Hi everyone and happy week before Thanksgiving!!!

I love fall and I love the holidays! Even with the busy schedules and chaos, I love it! I only wish it didn't fly by so quickly!!!

We had the Herberger's sale and the Blanket Bee both last Saturday. What a wonderfully crazy day! It was such a joy to sell 51 coupon books and take in 51 blankets all in one day!! I'm not kidding... what do you think the odds are of that happening?!?!?

Holiday Pot Luck and Blanket Bee
We've gotten permission from the Moose Lodge to have a Pot Luck luncheon during our December Blanket Bee. I've sent everyone an invitation, and there is even a place on the invitation to indicate what you'll bring for the Pot Luck. You can choose from a hot dish, side dish, salad or dessert. If anyone thinks of a category I've forgotten, please let me know, I'll add that to the list. The lists have a designated numbers of items... and as people sign up for them, the list will be reduced. Kindof cool, I thought!! I'm hoping some of you from Helena will come up and join us!

Challenge Quilts
I've gotten the first entry for the challenge blanket! Thanks, Sharon! I still have pieces of the challenge fabric left, so let me know if you want to participate. The blankets are due by December 15 (I think that was the date)... and there will be prizes!!

Mystery Quilts
I've also gotten one of the Mystery Quilts!!! Very cute, Cindy! Several folks said they didn't get the templates for the flowers or the hearts. The hearts on the pattern are the swished heart in the Project Linus logo, though Cindy's are simple hearts and are just adorable! The flowers are just 5-petaled flowers with round centers.

Premmies
My supplies of premmie sized blankets has gotten low. Ann has risen to the challenge and gotten me 5 or 6 already! If anyone would like to make a premmie, remember the size limit for the Benefis NICU is no bigger than 18" by 24".

Riverside
I heard from Colette that the girls at Riverside in Boulder truly enjoyed crocheting the fleece blankets! Nora picked them up to drop off at The Sewing Palace. They're ready to do some more! I've heard several ladies say they have too much yarn... we could use some for these girls if you'd like to share! I'll be getting some fleece soon to get them started on some more.

Weekend off!
Well, for the first time since I can't remember, I don't have anything scheduled this weekend! I am looking forward to playing with some quilts, labeling some blankets and who knows what else. I hope everyone has a very happy weekend and I look forward to seeing you all soon!!

Be well~
gina

Komfort Kids fabric at Big Sky Quilts!

Good morning everyone!

I was in Big Sky Quilts, 101 Central Ave in Great Falls, a couple days ago and saw they have 8 or 9 of the new Komfort Kids fabrics in!! The Komfort Kids fabric was designed by Patrick Lose and produced by Avlyn Fabrics as a fund raiser for Project Linus. With this partnership, Avlyn donates 8% of the sales of this fabric collection back to Project Linus.

Patrick Lose, well-known fabric designer, designed this collection exclusively for Project Linus. He is well known for his trademarked marbleized solids that are an industry trendsetter. The featured design is titled “Sweet Dreams.” Four other designs--“Sweethearts,” “Heart Toss,” “Twinkle Stars,” and “Bubbles”--all complement “Sweet Dreams.” You can see samples of the fabrics at http://www.projectlinus.org/fabrics.html.

Thanks to Joyce for carrying this fabric! She ordered the entire line so more may be coming in soon. Please stop in at Big Sky Quilts and take a look!

Have a great day!
gina

Busy, busy,busy!!!

Hi all-

Wow... what a long time it's been!! Every time I think things will slow down a bit and I'll have a chance to catch up, I end up being horribly wrong!

We are once again using the Herberger's Community Day sale as a fund raiser. Sales haven't been quite a strong as previous autumn events, but I'm doing okay. The sale will be November 14 with pre-sales the 8th through the 13th. If anyone would like to buy a coupon book ($5), I will be at the south door from 4 to 6 tomorrow (Thursday, 10/29) and on Saturday 10 to 2. If anyone would like to take a few to sell to friends, that would be great too! This time for the $5, you get on coupon worth $10 off almost any item $10 or more (always some exceptions!), an up to 30% off early bird coupon (used before 9 a.m.) and 6 10% to 20% off coupons (depends on what you buy). They have, I think, 5 different bonus buys that day as well. It's a huge sale, and a good time to get some holiday shopping done!

I will post part 5, the final part of the Mystery Quilt tonight. I am anxious to see all the finished ones! I got another quilt made from the embroidered squares today... thanks, Sharon! They are all so adorable!

Oh yeah! Another big project! I'm in the process of moving our PL web page. The orgsites is a bit time consuming to do anything beyond the simplest things. The new site is http://projectlinusgreatfalls.giving.officelive.com. Give it a look and let me know what you think. I'm always open to suggestions. It will be much easier to post photos and I hope to get some up soon.

Our next Blanket Bee will be November 14th.... yes, the same day as the Herberger's sale. I don't know when I'll be working the day of the sale, but I've asked Marsha to take the reins for the blanket day if I'm not able to be there right away, so it will work out fine. I am thinking the December one might be a good time for another pot luck! Any 'yea's' or 'nay's'?

Well, I think that's the short and sweet of it. I'm working on getting a delivery ready for Benefis. I'm going to let my husband make those for a while since, being an EMT, he 'qualified' for the H1N1 vaccine.

Everyone stay well and stay warm!!
gina

Mystery Quilt - Part 4

Hi everyone!!

Well, Part 4 of the Mystery Quilt is posted... sortof. I don't have one of the parts as a computer file...and I may not be able to get it until this weekend... so that is missing but the rest is there! This is only a 5 step quilt, so you're almost done!!

You can find the file to download at...
http://groups.google.com/group/projectlinus_greatfallshelena/files?hl=en

I'm thinking about who I'm using to host our webpage. The orgsites page is free, but very limiting. I'm thinking about Yahoo! and GoDaddy. Has anyone ever used either of these? They aren't free, but they aren't horribly expensive. Let me know if you've used either of these with either good or bad results.

In case you missed all the emails this morning, the next Blanket Bee will be this Saturday, October 10, at the Moose Lodge in Great Falls...10:30 to 2:30. You'll be getting an evite soon! Hope to see you then!

Enjoy the quilting weather!
gina

A Thank You!

Hi everyone~

Found a great Thank You note in the mail today, and want to share it with you.

Great Falls Chapter of Project Linus,

My daughter was recently hospitalized at Benefis East for twelve days. During her stay, we were given a beautiful handmade quilt from your foundation. She absolutely loved it, and it brought her a great deal of comfort.

What s special group of people you are to provide such a service =- we couldn't be more grateful!

Sincerely,
Mike and Ann B.
Helena, MT

Helena Make a Blanket Day and Quilt Challenge

Hi everyone~

Just a quick reminder... we'll be having a Make A Blanket Day on Sunday, September 27, from noon until 4 p.m. at The Sewing Palace Bernina in Helena. I am hoping for a great turnout! I'll bring some fabric, fleece, etc. You should bring your sewing machine and any supplies you like to use. If you have a special PL project you're working on, feel free to bring that to work on!

Also... I'm thinking of having a quilt challenge. I had a large donation ... several yards of fabric of Noah's Ark panels. They're about 18" x 18" and I have around 30. I think it would be such fun to have these all taken to see what kinds of blankets everyone thinks to create with them. If you'd like to have one of these panels, let me know. I'll give them out until they're gone. Let's put a completion of December 15 on the challenge.

Hope to see many of you on Sunday!
gina

More blankets to St. Pete's today

Hi everyone and happy Friday!

I took 24 blankets to St Pete's today. Many of these were ones that were created by the Helena Quilt Guild volunteers at the Last Chance Stampede and Fair. They were thrilled to get them and asked me to tell you all how wonderful you are for making these blankets. You ARE wonderful!!

I got to visit the NICU while there. To be honest, for a long time I didn't even know they had an NICU. Thanks to Lisa W for letting me know they do have one! The receiving blankets they have are about 34" x 34"... but they were folded to fit. So anything up to 34" x 34" will work for them.

The Jo-Anns discount cards arrived! If any of you who attended the Blanket Bee in Great Falls last weekend would like one, I can mail it to you. Otherwise, I will just distribute at the next one... second Saturday in October at the Moose Lodge...10:30 to 3.

Remember, we also have a Blanket Day set up for September 27, Sunday, noon to 4 at the Sewing Palace in Helena. For those of you in Great Falls, The Sewing Palace Bernina is a wonderful quilt shop... come help make blankets and maybe do a little shopping at the same time!!

At the last two Linus Coordinators Conferences, they've had Kirk Weisler as a speaker. I thoroughly enjoyed him both times, and am on his daily emailing T4D (Thought for the Day.) I thought I would share today's with all of you... it is below. You are all lighting the candle!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
gina

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER-

I WOULD HAVE TALKED LESS AND LISTENED MORE, I WOULD HAVE INVITED FRIENDS OVER FOR DINNER EVEN THOUGH THE CARPET WAS STAINED AND THE SOFA WAS FADED. I WOULD HAVE BURNED THE PINK CANDLE SHAPED LIKE A ROSE BEFORE IT MELTED IN STORAGE. I WOULD HAVE CRIED AND LAUGHED LESS WHILE WATCHING TELEVISION AND DONE MORE WHILE WATCHING LIFE.

BUT MOSTLY, GIVEN ANOTHER SHOT AT LIFE, I WOULD SEIZE EACH MOMENT, EACH OPPORTUNITY, LOOK AT IT AND REALLY LIVE IT, AND NEVER GIVE IT BACK. - Erma Bombeck

Well we don’t have our lives to live over… but we do have them to live now. And might I suggest that living lives to make ourselves happy won’t bring nearly has much happiness as living our lives to help others experience happiness will. So as you live your life, and sieze your moments and opportunities… do all you can to ensure that they are moments and opportunities of service to your fellow man, your family and your friends. The people you serve and light your candle for will light up your life in a way that will never grow dim.

Enjoy your Weekend… and light the candle.

This will work!

Hi everyone~

Well, our first Blanket Bee is behind us... and a big 'Thanks!' to everyone who came or stopped by!

It was our first at the Moose Lodge, and, I have to say, I think it was great!!! The room is huge. Tables and chairs are plentiful! Outlets are easy to access. The lighting is bright. We can use it the second Saturday of every month. I don't know that there are any drawbacks. It's a little out of the way, but, really not that much. I was very pleased with the facility. To top it off, they may be able to give us a closet to keep some supplies so I'm not constantly hauling everything back and forth.

Our next event will be at The Sewing Palace in Helena on Sunday, September 27... noon to 4 p.m. Bring your sewing supplies!!

See you then!
gina

It's Blanket Bee Season!

Hi everyone!

Well, tomorrow is the big day... our first Blanket Bee of the season! As I've said, it will be at the Moose Lodge in Black Eagle. You'll need to bring all your own sewing supplies...machine, scissors, bobbins, etc. I'm really hoping this works out well... I think we might be able to have them there consistently if it does.

I've posted Part 3 of our Mystery Quilt on the Google Groups site...
http://groups.google.com/group/projectlinus_greatfallshelena
I hope many of you are putting one together.

I'm still trying to wrap up my summer... the garden still has a bunch of veggies to do something with... but I've had 2 frosts already!

I hope to see many of you tomorrow!!
gina

JoAnn's Fabric and Crafts discount card!

Hi everyone and happy Labor Day weekend!

We have good news from Joann Fabric stores. They have created a special discount card specifically for Project Linus blanketeers. It is worth 10% off anything in the stores and is good until August of 2010. The best part is that unlike their other discount cards, this one is already validated...you would not need to have them validated in the store. They are ONLY available to through PLHQ... I would order them and distribute to those who would like one. The is part of the agreement between JoAnns corporate HQ and PLHQ. Let me know soon if you would like one...I will try to get them before our blanket days in September.

Have a safe and peaceful holiday!
gina