We had a fabulous time at the Pacific NW Project Linus mini-conference. Thank you Jodene for making this temporary Oregon resident so welcome! We all left this 3 day weekend event, full of new ideas, fabric, lessons, projects, door prizes, patterns, inspiration, enthusiasm, warm & fuzzy feelings, new friends and happy exhaustion! It was such a nice touch to be able to listen to the leaders of recipient organizations. They told about where our blankets go and how they are loved by the children, and by the adults who give them. Teen moms get a help with new baby needs while learning about loving and caring for their infants, grieving kids get a blanket to wrap up in while learning to deal with the loss of a parent or sibling, a child whose house burned down, or kids new to foster care may all get a blanket. Sick kids in hospitals get blankets too. It is a wonderful outlet for those of us who sew, knit or crochet. One volunteer thanked the organizations for giving us an outlet for our talents, or fabric stash, and our need to serve the community.

Just needed to share a photo that J...' mom sent me of her little burrito boy wrapped up so cozily in his Project Linus blanket. thanks again to Joan Try of Portland/ Vancouver for stitching the quilt and coordinator Jodene Cook for getting it to me so I could give it to a child in crisis.

A big thank you to Ashley Davidson from the Volunteer office of Salisbury University! She organized a group of Freshmen during orientation week, and we now have a large donation of soft, comfy, colorful fleece blankets! Also thanks are in order for Mrs Barbara Phillips of Salisbury who graciously allowed the college kids to drop the blankets off at her house. Then, another thank you goes out to Pat Rebman and her husband who filled their pick up truck and brought the blankets to Pocomoke where a few other volunteers will label them. Deliveries to hospitals will be made in October.

I recently had the pleasure of giving a blanket to a 5 year old cutey whose house burned down on Sept 1. He was fun to watch. First he pulled the quilt out of the box I took it in. He shook it out and spread it on the floor, then smoothed out all the wrinkles. Next, he flopped on the quilt and stretched out to see if it was a good fit. All smiles the whole time, he studied the bright prints and found that it had race cars, orange flames and bright stars all over it. He is a big Oregon Duck fan and loves orange and black, the team colors. J. wrote a thank you note to the maker using lots of bright colors for his pictures. The first morning after sleeping with this perfect quilt, he came downstairs in his PJs, wrapped up like a burrito in his new favorite blanket!