in took place at the Chester Patchworkers and Quilters May meeting. The lovely ladies gave of their time, material and energy to cutting and sewing many Linus quilts; even better many were taken home for completion. We used strips of material to make up nine patches and will take time over the coming months to piece and quilt them. Project Linus is well supported locally with quilts and donations from talks to WI, church groups and others helping to fund the materials needed to boost donated materials.

The Cheshire group is helping parents to make their own children’s quilts. Save the Family is a charity which gives homes to families at risk of being split with children going into care. The nurturing environment provides many things including; financial management, cookery and parenting skills. We always provide quilts for Christmas presents, and decided that we could give some of the parents the opportunity to learn how to sew a quilt and aid them to achieve this. As you might expecting we are getting lots of fun from the venture, making new friends and learning much about colour and design that pleases the children – definitely brighter than we would choose. It is early days with just three families enrolled so far, but we expect this to grow in the coming months. The plan is for each family to have a volunteer allocated to help create their quilts. The workload is likely to be great but the rewards are already apparent in the pride one little girl has in her Mum for sewing her a quilt.

Mary Ann Caranza and Julie Wyer (Derby)
We met at Shipley Community Rooms on 4th February and 26th May for two full-day workshops. Both days were very well attended and we had a wonderful time assembling the ready made-up kits I had prepared. Julie had a pile of Laura Ashley vintage squares which had been donated so a group worked on putting them together in nine patch blocks with sashing (this is still a work in progress). Soup, sandwiches, salad and yummy cakes were provided to everyone. Many quilts were started and brought back to finish on our second meeting. In all we have collected 26 lap to single bed size, 20 cot and 38 neonatal quilts, 16 baby and 11 neonatal blankets plus many small hats. We even had 3 quilts from Cornwall and 2 tops from Arizona! With funding from UKCoal for projects in the community it has been possible to hold these events and to purchase fabric and wadding for the quilts. The great outcome is that it has made it possible for local ladies to come along and work together, make new friends in the community and help make all these beautiful quilts and blankets for children in our community.

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.

Newsletter – April 2012

/ Project Linus UK

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.

Newsletter – March 2012

/ Project Linus UK

Total donations: 211,276
This year to date: 2,457

Several people have come back with updates to last year’s numbers. Joan Lambert’s final total was 1,254 making her second only to Celia Wright – congratulations! The latest figure for 2011 is 20,638.

Quilters’ Guild AGM
If you are going up to Dundee to the AGM this month, look out for the Project Linus stand. I have tried before to get us included but Elspeth Russell and Alison Drayson have succeeded.

Warrington Coffee Morning
Crazy Quilters for Linus are having a coffee morning on May 12th from 10am to 2pm and welcome visitors. Details will be posted nearer the event.

Celia Wright (Birmingham North)
Our quilting day in November was most enjoyable and our local Townswomen’s Guild made incubator quilts for premature babies.

Vicky Cowburn (South Lakes)
In the last month I have given two talks about Project Linus. The talk for the NFU Wives at Sedburgh was a great night and as I always take along some of my crafts to sell to help raise extra funds the ladies were very generous and I was able to buy £50 worth of fleece at Abakan in Preston. It worked out at £3 per metre and some great designs. The second talk was to a Good Neighbour group in a local village. They were all very interested in Project Linus and again very generous.

Barbara (a lady from Windermere) arrived at my door last week with 10 beautiful quilts. Her family have begged her not to make them any more quilts as they are all quilted out! She was at one of my first talks some years ago and since then has made quilts for Project Linus, so now I give her lots of fleece and she just keeps making beautiful quilts. Kate, another lady makes me pieced tops so with Barbara’s help we make a good team.

Alison Still (Maldon, Essex)
We recently held a Linus Day with a Difference with the Blackwater Patchwork Group. Group leader Jenny gave all participants a small package of suitable fabric and we joined with a partner to share ideas and coordinating fabrics ready to ‘arrive and sew’ the following week. It was different and fun to share the cutting and sewing, and to combine ideas and of course the quilts grew very quickly. At least six quilts were completed within a week of the initial day and many more are on the way!

Pat Harvey (Ayrshire) (article taken from local Kilmarnock newspaper)
Cross House Hospital Children’s Ward had a visit from the ladies of Project Linus who make and donate comforting quilts to children in hospital. The group members enjoyed tea and mince pies and saw how their quilts are put to good use. Senior Paediatric Nurse Jean Davies said “we would like to give our heartfelt thanks to all the women for the hard work, love and care that goes into the quilts and baby clothes. Being in hospital can be a stressful experience for a child but these quilts and blankets can make the experience more homely and comforting.”

Pupils in Year 6 and 7 at Dailly Primary School near Girvan, Ayrshire recently donated four quilts made in their after-school sewing club. I gave a talk there last year to pupils an staff and the quilts are a result of this. The kids have done so well, haven’t they?

Angela Hartle (West Dorset)
I made a delivery of 80 quilts to Wyvern School in Weymouth (a special school for children with severe difficulties). The 80 quilts meant that every child in the school received one. The school laid them all out and brought the children in class by class to choose their own quilts.

Carol Scott and Anne Pick (North Dorset)
We recently delivered quilts to Shillingstone special school. They later decorated their Christmas tree with laminated photos of the quilts.

Nanzi Beasley and Judith Davies (Swansea)
Firstly a huge thank you to Gwyneth Edwards, who has been the Linus Coordinator for Swansea since 2004. In that time she delivered approximately 750 quilts and blankets, raised money, and constantly encouraged quilters and knitters in the Swansea area. In October Nanzi and Judith took on the role. It needed two of us to continue the wonderful work done by Gwyneth. On February 8th, Gwyneth introduced us to Nicola Lewis, Ward Manager at Oakwood Ward, Morriston Hospital. We were able to visit the youngsters on the wards and distribute fifteen quilts. It was a joy to see their faces and the delight in having a a quilt that would be their own. We were also able to see the six highchairs that had been bought for the ward with money raised by selling fabric donated to Gwyneth by Sandie Silver.

Nikki Webb (Stirling)
Nikki has been doing some great work with local school children. They recently made 37 quilts as part of their textiles class. As well as learning super new skills the teacher said that all the girls finished feeling a great sense of achievement and pride that they were doing something for others and contributing to such a worthwhile cause.

Sylvia Davies (Crazy Quilters, Warrington)
Recently held a stand at the local Christmas Fair to sell handmade items to raise funds.

Joan Lambert (South Dorset)
Vera Menezes had the original idea of setting up a new group dedicated to sewing mainly for Linus. The West Parley Sports and Social Club has recently been refurbished and has a perfect sewing room. This has coincided with an initiative by the Parish Council to encourage more use of all their local facilities and offered the room to Project Linus rent free for three months. A productive sewing day was had by all and we hope that this new venture goes from strength to strength.

Ann Smith (Chesterfield)
Ann sent in a photograph of their oldest and youngest quilters (see PDF version of newsletter for images). She doesn’t win the prize for youngest quilter but does Maddy qualify for oldest quilter at 90? Can anyone beat that from their volunteers? My Mother was 95 when she crocheted her last blanket and knitted her last teddy.

Lynn Fairhead (Lincoln)
Lynn is delighted to join Sue Hall as a Linus Coordinator in Lincoln. In the first fortnight I made four quilts! Two were identical (bright multi-coloured cot quilts with farm animals) for two little boys. The two year old loves the quilt and it goes everywhere with him! The pictures of animals have also helped his vocabulary and skills in making animal noises. The single bed sized quilt featuring football and guitars was designed especially for an eight-year-old fostered boy. The teddy bear cot quilt is suitable for a little girl.

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.