MARYSVILLE — The donations of fabric and thread are dumped in a big pile in the middle of Ernalee Munday’s recreation room in Marysville.
The room is lined with chairs for the meeting.
The women sort through the goods, looking for supplies for their next creation.
More than a dozen of them meet every month or so as part of The Binky Patrol. They sew, knit and crochet blankets, afghans, quilts and baby hats and booties, which then go to hospitals, clinics and group homes.
Karen Morse, 68, of Marysville, got involved after she retired from Boeing more than a decade ago. She saw a blurb in the newspaper that the group was looking for quilters. She had been sewing all her life.
“I thought, ‘Hey, I could do that,’” she said. “I love the girls. They are just such nice women.”
She does her sewing at home, with the TV on in the background. She likes picking out designs to make for boys and girls. The women bond in their work, Morse said.
“We come from all over,” she said. “There’s a lady from Granite Falls and a lady from Lynnwood and one from Camano (Island). We all gather at Ernalee’s house and we just have a good time. We talk about the kids we are giving our quilts to.”
The current project is quilts for boys in a group home, Morse said.
Nancy Tschida, 68, of Everett, has been involved since the 1990s, after she retired from GTE.
She likes to keep busy, and she likes working with different colors and patterns. Her mother used to make blankets to donate, and it became her passion, too.
“Everybody at Binky Patrol, they have their own way of doing things. That’s what I like about it,” Tschida said. “You don’t have to have rules.”
Tschida estimates she’s made more than 30 blankets a year for 15 years.
When she suffered losses in her life, sewing provided a therapy, she said.
“It takes your mind off other things,” she said.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com.
Join in
Binky Patrol, which meets in a private home in Marysville, provides quilts and afghans to Snohomish County infants and children who need comfort. Volunteer knitters, quilters and crocheters are needed, as well as donations of fabric, batting, thread or money to buy sewing supplies. For more information, call 360-659-7198.
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