At the age of 92, Katie Faiola's seamstress skills are still being called upon to help.
A resident of Juniper Village in South Lebanon Township, Faiola sews colorful pillowcases to be given to young patients at the Hershey Medical Center. When the kids leave the hospital, they can take their cheery pillowcases with them.
Patterns of bears and dolls, dogs and cats on their pillows help to make the kids' stay a little less threatening.
A Lebanon resident all her life, last year, after the passing of her husband, Herman, Katie moved to Juniper Village, an assisted living facility.
The pillowcases are a project of the Lebanon Quilter's Guild, and in 2013, the crafters of the Guild sent more than 4,000 pillowcases to children at HMC.
Faiola has created hundreds of the cheery pillowcases, usually making one or two a day.
"When I have something to sew, I'm happy," Faiola said. "I try to keep after with making them, because I have a lot of time on my hands, instead of just sitting in my room. Although, I do read, too."
Rebecca Duke, public relations manager for Juniper Village, said Katie's work is very much appreciated.
"The quilters' guild is such a dynamic organization," Duke said. "They give about 100 pillowcases a month (to HMC), and Katie can crank these out a couple a day. She makes bags for residents' walkers and table runners, too. It gives Katie something meaningful to do."
As Faiola sits before her Sears sewing machine in an activity room at the Village, she carefully inserts straight pins into the cuff of a lavender pillowcase before she turns to sew it by machine.
"I'm doing this for the sick kids; that's why I like doing this," Faiola said.
Read the rest of the story from the Lebanon Daily News.
Photo credit Jeremy Long of the Lebanon Daily News.
