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Handmade St. Patrick’s Day quilt keeps lone
‘leprechaun’ under wraps
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Julie Pritchard of North Creek holds her newborn
Jillianna, wrapped in a
handmade St. Patrick's Day quilt.
Jillianna was the only
newborn delivered in the Snuggery on St. Patrick’s Day. |
GLENS FALLS – Carol Bray is a
fabric addict. With a wealth of colorful fabrics on the market, she’ll drop a
hundred bucks easily whenever she visits her favorite crafts store.
“I buy fabric just to buy fabric,” said Bray, RN, nursing supervisor at Glens
Falls Hospital for the past three decades. “I cannot pass up a pattern that
catches my eye.”
Irish eyes – and those belonging to new mothers at the Snuggery — were smiling
when Bray again channeled her ‘addiction,’ knitting a dozen festive quilts for
the newborns delivered on and around St. Patrick’s Day.
The 3-by-3 quilts, in four different shamrock patterns, are just part of a
personal tradition she reserves for babies born in the Snuggery around most
major holidays. Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Easter, Fourth of July – they’re all
fair game for Bray.
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Carol Bray, RN, nursing
supervisor, shows some of her
holiday handiwork. |
“I try to hit as many as the
holidays as I can,” she said, noting that she’s been knitting quilts as presents
for friends and family for more than 20 years.
Like a tiny leprechaun, Jillianna May Pritchard entered the world at 10:16 p.m.
on Saturday, March 17, just as the St. Patrick’s Day revelry was kicking into
high gear. Despite the distinction of being the only newborn delivered in the
Snuggery that day, the 4-pound, 12-ounce preemie who arrived four weeks early by
emergency C-section had little on her mind but sleep.
After mother Julie Pritchard of North Creek and baby Jillianna recovered with
some shut-eye, Julie and her husband Jeremy were delighted to receive the
commemorative quilt.
“This will brighten up her room a lot,” said Mrs. Pritchard, sitting in a
Special Care Nursery rocking chair while holding her tiny bundle wrapped in the
green-and-white keepsake. “I think it was neat that she was the only one born on
St. Patrick’s Day.”
Bray got started three years ago after friend and colleague Diane Kerchner, RN,
Women’s and Children’s Services director, recruited her after receiving a quilt
at a party Kerchner hosted.
“I can’t say no to her, and it’s for a good cause,” said Bray, figuring she
invested approximately six hours of personal time into her latest holiday
endeavor.
She doesn’t seek recognition and only occasionally witnesses the recipients’
reactions. However, two years ago when she knitted pumpkin-top berets for the
newborns around Halloween, she recalled seeing another preemie wearing her
handiwork.
“It literally brought tears to my eyes to see how cute that preemie was, and the
parents were ecstatic,” said Bray. “That’s my reward.”
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