January is Comfort Pillow Month

Hi to all,  after giving it much thought,  I decided to go with comfort pillows.  My guild supports a variety of causes and one of them is making comfort pillows for women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer.  I'm sure that you all know someone who has been affected by  some sort of cancer. I personally have lost three aunts and a college friend to cancer, my husband has lost both parents and a sister. 
While the losses are many, there are quite a few survivors out there and comfort pillows are just a small thing which helps make the recovery process a bit more tolerable. 
A couple of years a go a co-worker was fighting breast cancer, and had to endure two surgeries. The first  surgery she kept very quiet, and I didn't know  until after the fact.When she was scheduled for her second surgery, I asked her if she had her comfort pillow, she didn't know what I was talking about. That night I whipped up a pillow for her and brought it in the very next day.  The note I received from her telling me what a difference the pillow made in her recovery is something I'll never forget.  To realize that this tiny little pillow helped ease so much pain was shocking and humbling to me.  The fact that something that literally took me about 15 minutes to make could profoundly change some one's life is astounding.

How to Make a Comfort Pillow

To be used for mastectomy and Lumpectomy surgery and biopsies

·        Pre wash all fabric

•        Pillow  measures approximately 12 ½” X 9 ½”

•        Piece, applique, or use any technique to make a top.

•         Cut backing fabric after top is done and cut it the size of the top. Slight variations in the size of pillow are okay.

•        Right sides together, sew top and backing all around leaving an opening of approximately 2-3” allowing for the filling.

•         Turn right side out, press as needed, and fill the pillow with SOFT  polyfil.  Stuff looser than you might ordinarily stuff for pillows or other filled items. Squeeze to test for softness and adjust filling if necessary.

•         Sew opening closed.

•         Unstuffed shells are acceptable too.

Please Do Not Use:

            Fabric with metallic prints, these can be stiff and scratchy.

Children or Juvenile prints, these pillows are for adults.

Animal prints or flannels. 

If you have  any  extra blocks lying around you can use them.  If  you know of a local organization that takes these pillows that's great if not, you can send them to me and I'll bring them to  Guild, as we have about five or six organizations we distribute to.  Obviously, if you are delivering them yourself they need to be stuffed, if you send them to me don't stuff them, it will be easier to mail. Don't hesitate to email me or leave a comment if you're stuck. Thank you all in advance for you time, and effort.