Newsletter

September 2025 Blankets Donated 33,004

Hugs & Snuggles Newsletter

Please see our website to view all pictures.

Blankets: In September blanketeers made and donated 134 blankets and the Onondaga County Chapter distributed 256 “Hugs” for children in need, by delivering blankets to Access of CNY, Children’s Home of Jefferson County, Kara Foundation, McMahon Ryan Child Advocacy Center, Nappi Wellness, Sleep in Heavenly Peace, Upstate Pediatric and Adolscent Center

Meaning for for the 3rd quarter of this year 455 blankets were made and donated and 631 were give to children in need.

Blanket sizes

Approximate Sizes

Baby / Toddler 36x36, 36x40

Grade School 40x45

Teen 45x50, 50x60 or bigger.

WE NEED : We can use baby and Teen.

Note from Karen

Hi Everyone:

Fall is finally here today. YES!!!! I have been waiting. I might put my summer clothes away later and get out my fall / winter. I have been busy labeling blankets but have been taking time to sew blanket tops to fleece also. It’s an extremely satisfying change for me. Makes me feel like I may have actually created something. I actually did create a Halloween quilt this month and have it pinned to fleece for backing, so I am on a roll.

I am also getting ready for our Christmas deliveries. Yesterday I went and got a 2nd storage unit, so that I can start staging our deliveries for Christmas. Right now I have been pulling all my autumn theme blankets out and put them in the unit, so that I can deliver those this month. I also put the totes of hats, mittens and scarfs in them.

On the home front my sidewalk was finally poured yesterday, so I am almost back to normal from the sewer pipe breaking. I need to redo the landscaping and it will probably wait until spring. I might just order a load of dirt this year and see how much it settles over the winter. Ugh.

We can still use baby blankets and teen, both boy and girl. I again ran out of baby for a week this month. Can you remember back 15 years ago, after I took the chapter over, when I used to say, no more baby blankets please? Now I can’t get enough.

I am still looking for drop-off sites, and I promise to really concentrate on it this month. Some of you may have heard that Calico Gals is up for sale, so I have no clue if they will still be a drop-off site, and this month Finger Lakes Fabrics closes. But one thing I do want to mention about our retail drop-off sites. Please, please, please be kind to the workers. If you have never worked retail, it’s a thankless job. During college and for a little time after, I worked retail. My last retail was So-Fro Fabrics in Penn Can mall. Eons ago. It’s long days for low pay. The last thing any of the workers need is a lot of questions about Project Linus. They know blankets get dropped off , but they do not sit and count them. They have no idea of the numbers coming and going or the name of the blanketeers doing the dropping off. If you need answers to questions about Project Linus – contact me. I am the person you need to speak to, I have the answers. I share them here monthly. The workers don’t have a clue, - they don’t need to. I have said it before this year, when given the chance to be kind, please do so.

108in wide backing: For the quilters : I have sold 30 yards of the 108 inch wide backing. I have updated the website to reflect what I still have in stock. If this works out I will do it again. If you missed last’s month letter. I bought 60 yards of 108in backing. The description follows. One is called Tilt a whirl and one is called Blended. The tilt a whirl has a swirl in it and the Blended is a tone on tone. I will be selling this fabric for what I paid for it plus shipping. It works out to 6.70 a yard. Or $10.05 for 1 ½ yards. I am told if you take a 1 ½ yards and slice it down the length you will have two 54x54 inch pieces to back two blankets. The kicker to this is, you must use this for Project Linus blankets. I am trying hard to keep our costs for blanket making down. When they have other sales I could do the same thing. I would buy the bulk yardage with our funds from fund raising and then sell it for what I bought it for, so that I am replenishing the money so I can buy more. This backing fabric will be our first trial run. You can see the 10 colors of each bundle listed on our website. At the top of the newsletter page there will be a new link to our MATERIAL FOR SALE page. It is first come, first serve. When it's gone I can contact them and see if they still have any or see what I can buy it for then. Any questions or comments feel free to reach out to me.

Finally – I know many of you are getting ready to do your Christmas sewing, But I have lots of blanket tops and fleece that need to be made into blankets. If after your holiday sewing, you just want an easy project, contact me and I will give you a bag of 3-4 tops (unless you tell me more) and fleece and you can finish them and get them back to me after the New Year.

Events:

Manlius Library – blanket top day

Our next Manlius sewing day is Saturday November 1st from 1-4pm. . We are attempting to get on schedule where we will do them every other month. Think about bringing your machine and joining us. We always have kits of fabric all made up.

Kaleidoscope of Quilts in Preble is having their Annual Bolt sale Saturday 10/11/2025 from 10-3pm

Candlelight Quilt Guild’s Quilt Show is October 18th and 19th at Van Buren Elementary School 20 Ford St Baldwinsville 10am-4pm.

Blanket Pick Ups: I should be driving the Silver Ford Escape. But just incase the other vehicle is a gold Chevy Equinox.

If you know you cannot be there close to the hour and will be closer to the half hour or 45 minutes – please let me know. If you are at an appointment I will gladly wait. But if I sit there for a half hour and no one shows, I will be leaving.

After November pickups – please hold your blankets until January

October Pick-ups:

Clay Joann’s Parking lot – Friday -October 17th August 22nd – 11am

Fayetteville Joann’s Parking lot - Wednesday October 22, – 11am

Preble (the new Cortland) Kaleidoscope Quilts – 6271 Little York Lake Rd – Friday October 24th -11am

Baldwinsville Library – Monday October 27th – 11am

November Pick-ups:

Baldwinsville Library – Wednesday November 19th – 11am

Preble- Kaleidoscope Quilts – 6271 Little York Lake Rd – Friday November 21st -11am

Clay Joann’s Parking lot – Monday November 24th – 11am

Fayetteville Joann’s Parking lot - Wednesday November 26th , – 11am

BOM – Blanket of the Month - please see our website for pictures under Blanket of the Month page, under the Newsletter tab

Virginia Collinson – Tye Dye Stars – Love the big stars in this

Deb DuVaul – Arr ! Blast ye Pirate - Love the anchors that break up the darkness of the pirate print

Tami Smith – Ombre – The colors graduate so nicely

Candlelight Quilt Guild – Halloween – Such a great blanket for this time of year

Karen Schneider – Stars & Stripes - I always hang onto a couple of patriotic blankets to have on hand just incase we have a child of active duty members.

Sarah LaRue – Mandela - Gorgeous work

Kimberly Sweetser – Jolly Holiday - Christmas blankets are so much fun

Barbara Gaal – In My Neighborhood - there has been construction trucks up and down my street all summer due to repaving of roads.

Ruth Bryan – Blue Chevron - Love Chevron blankets

Melanie Davis – Baby Dinos - So cute and backed with super soft minky

Deborah Grounds – Lady Bug - The lady bug in the corner, such a nice touch.

Diane Long – Owl - I am in awe of the complexity of this afghan.

Blanketeers for this month. Thank you to the following Blanketeers for donating blankets .

Anon Laurie Best Ruth Bryan Candle Light Quilt Guild

Virginia Collinson Cindy Crandall Melanie Davis Deb DuVaul

Barbara Gaal Claire Genett Denise Gillies Deborah Grounds

Rebecca Jeffery Gail Keller Sarah LaRue Susan Lewis

Julie Litteer Diane Long Mara Sapon-Shevin Karen Schneider

Linda Smallwood Tami Smith Kimberly Sweetser Trinity Episcopal Church / Respite Haven – Watertown

Karen Waelder Manlius Sewing Group

Quilt tops, Fleece, Material, Hats, Mittens, Scarf …etc Thank you for quilt tops, pillow cases, fleece, material, hats, mittens ….etc

Karen S Diane Long Pat Thayer Carol Ann Kozlowski

Carol Kolodziejski Vicki Lieberman Claire Ganett

Our drop off sites: Please check with our drop off sites for current hours of operation. All of our sites are wonderfully supportive of us and we thank them for their support.

When dropping off blankets please put them in a plastic bag with Project Linus on the outside and a note inside with your name.

Baldwinsville Library – 33 E Genesee St, Baldwinsville

Manlius Library – 1 Arkie Albanese Ave , Manlius

Calico Gals – 3906 New Court Ave – Syracuse

Oliver's Originals – 8188 Cazenovia Rd Manlius

Kaleidoscope of Quilts – 6271 Little York Lake Rd – Little York(Cortland County)

The Quilt Shop – 1625 State St Watertown,

Karen Lathrop – 245 Martin St – Syracuse NY

Sponsors:

I want to thank our great sponsors whose dollars help me to buy fabric, muslin, markers and yarn.

Stewarts Dairies

Luv Handlz Frozen Yogurt – James St

August Blankets Donated 32,748

Hugs & Snuggles Newsletter

Please see our website to view all pictures.

Project Linus Onondaga County NY

Blankets: In August blanketeers made and donated 203 blankets and the Onondaga County Chapter distributed 123 “Hugs” for children in need, by delivering blankets to Galisano Hospital, Oswego County Opportunities, University Hospital PICU, Upstate Pediatric and Adolscent Center

Blanket sizes

Approximate Sizes

Baby / Toddler 36x36, 36x40

Grade School 40x45

Teen 45x50, 50x60 or bigger.

WE NEED : We can use baby and anything else you would like to make. For about 2 weeks this month I had no baby at all. Scary.

Note from Karen

Hi Everyone:

I know it’s not the month for a newsletter, but it seems I have things we need to cover so newsletter it is. I am rethinking the every other month thing, we usually have something that needs covering. We will see how next month goes.

Things for me personally at the house are quieting down, which is good as Project Linus will start to ramp up over the next three months.

We have some important things to cover so lets start.

Please watch your blankets. I had quite a few “musty” smelling quilts and afghans. So, the washer got quite the work out this month. Please check your blankets before giving them to me for smells as wells as pins, needles, hair – not just dog hair, but long human hair also. Thank you.

Fingerlakes Fabrics is closing: For those in the Skaneateles, Marcellus area, they expect to be closing in October, so after September 19th please don’t drop off at Fingerlakes. I do the Fingerlakes Fabrics run on my way to Preble. Yes it’s a long way around but it gets me out of going anywhere near 81S. It’s a lovely drive around Otisco Lake. It all works. I don’t know if I can find another drop-off in that area or not, but I am going to try. If you have suggestions for a drop-off in the area, please let me know.

108in wide backing: For the quilters : I have been hearing from some that 108in wide backing is hard to find now that Joanns is gone. So, Marshall’s Dry Good sent me an offer of 30 yards (10 – 3 yard cuts) for 5.95 a yard. I always use fleece, so I checked with one of the blanketeers who uses 108in wide fabric and was assured it was a great price. So I bought 2 of the 30 yard buddles. One is called Tilt a whirl and one is called Blended. The tilt a whirl has a swirl in it and the Blended is a tone on tone. I will be selling this fabric for what I paid for it plus shipping. It works out to 6.70 a yard. Or $10.05 for 1 ½ yards. I am told if you take a 1 ½ yards and slice it down the length you will have two 54x54 inch pieces to back two blankets. The kicker to this is, you must use this for Project Linus blankets. I am trying hard to keep our costs for blanket making down. When they have other sales I could do the same thing. I would buy the bulk yardage with our funds from fund raising and then sell it for what I bought it for, so that I am replenishing the money so I can buy more. This backing fabric will be our first trial run. You can see the 10 colors of each bundle listed on our website. At the top of the newsletter page there will be a new link to our MATERIAL FOR SALE page. It is first come, first serve. When it's gone I can contact them and see if they still have any or see what I can buy it for then. Any questions or comments feel free to reach out to me.

The State Fair. I will admit I missed doing the State Fair this year. I did go to the Youth Building and talk to the 4H representative. There was lots going on behind the scenes this year and she could not get me parking passes, which is why she did not reach out. We discussed and I have some things to clear with Project Linus HQ, when that is done I will know better where I stand for next year. But I am going to try hard to be able to do the fair next year. Stay tuned.

Later in the newsletter you will see I have listed pick-up dates for the rest of the year. November will be our last pick dates. After November Please hold your blankets until January. I am starting to get ready for our Christmas give away.

Finally – I had a thank you this month, that I wanted to share with you. It is from a nurse at Upstate / Galisano Hospital and it reads:

Hi Karen. Just a note to thank you for all you have done and I hope will continue to do regarding the Project Linus Blanket Program. I am retiring and will be leaving at the end of this week. RXXXX will continue to be your contact person for now. I’m sure that there will be another colleague that will be your inpatient contact in the future. What you and your local organization do for the patients and families is remarkable. Over the years I have had patients return still with their Project Linus blanket as a comfort for them both at home and when they are here for additional hospitalizations. I’m quite sure that you and all Project Linus volunteers should be receiving many more thanks than you do. I personally can’t imagine what the Pediatric Intensive Care would do without the availability of those special blankets for our patients and in turn their parents. Thank you again. SXXXXX

I don’t mind telling you, I sat at my table reading my morning messages with tears in my eyes after that. She is my final original contact. 16 years Sxxxxx and I have been messaging about blankets and drop-off days and what did they need most. Every other contact I have, I have gone through at least one change if not 2 or 3, at every organization we give to. After that what was important was what all your blankets mean to those kids. We do good, one blanket at a time. Keep them coming.

Events:

Manlius Library – blanket top day

Our next Manlius sewing day is Saturday September 6th from 1-4pm. . We are attempting to get on schedule where we will do them every other month. Think about bringing your machine and joining us. We will have some Halloween and Fall kits for sewing, possibly even some winter Pixel kits as well as baby kits for sewing.

Blanket Pick Ups: I should be driving the Silver Ford Escape. But just incase the other vehicle is a gold Chevy Equinox.

After November Pick-ups - please hold your blankets until January.

September Pick-Ups

Preble Kaleidoscope Quilts – 6271 Little York Lake Rd – Friday September 19th – 11am

Fayetteville – Joanns Parking lot – Monday September 22nd – 11am

Clay Joann’s Parking lot – Friday September 26th – 11am

Baldwinsville Library – Monday September 29th 11am

October Pick-ups:

Clay Joann’s Parking lot – Friday -October 17th August 22nd – 11am

Fayetteville Joann’s Parking lot - Wednesday October 22, – 11am

Preble (the new Cortland) Kaleidoscope Quilts – 6271 Little York Lake Rd – Friday October 24th -11am

Baldwinsville Library – Monday October 27th – 11am

November Pick-ups:

Baldwinsville Library – Wednesday November 19th – 11am

Preble- Kaleidoscope Quilts – 6271 Little York Lake Rd – Friday November 21st -11am

Clay Joann’s Parking lot – Monday November 24th – 11am

Fayetteville Joann’s Parking lot - Wednesday November 26th , – 11am

BOM – Blanket of the Month - please see our website for pictures under Blanket of the Month page, under the Newsletter tab

Valerie Knoop – Val’s Creations – Playing in the Sand. Love the beige and variegated neutrality of this blanket.

Susan Lewis – Tying up loose ends. I love scrappy blankets.

Cindy Crandall – Bees in Space – love the playful bees

Deb Duvaul – Gray Wolf – It’s a great boy blanket. But as a girl I love it too. I love bears, moose, wolves. Basically anything that can eat me alive. LOL

Kimberly Sweetser – Frogs - The busy front almost had me miss the lovely frogs on the back.

Virginia Collinson – Christmas Time - I love Christmas blankets.

Rebecca Jeffery – Disappearing Pin Wheels - love the red fabric in this

Ruth Norton – Green Fields – Such a pretty zen blanket.

Merinda Brown – Summer set – It reminded me of a dusk sky lately – the brown leaves on trees from low water and the pretty purple just hinting good night

Victoria Heyn – Yes Cats - I always pick doggy blankets – I thought I should give the cats equal time.

Darlene Noeson – Christmas Star - She lovingly fussy cut Christmas fabric for the inside of the stars. So cute.

Blanketeers for this month. Thank you to the following Blanketeers for donating blankets .

Anon Bonnie Blake Steve Brazina Merinda Brown

Virginia Collinson Cindy Crandall Gladys Der Deb DuVaul

Karen Eggleston Claire Genett Cheryl Grom Clara Graves

Victoria Heyn Rebecca Jeffery Gail Keller Valerie Knoop – Val’s Creations

Susan Koopman Susan Lewis Julie Litteer Elizabeth McGuire

Beverly Neuman Kelley Neuman Darlene Noeson Ruth Norton

Gail Renninger Karen S Kimberly Sweetser