I think it was Emily who last month told me she'd been reading the blog and it was last updated in November. Wow... November!!! It must be time.
As always, it's been crazy busy. I wrapped up the Community Day Sale last weekend. It turned out better than I thought it would! Regardless... it may be my last - Marsha won't let me do them anymore :( Seriously...they take a lot of time and the gain is just not what it used to be. I could go into great detail as to why, but I doubt there is any interest in knowing that. We will try to find other methods of fund-raising to keep us going. We're gaining more recognition in the community so it may work out. We've received some wonderful donations lately from many different directions!
Thank You
We got a wonderful Thank You for a blanket that we sent to the kids of Sandy Hook Elementary. I will just copy it below....it speaks for itself.
Dear Project Linus Great Falls/Helena Chapter-To everyone who helps us in any way.... you have brought this kind of comfort to another. There aren't words to thank you enough. We are very grateful to each and every one of our volunteers and supporters.
Yesterday the town of Newtown held a community distribution event to provide our Sandy Hook School students and the rest of the community a chance to personally receive some of gifts of comfort that were sent to us after the school shooting on 12/14.
It was an orderly and fair and FUN activity for our kids. When we walked in the door (after verifying that we were a SHES family) we were given some bags and every one received a blanket, a stuffed animal, and could choose three toys or other gifts from a set of tables. In addition, some raffle tickets were given to each child for a chance at some of the larger gifts.
We came home with three quilts and blankets, all sent to us from The Linus Project. I wasn't able to retrieve the tag from my youngest son's blanket before he ran off to cuddle with it, so I'm not sure specifically who sent it to us. It was a fleecy blanket with cars and the words "honk" "beep" and "toot" all over it, finished with a lovely crochet edging. We also received a beautiful dark purple quilt, also without a specific tag from a chapter.
But my personal favorite came from you. ______ did a beautiful job on a quilt that has predominantly green colors. We chose it for the green and white to represent Sandy Hook School. But what caught our eye was the line of purple butterflies in one of the pieces. We lost two personal friends that day. Purple was Dylan Hockley's favorite color and, as a child with autism, he would "flap" when he'd be enthusiastic and excited by something. As such the butterfly and the color purple have become things that remind us of him and his family. When we opened the quilt we were so pleased to see cute green frogs too! Our friend Catherine Hubbard was a lover of nature. And though there is nothing "official" about frogs that symbolize her, one of my favorite photos of all times happens to be a photograph of Catherine and two of her friends laying down on a dock seeking out frogs and fish and other wonders of nature. For me personally, it is a little green frog that keeps Catherine and her family close in my thoughts. The blanket incorporating those three elements into one makes it so significant and special.
Thank you for your service, for sharing your craft and creativity, and most importantly your caring with my community and touching my family directly. My son was in harms way on the day of the shooting and has found that "epic snuggle" therapy is the most helpful. Now he has a special blanket to include and the rest of us have beautiful quilts to quietly honor the friends and innocence lost to us that day.
mother to 3rd grade "Bear"
Sandy Hook, CT
LOGOS
I again spent a wonderful evening with the Bethel Lutheran LOGOS kids making blankets. I am always overwhelmed at seeing so many kids spending a Wednesday evening at church and then so eagerly working on the blankets! Marsha heads up this project and this year she did things a bit different... rather than us packing up the blankets and me taking them home to prepare for delivery, we left them at the church so the congregation could see the work of the kids. During services the following Sunday, Marsha told everyone about the kids making the blankets and they were given a standing ovation!!!! How great is that?!?!?! Our Thanks! to Marsha, LOGOS and Bethel Lutheran for all their efforts!!!!!
Bindings
As I've been labeling and tagging blankets recently, I've notice some of the bindings are missing the quilt. It is being wrapped either to the front or the back, and then stitched down. Problem is, if this is done with a straight stitch or narrow zig zag... it is often missing the quilt top or backing because the stitching is back a bit from the edge. There are several different ideas and tips for doing the binding to avoid these types of problems. I plan to put many in the end of season pattern booklet. Meantime, after stitching the binding down, maybe go around the quilt again with a wide, maybe even a decorative stitch, with the stitch centered over the edge of the binding.
Okay...I know that's not much but it's a start. I'll try to get the next one out before 6 months passes this time! :)
Hugs and blessings!
gina
