Monday, January 12, 2009

Donation Quilts

President-elect Obama has asked Americans to participate in a national day of service on Martin Luther King Day (January 19). He and his family will be doing volunteer work, and I thought it would be great if quilters would participate by working on charity quilts that day. Just do whatever you have time for -- cut some fabric scraps into squares for a charity quilt, piece a strip quilt, tie a top you made for charity but never got around to finishing. Quilters are so generous with their time and talents that I'm sure many of you already have projects underway. It'll be fun to dedicate some time on MLK Day to charity quilting, especially because you'll know that lots of other quilters out there are doing the same.

Need a pattern or some ideas to get you started? Mary at Mary Quilts has many free patterns for simple but beautiful charity quilts, and Bonnie at Quiltville has lots of scrap patterns, many of which make wonderful donation quilts.
Julie of Me & My Quilts gathered fabric for about 15 pillowcases to donate to ConKerr Cancer, which distributes them to children with the disease. Members of my guild stitched them into pillowcases and we're sending them in. This photo shows about half of them. If you don't have much time but want to make something to donate, these pillowcases are easy to make in a short time.
This Heartstrings quilt was made at a local Project Linus worknight and quilted by a member of my guild. They are wonderful group projects! Maybe you can get a few friends together to work on one of these on MLK Day. Directions are on the Heartstrings Quilt Project website.

Post edited to include:
There are also some good quilting patterns on the Project Linus website, and Michele at Quilting Journey has compiled a list of 2,500 free quilting patterns.

I hope you'll think about participating. Let me know if you do! Together, we can make a difference.

18 comments:

Rosalyn Manesse said...

What a good idea. I'll try to follow through on that, and work on something for donation.

laura west kong said...

that's a great idea! maybe i'll pull out my baby quilts and actually get them quilted. =(^_^)=

Clare said...

Count me in. I'll rustle up a Q4L quilt for a little boy in Texas.

Mary Johnson said...

Quilting is my *service* of choice too and I'm sure I'll be quilting that day. It will be fun to see how many quilters join you!

dutchcomfort said...

Count me in. I hope to make blocks on Martin Luther King day for a little boyish quilt. It will be for a Dutch organization, but I guess Mr. Obama won’t mind! I remember Martin Luther King and his speeches so well. I hope a lot of quilters will join!

Susan said...

Count me in too...I've also posted about your idea on my blog with the hopes that others will also join in.

Libby said...

Great idea...I'm sure there will be a big response from this post.

Hmm... anonymous commenters are so interesting :-/

Julia said...

What a wonderful idea! I have some fabric set aside for some charity quilts. This is good motivation to get going on it. I may not get to it on Monday, but I am planning a sewing day with friends this Thursday. I will work on them that day. Thanks for sharing this idea!

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

A great idea! Thanks for sharing!

Quiltdivajulie said...

So good to see the pillowcase fabric stitched up!

So many wonderful opportunities to help others ~ I'll do what I can!

Sequana said...

Count me in too. It's a wonderful idea.

Sequana said...

Cheri, would you pls test out my link again? Thx so much.

jillytacy said...

This is a wonderful idea!

jacquie said...

i won't be near my sewing machine that day, but i'm so glad you posted about this. we're going to be collecting food donations for a local food bank. Great post!

Shirley said...

I'm sure that I can find a project to work on for donating that day.

Toni said...

What a great post! I help at work with Project Linus quilts all the time and now we are preparing for Make A Blanket Day in February. I forgot about the pillow case charity, I have lots of stash I can do some! Thanks for the inspiration, Cheri!

Carol E. said...

So far I have spent all weekend sewing on charity projects. I would love to keep it up on Sunday and Monday, too, but I do have some deadlines coming up that I must give some attention to. I might count what I've done so far, but hope to join in a little more on Monday, too. Thanks for offering this idea.

Michele Bilyeu said...

Fabulous idea and I am most definitely in! Whether I sew at home or with a group, I'll be thinking good thoughts and sharing the wonderful energies of creation with so many talented women! Please add my links to over 2,500 Free Quilting Patterns to your list of potential ideas. I have a great section on scrap quilting for charity! hugs for a wonderful plan, Michele