A Case For Smiles

Just this week, my oldest daughter's good friend in school was diagnosed with leukemia (8 years old). She had an appointment on Tuesday with an allergy doctor because her allergies were bothering her. The doctor ran a routine blood test. That night they found themselves checked in to the hospital preparing for her first round of chemo. What a nightmare!

This has affected our home greatly. Constant thoughts and worries are about K and her family. Megan misses being with her friend everyday. And we're really going to miss her in the Fall during soccer season. She's an awesome goalie. She's hoping to still dress with the team and be the official Goal Money Can Shaker.

We've been drawing pictures and writing notes for her room. We've bought books and activities to keep her busy. But we also wanted to do something special to help cheer up her hospital room.

Recently the girls in our church (age 8-11) did a service project. I was introduced to a charity that really affected me immediately...now I know why. It's called A Case for Cancer. You can check them out at www.ConKerrcancer.org

It began with a mom who had a son battling cancer. To brighten his room, she made him pillowcases. It soon spread to making pillowcases for all the kids on the Oncology Unit at their hospital. It has now grown into an amazing charity nationwide with coordinators in almost every state. You can look here for the nearest director if you would like to help out.

After Megan and I received the first news about K, we went to the fabric store and picked out fabric to make a pillowcase. You can follow along with these directions and start making pillowcases for other kids that are sick and in the hospital. After seeing K and her mom's reaction, I'm anxious to make more. I'm thinking of making a bunch to let K hand out to her new friends at the hospital.

To make a pillow case you will need:

* 3/4 yard of fabric for the pillowcase body (I got a full yard for personal embellishment)

* 1/3 yard of coordinating fabric for the border of the pillowcase

(choose a cheery fabric suitable for children ages infant to teens, boys and girls. Use cotton or cotton flannel ONLY)

* thread

I use my mat and rotary cutter to cut the material to the appropriate sizes.

1. Cut the body of the case to 26 1/2" x 40 1/2"

2. Cut the border of the case to 10 1/2" x 40 1/2"

3. Fold the border in half lengthwise, with the wrong sides together (right side facing out) and press.

4. Place the right side of the border (still folded in half) on the right side of the body of the case. Stitch together using a 1/2" seam allowance along the raw, open edges. Then use a zig zag stitch to overcast the edge to prevent fraying.

5. Then place the right sides of the pillowcase together. Stitch down the side and across the bottom using a 1/2" seam allowance. Follow up with an overcast zig zag stitch.

6. Turn right side out and press.

*** Because I knew who this was going to, we wanted to make it extra special. We used our Wonder Under and material from the body of the case to add her name to the border. I did this before I sewed the border to the case. This gave me the ability to stitch around the applique. I followed the same steps that I used with the t-shirts. ***

We were able to spend some special time with K on Saturday afternoon when we delivered our care package. Her mom immediately put the pillowcase on her pillow. It brightened up her room. You can't see it, but that little sweetheart had a big smile on her face.

We love you Miss K! We're praying for you and know how brave you are! You're not afraid to defend the goal in soccer and we know you're not afraid to defend yourself in this fight. We're cheering for you!