A number of years ago, friend and I made a baby quilt for a colleague at work. We had so much fabric left over that we made a 2nd quilt figuring we could surely donate it somewhere. It didn’t take us long to find the Children’s Quilt Project at our local guild—East Bay Heritage Quilters (EBHQ). This project has been a part of the guild since 1996 and makes and distributes about 1,000 quilts each year. The quilts go to hospitals, foster homes, crisis centers, women’s centers, police stations, homeless shelters…anywhere there are kids in need.

The EBHQ group officially meets once a month to work on quilts, but the quilts get made, quilted, and finished by many different people. Some people just make quilt tops, some do the quilting, some finish the bindings, and some make the whole quilt from start to finish. Others donate fabric or batting. Some of the quilts are tied others are machine quilted.

Working through an already organized group makes it easy to join in, but if there are no groups in your area, consider starting one. If that’s more than you want to take on, you can make quilts on your own or with a small group of friends, and donate them to a local organization that works with kids in need.

You can also check online for groups such as Project Linus and the Binky Patrol.

Here are a few tips for making quilts for kids:

• Keep it simple—the quilts don’t have to be complicated; aim for fun and colorful.
• Don’t sweat the details—the quilts should be well-made so they hold up to being well-loved and used, but they don’t have to be perfect.
• This is a great opportunity to use up fabric in your stash, and a great opportunity to practice your machine quilting.

Do you make quilts for kids? Share your experience with us.

EBHQ Volunteers making quilts for kids

Related posts:

1. Quilts for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative