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183 pillowcases

Mission | October 5, 2016

183 pillowcases.

That comes out to 366 different brightly colored patterns and solids, sewed together by two sisters who started last spring on a quest to offer a piece of comfort to the kids and families at Madison Elementary School.

It all started last April, when Dana Welser, the neighborhood school coordinator at St. Paul, asked Cathy Hagglund if she would be willing to make pillowcases for an Advent-time gift for families. Hagglund said yes, enlisted her sister, Marleah Welke, and the two got to work.

Marleah spent a couple of days looking through the fabric donated to the St. Paul quilters to find just the right pieces. The goal was to match a print and a solid for each pillowcase. For the fabrics that didn’t have something that matched well, Cathy and Marleah went shopping. Some of the fabrics are wild, some are subdued, some are for younger kids, some are for older ones.

No two pillowcases are alike, the sisters said.

Next up was putting them together – a task of about 30-45 minutes a piece. Cutting, sewing, trimming has gone on, off and on, for months now. They used what is known as a sausage pillowcase pattern.

They are excited for the families at Madison to choose their pillowcase as part of a gift given at Advent time, the sisters said.

“Think of how much your pillow means to you when you sleep at night,” Cathy said. “We hope this will be a little something that they can call their own.”

2 Comments on “183 pillowcases”

  • Harry Olsen

    October 7, 2016 at 4:19 pm

    You ladies are something else. Not only with these but with the hours all the quilters due for many people. Thanks much.

  • Sue Grove

    October 6, 2016 at 7:17 pm

    What a great idea. I just know the Madison families will love them. Kids will love saying, “this one is mine!”

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