SECOND QUARTER NEWSLETTER 2025

SECOND QUARTER NEWSLETTER 2025

CHAPTER COORDINATOR’S MESSAGE

In amazing speed, we have reached the middle of 2025. I hope that each of you are taking the time to enjoy each day. Time isn’t going to slow down; therefore, we must make the most of each 24 hours. Make a Blanket Day was held on May 17 and enjoyed by all that attended. We had a beautiful quilt pattern that was put together by Patty Votruba and those that worked on their sewing machines turned out wonderful quilts. The knitting circle grows every year, and we were again blessed by David Bates and his willingness to show others how to crochet. There was a large selection of fleece for those that chose to work on the no sew blankets. In all we had 63 finished items at the end of the day, those made that day or turned in by those that attended. Enjoy the pictures from the event and perhaps this will motivate you to join us next year.

There is a group of dedicated Project Linus volunteers in Conestee Falls in Transylvania County who decided to hold their own make a blanket day. They made quite a few quilts and shared their day with us by sending pictures.

MILESTONE ALERT

Take the time to glance at the numbers at the end of the newsletter and see the total number of blankets given out to date. We are so close to the magic number of 100,000 blankets that have been given out to all the facilities by WNC Project Linus. We will reach that in July and are due for a big celebration. This is in the works and will take place in the fall. A date hasn't been set at this time but stay tuned folks.

JOANN’S/MICHAELS

 I am sure that everyone is missing JoAnn’s as it has been a huge loss for all of us. It has been announced that Michael’s acquired the intellectual property and private labels of JoAnn’s Inc. This includes the beloved Big Twist Yarn plus many other items.  They announced that it’s working on expanding its fabric, sewing, quilting, yarn, and specialty thread supply stock. I had inquired months ago at the Asheville Michaels as to why they did not carry fabric and was told that the store was not large enough. At this point it is a wait and see what takes place and hopefully it will be a positive change.

A SPECIAL THANK YOU NOTE

Hello,

My 4-year-old daughter, Norah, fell 9 feet off a bridge while hiking yesterday. We had to take her to the ER. She is doing well, and we are grateful that, as banged up as she is, it could have been so much worse. The nurse in the ER gave us this lovely quilt that you made. It kept her warm in the hospital and made her feel less scared. It has reminded us of all the helpers in the world. She loves the butterflies. She wants me to tell you “You are my smiley face”. We cannot thank you enough.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH  

Pastor Sean Barrett, from The Lutheran Church of the Nativity received an email from the entry team of the NC State Fair asking him if he knew of anyone who might like to join in making items for cancer patients. I was delighted that he thought of us as I now can pass on the information to you. Last year the fair collected over 1000 caps to pass on to the Messino Cancer Center. This year they have added another category, Warm Covers for Cancer and will still do Caps for Cancer. If you have extra yarn and would like to put it to wonderful use, you will need to do the following to get all the details.

Go to wncagcenter.org

Visit site for NC Mountain State Fair

Click on Competition then go to General Exhibit and click on caps for cancer

I found this to be a very slow process and hope it was just my computer.

Emily Darnell is the team member in charge, and she said if this did not offer you enough information or if you had questions to reach out to her at emily.darnell@ncagr.gov

These will be displayed at the State Fair in September and then given to Messino Cancer Center to be distributed to westernmost counties of NC.

NETFLIX

If you can watch Netflix, I hope you will take the time to watch a special documentary called “The Quilters”. This is a beautiful story of a group of men in a maximum-security prison in Missouri who sew beautiful, personalized quilts for foster children. This became such a successful film that the Department of Corrections had to issue a statement to stop sending donations of fabric and yarn to the prison.

HAYWOOD COUNTY

Mariam Howell, our Haywood County contact person continues to be busy with the needs of a blanket “hug” in this county.

CAMP CADI :  She was contacted by a staff member from this camp regarding quilts. This camp was founded in 2005 to promote healing for girls ages 7-17 years of age who have been sexually abused. She delivered thirty-five quilts to them.

“IN THE END, IT’S NOT THE YEARS IN YOUR LIFE THAT COUNT. IT’S THE LIFE IN YOUR YEARS”         ABRAHAM LINCOLN

JONATHAN VALLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

As soon as Mariam heard that this school had lost one of their own in an accident, she took 27 blankets to his classmates.

If anyone knows of a facility, agency, or individual who would benefit from a Project Linus blanket I hope that you will reach out and let us know.

MONTHLY WORK SESSIONS

We are still meeting on the first Wednesday of the month at the Lutheran Church of the Nativity in Arden. We are meeting from 1:00 until 3:00 Ish. We do not work on making blankets but process all those that have been received during the month, getting them ready for distribution. We would love to have you join us. During this time, we have donated articles for you to pick up. 

We now have a table with fleece and batting available for $3.00 apiece. The batting is precut, in pieces “60” x “90” and the fleece is 60” x 54”.  This is a huge savings from what you would purchase at a retail establishment. We will put the $$$ toward the purchase of more of these items. 

SECOND QUARTER STATISTICS 

                         In          Out 

April                  361     430

May                   442     408

June                  316     343

TOTAL:            1119    1181

With these numbers our chapter has now distributed 99,848 blankets

BLANKET DROP-OFF SITES
Asheville:   Asheville Cotton Company 1378 Hendersonville Road STE B St Mark’s Lutheran Church 135 Merrimon Avenue Press call button and then 611 Fletcher: Foam and Fabric 3049 Hendersonville Road	Hendersonville:    Grace Lutheran Church     1245 Sixth Avenue West    Purple Bobbin        1680 Spartanburg Highway      Weaverville:    5 Little Monkeys Quilt and Sew    Entrance is now on Florida Ave.    Enter at Fresh Aire    Friday and Saturday 10:30-5:30

COUNTY CONTACTS

Chapter Coordinator

Ellen Knoefel 828-645-8800

Buncombe County  Ennis Julian 702-499-3567 Cherokee, Clay, and Graham Counties  Ellen Knoefel 828-645-8800 Haywood County  Mariam Howell 828-456-5154  Henderson County  Vivian Andrews 224-558-4792 Jackson and Macon Counties Ellen Knoefel 828-645-8800

Madison County Nancy Fish 828-768-1344 McDowell County Mary Ledbetter maryledbetter@hotmail.com Mitchell County Janet Jackson 661-319-8286 Transylvania County Pat Crawford 828-883-8746 Yancy County

Vicki Fox     828-680-9167                                          

Attn: Ellen Knoefel 10 Highland Pointe Drive

                                  Weaverville, NC 28787

Phone  (home) 828-645-8800 

               (cell)  828-231-9490

Email:    gknoefel@charter.net 

Website: www.projectlinusofwnc.org 

                www.projectlinus.org 

Newsletter editor: Laura Moore