Quilting’s a pleasure
Craft blankets comfort children in need
A group of craft quilters have donated almost 70 handmade items to help needy children.
Members of the Perth’s ‘Quilty Pleasures’ quilting group from The Peacock and the Tortoise haberdashery on the city’s George Street have spent the past few months creating an array of colourful quilts for Project Linus UK, a charity which provides comfort blankets to children.
Named after the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip character Linus - who is always seen with his trusted comfort blanket in hand - the charity gives out free blankets to children in a range of distressing situations, from those involved in a car accident, to those staying in hospital or in a women’s refuge.
Mhairi McNeill, one of the coowners of The Peacock and the Tortoise shop, explained: “We have four [Quilty Pleasures] classes here, and together they have made 69 quilts for Project Linus.
“We knew about Project Linus for quite a while, it is quite well-known in quilting circles.
“People were so generous, there was an amazing amount of quilts made - it was like The Princess and the Pea in here! My house has been constantly full of quilts off late as well.
“Some people made tiny ones for neonatal units, right up to ones for teenage boys. Some made themed ones as well, so we had some tractor and Thomas the Tank Engine ones for little boys and flower fairy ones for little girls.”
Mhairi continued: “The response from the group was pretty overwhelming there were lots piling up, and some people were handing in two or three quilts each, which was really good.
“It is lovely to think that people are so generous. Quilters in particular have a very generous spirit, you never meet a mean quilter.”
This is not the first time the group have chosen to do something for charity previous projects of the Quilty Pleasures include making blankets for babies born in prison, blankets for Alzheimer’s UK, and raffling off their best creations for numerous different charities.
The idea to get involved with Project Linus came from the Quilty Pleasures’ tutor and quilting aficionado Diane Smyth, who wanted to set them a challenge.
Diane said: “I normally give the group a challenge, and they usually come up trumps. So this session, I suggested making quilts for Project Linus, for disadvantaged children from birth all the way up to the age of 21.
“The shop donated fabric to the quilters, and then the quilts just kept rolling in!
“I had no idea how many to expect, but the quilters are very generous people, they will rise to any challenge.
“They came in all sizes from a square foot all the way up to a single bed size. But the quilts are more for a comfort rather than to keep them warm.”
She continued: “I was overwhelmed to begin with, people just kept handing more and more in, it was just amazing. The youngest who contributed was only five and her brother who is six. It went to the other end as well, with some of the ladies into their eighties. But we are not the only group in Perth who do this – there are many, many others who do this for Project Linus as well.”
The donated quilts have since been collected by Jane Sheldon, the Perth and Kinross coordinator for Project Linus UK. Jane met with a number of the members of Quilty Pleasures, and she is now busy handing out the handmade quilts to causes across the region.
Jane told the PA: “Project Linus UK is a voluntary organisation that makes quilts for children in difficulty, such as children who have cancer or spend extended periods of time in hospital.
“The ladies at the Quilty Pleasures group have been making them for the past few months and now I have 69 quilts from them!
“I handed out 20 of them this week to Perthshire Women’s Aid’s women and children refuges, and some to Ups and Downs Down’s Syndrome group in St Madoes. And in the New Year, I’m hoping to take some to Ninewells Hospital.”
She continued: “We have a saying at Project Linus, it is like getting a hug you can keep. It is such a comfort to a child who is going into hospital where everything is very strange and it is so nice for them to have their own little quilt, and they get to take it home and keep it forever.
“The fire brigade have taken some as well - they will use them if they have to attend a car accident and if a child gets stuck, they give them a blanket to keep them warm and to distract them from what’s going on.
“The work the Quilty Pleasures have done is fantastic, it is such a huge donation - there will be lots of happy children over the next month.”
Perth’s Quilty Pleasure members have already set a new challenge for the new year – so-called ‘fidget quilts’ for older people with dementia.
Mhairi explained: “The next project will be making fidget blankets for people with dementia. It aims to reduce stress for people living with dementia, so the quilts will have zips and buttons and different textures for them to fidget with.
“We will be running some free workshops in the New Year to get people involved in the project.”
The workshops for making fidget blankets will take place on March 1, March 29, April 26 and May 24, from 1.30-4pm at The Peacock and the Tortoise.