Another trip to the LRI

 Ward 27 of the LRI needed more quilts.  That is great, although I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the car parking queue again!  This time Jane came along (she drove as she gets car sick when other people drive!).  We decided to set off after the rush hour, but hopefully before the queue builds up, and it worked!  We left at 9am and only had just under 20 minutes in the queue - we managed to have a nice chat so we didn’t mind! 

Here we all are with some of the 50 quilts we took.  It was Jane’s first delivery experience, and she was very touched by how appreciative the staff were, and we even got lovely comments from people in the lift!  A satisfactory couple of hours all round.  

Generous people

 I am so lucky to know so many generous people!  Elaine was having a clear out.  She doesn’t do as much quilting as she used to, so decided to make more space in her spare room by destashing.  She could have easily sold most of it, as it’s mainly yardage, but instead she has given it to Project Linus! 

This is only some of it!  (The pile was too big and toppled over! ) This will be great backings for lots and lots of quilts. Along with this there was a beautiful quilt top, several sets of blocks, other fabric pieces, strips and scraps. Thank you so much, Elaine!  I can assure you that none of it will go to waste! 

And then Julie was browsing on the web and saw this fabulous hospital fabric at a very good price, so bought it for Linus!  I love turquoise fabrics as they are gender neutral, so it’s a win all round!  Thank you so much Julie - you are a star! 

Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.

 I had a call from the PICU last week asking for quilts.  That was easy, although I said it would be a week or so before I could get to the LRI as we were going away for a few days.  Julie and I braved the car park queue this morning and had a lovely welcome in Ward 12. 

Here is Julie, in the middle, with some of the staff.  The quilts were much admired, and one nurse said, “Have you made all these quilts since I rang you last week?”  I know I’m quite speedy, but not as quick as that!  I explained that lots of talented people make the quilts, not just me.  Although it took Julie and I 50 minutes in the car park queue it was all worth it! 

Hinckley Tangent Club

 Last week I was invited to a meeting of the Hinckley Tangent Club to talk about Project Linus. I had never heard of the club, but luckily, they didn’t know about Linus either, so I felt we were even!  They are a lovely group of ladies who have previously belonged to the Ladies Circle, the female equivalent of the Rotary Club. Their aims are friendship and service, and apart from having fun, support charitable causes.  Their nominated charity for this year is Project Linus!  Lucky us! 

As usual, I took lots of quilts to show them, and they were very impressed at the imagination and skill of our group members. Thank you Caroline for inviting me, and I look forward to meeting you all again soon. 

Delivering quilts to ROSA

 Every year Rocheberie Quilters has a charity raffle for a different local organisation.  Last year it was for RoSA, a local group which provides support and counselling for victims of rape, sexual violence and sexual exploitation.  Sadly some of their clients are children, mainly girls but sometimes boys.  When the Rocheberie cheque was presented at a quilting meeting, their representative was enchanted by the Linus quilts.  I asked her whether her service would like some, and she was delighted!  

She accepted several quilts for the counselling rooms - nothing says ‘safe space’ more than a quilt! - and then some more to give to any young clients.  Keep up the good work! 

Fun in the LRI car park queue

 Things haven’t been quiet on the Linus front, the quilts have been coming in steadily, but since a lot went to give their hugs at the beginning of the year (and my having a holiday) there haven’t been any deliveries.  But now there are plenty of quilts in the cupboard, it was time to contact Pip, from Ward 10 of the LRI to spread some love!  Paula and I were prepared for a queue for the car park, but didn’t realise it would take us 45 minutes to reach the barrier!  If one of us had had an appointment, we could have got out of the car and walked in, but with 50 quilts, it wasn’t possible!  Still, it was all worth it to deliver the quilts. 

Pip and Chantal were delighted to receive the quilts, and we were delighted to go home and get a cup of coffee! 

2024 off to a standing start!

 The final total for 2023 was 442 quilts donated in Leicestershire!  That is actually three more than last year - I love a record breaker!  Thank you to everyone who made quilts or donated fabric etc.  So many generous people come together to make the world a better place! 

So now to 2024.  I had quite a pile of small quilts which are needed by ADAPT, a charity based in Hinckley which works with prem babies and their families, so I went over to their headquarters to deliver them. There were actually 59 quilts in these bags, but some of them were only about 18” so didn’t take up much room! 

Sue was very grateful for the quilts, which are very popular.  She chose one with cute designs on it.

It’s a great way to kick off 2024!