Hi there, another week has raced by, for me at least. With the onset of spring, the pace of life seems to step up, and indeed, it’s stepped up this week. We had our first meeting of the Sunshine Linus group at our new home, the Uniting Church at Nambour. It’s soooo roomy and we can really spread out. We still make a huge amount of noise that always comes with busy fingers. We had a mini workshop, learning how to put the weighted blankets together.

These blankets are such a good tool that is used by physiotherapists as a calming tool. The blankets are made with 36 “hidden” pockets, which are later filled with weights that can’t be accessed by the patient. This weight is distributed evenly across the blanket and when draped or laid over the patient, gives a grounded feeling to the autistic child/young adult, which in turn gives a calming and focussing effect. Not only are these blankets used to place over a child in bed, they can be folded and laid on the lap of a patient using the computer, sitting in a bus or reading a book. The results of using these blankets are quite remarkable.

A few months ago I posted an article and instructions for making these blankets, here’s a link if you missed it. http://www.bellaonline.com/content/article_edit.asp?id=2265 and http://www.bellaonline.com/content/article_edit.asp?id=2240 . Be in touch if you’d like more information.

Last week I posted an article titled - Why do you quilt? I’m in a musing mood lately and I often wonder what motivates us to quilt. Here’s the link to that site and the forum question: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art10198.asp and http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/631826/Why_have_you_chosen_quilting_a#Post631826 where we’ve had some great responses.

So onto my goodies for you this week. I’ve had fun finding these links for you. Hope you enjoy them.

http://pennyshands.blogspot.com/2009/09/no-bias-binding-hexagon-coaster.html No bias binding hexagon coaster and a great tutorial for a hexagon quilt.

http://sew-ing.com/make/pouch.html Make a pretty pouch

http://khelikarma.blogspot.com/2009/05/how-to-make-and-print-your-own-fabric.html make your own waterproof print labels

http://qfdcreative.com.au/blog/full-of-fun-hanger-by-rachael-merrick.html Great idea for a toddler

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2009/01/baby-playpad-featuring-modas-wonderland.html Baby Play Pad from Moda

http://www.heatherbaileydesign.com/HB_FreshcutQuilt.pdf this is an easy quilt to make and a great way to use up those strippy scraps

http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/2006/10/strapping-young-lab.html a great leach for your pooch

Well, that’s all from me for this week. I’ve got visitors coming next week, so I must get some baking done. Love that yummy cooking smell in the house, don’t you?

Take care and remember to have fun quilting.
Cheerio for now

Judie Bellingham, Quilting Editor
http://Quilting.bellaonline.com

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