Friends’ craze grants wishes

The winter sun shone in Linda Schroeder’s sewing room last week, illuminating shelves filled with fabrics in a rainbow of colors.

Each week Schroeder and her friend Donna Knudsen meet in the cozy sewing room. They make quilts, wall hangings, table runners – anything they can piece together – and those creations help make wishes come true for many area children.

“For six months of the year, we sew for Wishing Star, and for the next six months we sew for our Christmas giveaway,” Schroeder said.

She’d been a longtime volunteer for Wishing Star, a local organization that grants wishes to children with life-threatening illnesses, between the ages of 3 and 21, living in Eastern and Central Washington and Idaho.

“Wishing Star has a program to give lap quilts to children in the hospital,” Schroeder said. “I start making so many….”

She’d met Knudsen at a sewing group and when that group disbanded, the two continued to quilt together.

“You can only make so many things to give to family and friends,” Knudsen said.

That’s when Quilts for a Cause was born. The first Farm Chicks Antique Show was about to take place and organizers offered to let Wishing Star set up a booth at no charge.

Knudsen and Schroeder’s creations flew out of the booth and dollars for Wishing Star flowed in. Volunteers Bill and Sharon Widrig staffed the booth at the Farm Chicks sale. Neither of them quilt, but they appreciated the quality of the workmanship and saw an opportunity to keep money coming in for the nonprofit.

A unique partnership was formed. Schroeder and Knudsen make the quilts and the Widrigs sell them – first at Farm Chicks, and then at area craft sales around the city.

“We just decided we were going to take this on and make sure they sell,” Sharon Widrig said.

Even Schroeder’s husband, Bob, caught the quilting bug. “He does all my batting,” Schroeder said.

And he found a clever way to do it. “These girls were doing 80 to 90 lap quilts a year,” he said. “A roll of batting is really big and weighs about 25 pounds.”

He created a large spindle on a table in his garage and puts the roll of batting on the spindle. “I roll it out on the table and then take the quilt back to the ladies to finish.”

His wife laughed. “I’ve told him for years to get a hobby. He didn’t, so now he has mine!”

They deliver the quilts and quilted items to the Wishing Star office, where the Widrigs pick them up. Whatever doesn’t sell at Farm Chicks or craft shows is brought back to Wishing Star and is available for purchase, as long as folks call ahead to make sure items are in stock.

“We try to keep our prices low, just the cost of the materials, so they will sell and Wishing Star will get the benefit right away,” Schroeder said.

Last year, Quilts for a Cause raised $2,014 for the nonprofit.

When they’re not sewing for Wishing Star, the women are sewing for a project they call their Christmas Giveaway. They make quilts for area charities like Sally’s House, CAPA, St. Margaret’s Shelter and Inland NW Baby.

They deliver these in person during the holiday season. Last year, they set a record.

“We made 161 quilts for Christmas Giveaway,” Schroeder said.

They don’t usually get to meet the recipients of their creations, but often the women or their children will send thank you notes. One little boy even wrote a poem for them.

Sometimes the nonprofits will send photos of the recipients clutching their quilted creations. “In my sewing area at home I have two pictures of little girls holding up their quilts,” said Knudsen, her eyes filling with tears. “That’s my inspiration.”

Schroeder agreed. Whether it’s raising money for Wishing Star or giving a quilt to a child in need, the friends have found an outlet for their handiwork.

“It’s so gratifying to feel like you have a purpose,” Schroeder said.