Charity work is Mary Lou O'Malley's passion.

So when O'Malley, 64, of Plum, heard about a project that both helped children in need and gave her a chance to learn how to quilt, she jumped at the chance to volunteer.

O'Malley and about 10 other women who are members of the Plum Borough Community Library Circle of Stitchers recently completed nine quilts that will be delivered to seriously ill or traumatized children who are in hospitals in the Pittsburgh area.

"We learned and helped at the same time," O'Malley said. It was like Quilting 101."

The program, called Project Linus, is a non-profit organization founded in 1995 in the Rocky Mountains. According to the organization's Web site, Project Linus has 405 chapters and has delivered more than 3 million blankets.

Blankets must be new, handmade and washable and can be quilted, knitted, crocheted, or made from fleece. Child-friendly colors and patterns are preferable.

Locally, the program since 1997 has delivered more than 17,000 homemade blankets to youngsters at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, The Children's Institute, Magee-Women's Hospital's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the Western Pennsylvania Hospital Burn Center, Crisis Center North, The Bradley Center, the Mars Home for Youth and Holy Family Institute among others.

Debbie Mumich, a member of the Circle of Stitchers group and a self-taught quilter, suggested the project to the other women.

"I have cut fabric at home in many different sizes, and I knew I would never use all of it," said Mumich.

The women brought their sewing machines to the library a couple times to start their projects. They also worked at home on their quilts. The women spent about eight hours on their quilts.

"We got together in the evening and had a lot of fun," O'Malley said.

"It was a chance to come together, learn something new and do something worth while for people," said Suzanne Teti, who three years ago organized the Circle of Stitchers group that meets twice a month to knit, crochet and cross stitch.

Lee Litvak, 56, a veteran quilter who lives in Plum, joked that she was "guilted into" joining Project Linus.

"(Quilting) no big deal for me so I said, 'why not?' "

The quilts from the Circle of Stitchers group will go to the Jo-Ann Fabrics store in Monroeville -- a drop-off spot for the Pittsburgh Chapter of Project Linus. Quilting is now a popular activity with the Circle of Stitchers group.

"We're doing fall wall hangings," Teti said. "This (quilting) has taken us from a simple project to something more complicated."