Which Saturday?

Hi everyone!

I have tentatively signed us up for the 3rd Saturday in September at the Cascade County Extension Office room at Westgate Mall. I haven't heard back from anyone on which Saturday would be best. How does the 3rd Saturday of the month work for you? Please let me know...either post a comment on this page or send me an email.
Thanks!
gina

Found 'em!!

Phew!! At long last, I have found the little quilt and the rotary cutters! They were all in a tote I didn't remember even using. I'm so glad... I thought I was starting to lose it!

Helena blanket day - update...

Well, drat. It seems August 15 might not be such a good idea. I found out I'm scheduled to work that afternoon...and I work in Great Falls. We might be able to back it up a week if we want to do a Saturday... otherwise... let's look at some Sundays in September. My apologies if I've caused any confusion in plans.

Today is fair day!!! I'm really looking forward to it! I have lots of kits and fleece ready to go (Thanks again Marsha for making those up!!) New rotary cutters and crochet hooks as well!

Have a great weekend!
gina

Another Helena Blanket Day?

This is for all the Helenans...

I've been asked when we'll be having another blanket day in Helena. Well, as I've mentioned we have the fair this weekend. After that though, there are a couple of options.

The Sewing Palace could let us meet Saturday, August 15. I know this is kindof on the heels of the fair event. If you would prefer to meet later... September, October or November... we could meet at The Sewing Palace on a Sunday. If neither of these work, we would have to come up with another location, and I would need ideas. The choice is yours... so please let me know your preference soon.

Thanks!
gina

Two days and counting...

Hi everyone!

Well, I'm busy making sure I've got everything I need for the Stampede demo day. For those who aren't already busy that day, we'll be making some blankets in the quilting department from 11 to 5 on Saturday, July 25. I hope you'll find some time to join us. I have quilt kits, fleece, yarn, fringe template, skip stitch blade and batting(!)... but I can't find my rotary cutters. I've no idea where they ended up. I lost a small baby quilt I started too. I'm wondering if I left a bag or box at our last Blanket Bee at Westgate Mall.

I took 22 more blankets to Benefis pediatrics this week... plus a few to the ER. For those who haven't had reason to go to Benefis... boy, has it changed!! The front doors are now over by the ER doors. Parking is in the lot across the street and they have a little shuttle... which I would have used if it had been nearby since I was lugging 3 bags of blankets! I did get some help from a security guard once I got near the door, and I employeed a nice trick offered by the folks at St Pete's...use a wheelchair!!! What a great help!

Thanks to Marsha, I've found everyone didn't get added to the Google Groups list. If you haven't gotten an email saying you've been added to the list, let me know and I'll add you to it. I did post the instructions for Part 1 of the Mystery Quilt last week on the Google Groups site. It is a cute little quilt, and relatively easy to do, so I hope many of you will try it. If there is anything in the instructions that don't make sense, just let me know... I'll try to clarify.

I think that's it for now. Now I'm off to finish preparations for the fair. If you see a little quilt and some rotary cutters laying around... let me know!

Stay cool.... =}
gina

Past the half-way point.....

Happy Saturday morning everyone!

Well, unbelievably, another week has gone by already! I think that is the worst part of summer... I wait all winter for it, then there is so much going on, it goes by in such a flash! We did get our hay this week, and that is always the first step in getting ready for winter. We're also now on the side of the year where we're getting ready for the holidays rather than still needing to clean up after last year. So if that wreath is still hanging... just leave it!! =}
I just don't know where all the time goes.

I got a few blankets to Benefis this week, but not as many as I wanted. I will have to catch up next in the next few days. I've been told I've got more to be donated from the ladies up around Conrad, Cut Bank, Shelby and the Triangle Squares Guild -- thanks to you ALL!!!

We finally got some interest in other chapters for the batting!! Diane from Snohomish County (north of Seattle) and Jodene from the Portland are both taking about a third. That still leaves a third for us and that is still a lot!! Diane got hers yesterday and we stuffed the back of the pickup and the small area behind the cab seats. She ended up with 5 bolts 200 yds long, 11 bolts 30-40 yds long and a wider bolt 25 yds long! She was thrilled. She also brought me some fabric for a nominal charge. After I saw how much it was, I may not have given her enough for it, in fact. They have fabric stores and quilt shops that hold fabric drives for them. What a great idea! Then they use the fabric for a big blanket making day a few weeks later. We'll have to think about something like this.

The fair committee is setting up for the Stampede demo day next weekend! I love fairs, and this will be my first doing anything for Project Linus. I'm sure there will be some things I learn from it... but I'm really looking forward to it. We have a few volunteers, and everyone is still welcome to come and help...July 25, 11 to 5, Helena Fairgrounds, quilting department (I think...)

I'm going to start the Project Linus Mystery Quilt Challenge today. There will be 5 sets of instructions that will be posted, and the instructions say to post a set every week... but I think that would be rushing it. I'm going to go every 2 to 4 weeks with this. I will put that on our groups site...http://groups.google.com/group/projectlinus_greatfallshelena today... as soon as I'm done with this.

Also, I'm going to start a charm program...though I guess it needs a name. I will give out charms for charm bracelets for different things. We'll do it for different milestones and special events. I will buy the charms, but I can't afford the bracelets for everyone. =( Some may already have charm bracelets they'll want to use. For others, I can do a big order and get them all at once. I'll work on that this week and get out more info soon. I'm going to start with one for those who help with the Helena Stampede... something fair related!!

We're just about ready to get going with the program at the Boulder facility. We have fleece and yarn... and another volunteer! I think this is a really great idea and can't wait to see how it goes.

Let's see, batting, Benefis, Boulder, charms, Stampede, Mystery Quilt... I think that's it!
Until next time!
gina

Didn't I say I was going to take some time off this summer?

Happy sunny Sunday morning everyone!

Last week was incredibly busy as I started trying to get back to normal from all the travel, relatives visiting, etc. I did manage to get some blankets out to Benefis, though not as many as I would have like - I left the metal detector in Helena, and I don't feel comfortable giving out sewn blankets without using that to check them for pins first. I think in all the time I've been doing this I've found only 2 or 3... but it only takes one to hurt. So I have a stack of quilts ready to check, and then they'll be on their way out as well.

We got some more fabric donations... one relatively large bag, a couple more smaller ones. I'm not sure how best to inventory/sort the fabric. I'm looking for ideas in that department.

Oh!!! I picked up a couple of blankets at Big Sky Quilts, and one was the quilt Elva P started at our last Blanket Bee in May with the embroidered cat squares! It is adorable!

I started a Google Groups site for us. The PL coordinators use a Yahoo! groups page to ask questions, share ideas, etc. etc. I've been adding names to our group...but it may take me a while to get them all in there. I'm thinking I'll start off using it for something fun... a Mystery Quilt!

I haven't yet heard from anyone who would be willing to help at our demo day July 25 at the Helena Stampede (fair) from 11 to 5. I was just going to do this much like our 'routine' blanket making days, so please, if you are going to be around that day, consider coming in to help. The blankets we make in Helena go in large part to St Pete's Pediatrics and they have been tremendously appreciated.

I will start looking at days and times for our Blanket Bees this fall. We've been doing the first Saturday of the month, but it was suggested that the first Saturday may be busy and a different one may work better. Or perhaps you'd rather do an evening? Please, send a note and let me know.

Tons and tons of batting await us. I've still not heard from other coordinators, with the exception of one, interested in taking some so it appears we may have batting to last us a very, very long time.

That's it for now. Stayed tuned for more on the Mystery Quilt!!
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
gina

It looks like an avalanche!

Well, the batting is here, and it is more than I've ever seen in my life!!! There is some of almost every kind they make, I think. I have to make an inventory over the next couple of days... I'll send an update when it's done. I shudder to guess of how much this is all worth. Just the part that we brought back here is a HUGE donation... and this is only about 1/3 of the total. Greatest THANKS!!! to The Warm & Natural Company for all they do for Project Linus!!

On to the next project...we will be doing a demo day at the Last Chance Stampede in Helena ... I believe the date is July 25. I will need some volunteers to help that day and am truly hoping many of you will be available. Amy and Jeri have arranged for a free fair entry for a blanket donation so we may have a lot of blankets come our way that day! Wouldn't that be just great?!?!

We are also going to start a project working with the girls correctional facility in Boulder. A couple of our Helena volunteers will be doing a lot of the work for this one. The will be teaching them how to do the crocheted edge on the fleece. They feel this is a way to "pay it forward" for these girls, and they could earn community service hours. I got some new, fun fleece with the holiday sale at JoAnns and now just need some yarn to get this started. Does anyone have any yarn they would like to donate? The blankets we'll have them start with will be about 30x36 inches.

One of the things I forgot to mention about conference/institute was blankets for kids with autism. We had a speaker from an autism program in Illinois speak, and an adult with autism served as her assistant. Weighted blankets seem to bring great relief, and one chapter creates these weighted blankets by sewing channels into the blankets and filling the channels with rolled sheets. I haven't had a chance to investigate what the need might be for such blankets here. Would anyone want to look into this to get us started?

Lastly, I recently spoke to an Optimist group luncheon. They were so impressed with our mission and passion that they sent us a financial contribution. What a wonderful gift!!!

That's all for tonight.
Have a save and happy 4th!
gina

Westward Ho!

Happy Wednesday everybody!

Well, the trailer is loaded 2/3 to 3/4 full with bolts and bolts of batting and he's headed home! Clint figures there are 50 bolts or more... some of them the big, 3 foot diameter ones. I haven't heard from any other chapters about wanting any yet, but I hope I do. I would really like to give some to those of you who sew Linus blankets at home. Since it was donated to Project Linus, it does have to be used for PL blankets, of course, but those of you that have been creating blankets at home in the past can certainly keep a roll at your house to do that. I would also like to give some to the groups that sew for us... the Triangle Squares Quilt Guild, Peace Lutheran, etc. These groups might be able to use the really big rolls if they have a place to keep it. Once I go through and see what all we have, I'll let you know what we have to work with.

My camera didn't work well during Conference, but I think I can get some photos from some of the others to show you the kinds of projects we completed in the classes. I'll work on that over the next few days in my 'spare' moments.

Till next time...
gina