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This has been a busy week forvProject Linus here in Leicestershire as a whopping 83 quilts have gone off to comfort needy children! Bathe only snag is that I forgot to take photos.  All I can show you is the spare bed where the quilts are stored looking completely empty! 

That's my sew a row quilt on the bed, completely visible!  I was delighted to hear from Women's Aid that they would like quilts for their children in the Leicestershire refuges.  I met Lisa in Morrisons car park and she loaded her car up with 50 quilts.  I'm very pleased to give quilts to children in the refuge as not only do these children need hugs, they also need things and proof that the world isn't such a bad place.  

Then Asha came over to Lutterworth to collect quilts for vulnerable children in the Saffron Road area of Leicester.  She keeps a store of quilts, and asked for 'the same number as we had last time'.  I couldn't remember how many that was, but apparently it was 60!  I had to disappoint as I only had 30 left!  Luckily I managed to rustle up a few more (Maria can always be relied on to have one or more tucked away!) and so Asha took 33.  It's not a problem, as she can be first on the list in the new year.  So, that makes 289 quilts donated this year, so far!  Come on ladies, let's see if we can make it up to 300!  We'll certainly try! 

Recent news

Recently I was delighted to receive some quilts from the Desford branch of Loving Hands.  They are an organisation which makes charity items, and here we are with just one of their gorgeous quilts.  Please keep up the good work! 

And we met lots more lovely people when we recently had a stand at The Big Textile Show in Leicester. 

Julie and I were there one day and Paula and Maria the other.  We spread the word about Linus, met lots of friends and gave away some free patterns for the Snowball and 9-patch quilt you can see on the left of the table.  People always like an easy pattern which uses up scraps!  Thank you very much to The Big Textile Show for allowing us to come along, and we'll look forward to it again next year! 

Fostering Futures

This morning Paula, Maria and I drove through the morning mist to Bingham to meet Judy and deliver some quilts.  When we arrived we were delighted to meet Steph, who is one of the heroes who foster children needing a little extra care.  It's. A good job the cafe where we usually meet was quite busy, as we had a good laugh and weren't perfect sedate customers at all!  I love being a Linus coordinator - you get to meet such lovely people! 

Maria was a stalwart and took this photo of Judy, myself and Steph holding up this gorgeous Ohio star quilt, just one of 50 going off to brings hugs to deserving children.  Thank you so much all of you for a lovely morning! 

Back on track.

This year has been a sad one for me, as my Mum died in May.  So while Linus business has continued as usual, it has done so at a slower pace, and I haven't managed to put information on the blog.  Then there was the summer, which isn't really a very good time for delivering quilts, and here we are in September. 

 Back in June my husband and I went over to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Leicester Royal Hospital to deliver some quilts. 

Here they, all 30 waiting to give some hugs. 

And here is the handover.  The nurses there were very happy to have some Linus quilts, as they say they feel they are the Cinderella of the Children's Hospital, as all the wards get lots of support, but they rarely do.  I was delighted that we had bucked that trend! 

In July Paula and I went over to Market Harborough to take some quilts over to Surestart there. As usual, the staff were very impressed at the quality of the work. 

In August I got in touch with a local young carers group.  These are young people who look after parents or other relatives.  A very selfless bunch.  Beverley came over and collected the quilts, and we grabbed my neighbour, who was passing by, to take a picture. 

Then today I met Rosemary, who works for the Diana Service for Children with Life-limiting conditions, and handed over 12 quilts.  Rosemary was in between work appointments, so our meetings are always brief but useful.  

Over the summer I have also had a few visitors bringing me quilts.  I always like a cuppa and a quilts chat!  Here's to more seeing in the cooler weather ahead! 

Quilts safely delivered

Today Paula and used a wet and miserable morning very fruitfully to spread some hugs.  We went up to the Leicester Royal Infirmary Ward 10 to take 51 quilts for the poorly children there.  Pip, the ward housekeeper had rung me to see if there were any quilts available, and there were! 

Unfortunately Pip had gone walkabout when we came to the photo shoot, but then, she's at work, after all!  Several of the staff oohed and aahed over the quilts and chose this one (put together by Maria) to hide behind.  They were delighted with the quilts, and said they make such a positive impact on both patients and families.  Hooray! 

Quilting together!

I was delighted to be invited back to Shepshed, to Quilting Together, a lovely group of ladies who are prolific quilt makers and very innovative with orphans and scraps.  I was amazed to realise that I first visited them in 2009!  It certainly doesn't seem like that long!  I always take some fabric, and they are very good at taking it away and producing some amazing quilts from it.  

Here is the group busy at work when I arrived.  

Here they are sorting through the donated fabric in search of inspiration.  They must have found plenty, as here are the boxes I took home.

Just one and a half, as opposed to three bulging ones!  Hooray!  

And here are the quilts I took away with me - forty beauties!  Thank you so much ladies!  

I took photos of them all, but I'm going to be naughty and show my favourites here.  That doesn't mean that the other quilts weren't fabulous, because they were, but here is my selection. 

A quilt using just one block.  So beautifully framed and a master class in using panels. 

Another one block quilt.  Big borders are the answer! 

Two blocks.  The dark borders for the blocks really make them stand out beautifully as the focal points. 

Another two block quilt with a very different (but equally successful) approach.  

Jay was working on this one.  Great use of 2.5" squares.  Paula's filed that idea away for later.  

Another of Jay's using 2.5" squares.  Easy peasy! 

Ann took a whole bag of UFOs and put them together masterfully. 

Wow!  Lots going on here! 

And here!  

Mile a minute never fails to look lively and cheerful! 

And Jay was tempted out of her comfort zone with these squared blocks which were cut into quarters and rearranged.  Such talent! 

A great one for those who like trains, 

And one for those who like 'Frozen'!  

Thank you so much ladies for all your hard work.  I have just had a call from the LRI wanting more quilts for their poorly children, so these quilts will be delivering hugs next week!  Perfect!  See you in 2017!