Toward the end of last year, I had some vacation time and didn’t want to go anywhere, so I decided to make as many quilt tops for charity as I could during my week at home. I had lots of fabric, some of it already in squares because they were samples from the fabric manufacturers. I kept the designs simple, and started sewing. Even after my vacation was over, I kept sewing until I had finished 10 quilt tops. I put together backing for all of them and cut binding strips. We received a generous donation of batting from Mountain Mist, and then I called on my fellow C&Ters for help quilting and binding. Most were machine quilted, one was quilted on a longarm, and one was tied.
The kid-oriented quilts are going to the EBHQ Children’s Quilt project and the others are going to a local nursing home.
I still have lots of fabric, now all I need is some free time…
Do you quilt for a cause? Share your story.
Related Posts:
Quilting for a Cause (Part 1)
Quilting for a Cause (Part 2)
Quilting for a Cause (Part 3)
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3 Comments
That is so sweet. I looove the colors of the quilt you’re holding up, Lynn!
Beautiful quilts for wonderful causes. I have only been quilting for a little over a year and tomorrow plan on putting the binding on the first quilt I have made for someone else. I have Scleroderma so I can’t do ‘marathon’ quilting…I have to pace myself but I get the job done. This will be my 5th complete quilt in the year which included my first, for some insane reason I made it a king-size 114″ by 116″ Amish Star Spin quilt. Turned out it was a great one to start with because it made me love the very detailed quilts. The others are two large throws to keep me warm as I live in a constant state of chilling (from the Sclero) a queen size and now, the gift quilt is a 70″ by 70″ throw for a friend of over 30 years who recently survived 3 brain aneuorisms, one of which ruptured and one that still awaits surgery. She was left profoundly paralyzed on the right side and after 56 days in the hospital was released to her loving husband and daughters care at home, until they operate on the last aneuorism July 7th. I spent my first visit to her in the hospital, talking to her and watching her struggling for the correct word…a shirt was a shoe, a jacket was a hat, etc, but she would immediately say, NO…that’s not the right word, give me a minute. Thankfully she has no memory loss, still struggles a little with words but has NO problem whatsoever telling her hubby and daughter where she wants what planted in the garden and placed in the house. I love it!!! When I left the hospital that day, a little over a month ago I told my hubby as we got in the car, I need to make her a “Prayer Quilt” and just focus on thoughts and prayers for her well being and that of her family while I’m working on it. Did I mention her husband was diagnosed with cancer 10 days after she collapsed at work? Or that he had been my husbands closest and dearest friend for over 35 years? Well, many days, stitches and prayers later, and a wonderful longarm quilter who did a beautiful job for me in just one day so that I would have time to bind it and get it to my friend before her upcoming surgery…the Prayer Quilt is almost ready to go. It will only take me a day to bind it as I do all my bindings by machine. I have lost the feeling in my fingertips and feet due to my health issues so I can no longer do the fine needle work I love so much. That was why I started quilting. I had only made clothing prior to that and my machine had been in storage for 12 years while we raised grandchildren. When I got it home I thought “What can I sew, I don’t have any kids to make clothing for anymore” so my sis in law said, let’s make quilts. You see…when God closes a door, he truly does open a window. Wide, with a fresh breeze blowing through! Now, I will get the binding on and get the quilt to her by the end of the week. I believe the label will read simply “Stitched With Prayer”. I don’t know if that qualifies as quilting for a cause as it doesn’t fall into the catagories we normally view as such. However, it was an important cause to my heart so I thought it might be worth sharing. Other causes I intend to participate in quilting for in the future are Breast Cancer (lost my mother to that), Heart Disease (my father to that, and in April of last year my hubby suffered a heart attack at 59 yrs old), the Kidney Foundation, and of course, searching for a cure for Scleroderma. Also, my other sister in law’s quilting guild takes between 150 – 200 quilts to the cancer unit of a Portland Oregon hospital every year, all of them made by 30 + members of their guild. How proud it makes me to be part of this elite, sometimes quirky, fabric addicted, but always phenominally generous group called “Quilters”.
Dear Nancy – I think that any time you create a quilt with love and stitches it qualifies as quilting for a cause. You are an inspiration.
Thank you so much for sharing your story.