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When Hurricane Katrina hit.. I had just bought a quilt the day before. I had been eyeballing that quilt for a couple of months. The prior year I had done the same but just couldn't come up with the cash.
Then Katrina hit, and as I watched it unfold on TV, Oh my! the losses and the broken hearts, I cleaned out my cupboards as I know many of you did also, bagged whatever I could, and tucked the quilt in there too.
I still think about that quilt.. how right the timing was, and I often wonder if someone received it with the love & hope I sent with it.
I ended up getting a cotton woven bedspread like they have on hospital beds
a few months later, which was a fine.
I never thought I could actually make a quilt.. but one day (2 years ago) I decided I was going to learn how. I began as simple as could be.. rows of squares, then I found a freebie wicked easy quilt pattern online.. made that. Hey, not bad!
So it began.. and I got good at it. Since then I have made well over a dozen
quilts and have found several websites where donations are welcome.
I have discovered Quilts of Valor for soldiers also Quilts for Kids with life threatening illness, or of abuse.
I like to sew to donate..have you ever thought to do that?
Maybe this is the year you do.
Last edited by CourageMom; 10-18-2011 at 03:03 PM..
started 2 quilts (took classes) and didn't finish either one. Finally gave them (as is) to a quilt club to finish or use the cloth. At least the quilt club raffled off one quilt a year and donated the money.
I'll sit and cross stitch for hrs but quilting just isn't for me.
Having said that, I really admire you donating something you really wanted and had to wait to buy. And I do hope the recipient feels as special as the donor is.
I spent several months at the Perinatal Special Care unit of our hospital before the birth of my daughter..... I was so blessed that despite all my issues (and everything that can go wrong in a pregnancy did in mine) - my daughter never spent even an hour in the neonatal unit and we both went home together on Mother's Day 2009
I'd like to make a couple of quilts for the NICU when I wrap up my current projects...
OP, what a lovely thing to do! It seems the original donation was the spur for a new and rewarding hobby that will "repay" the time and effort you spend on your creations a thousand-fold by imagining the gratitude of the recipients. Good for you!
Sewing of any kind, unfortunately, was never my thing. My seventh-grade Home Ec teacher couldn't believe how I inserted and sewed in the zipper on a gathered skirt, saying diplomatically, "Ah, you have the beginning of the zipper hidden in the bottom of the placket which means it would be a little difficult to open..."
So I fixed on crochet and do my donations that way. There's some beautiful copies of old-fashioned quilt patterns on the crochet sites, and I've made a few over the years to donate for hospital fundraisers. It was very gratifying to see that the winning bids in the auctions actually reflected the value of the items for the dollars spent on the yarn and the time invested.
Now I mostly make crocheted hats in a riot of colors and stripes for hospital patients. They're always well-received and it makes me feel good that maybe a spot of color and warmth helped in their recovery.
OP, what a lovely thing to do! It seems the original donation was the spur for a new and rewarding hobby that will "repay" the time and effort you spend on your creations a thousand-fold by imagining the gratitude of the recipients. Good for you!
Sewing of any kind, unfortunately, was never my thing. My seventh-grade Home Ec teacher couldn't believe how I inserted and sewed in the zipper on a gathered skirt, saying diplomatically, "Ah, you have the beginning of the zipper hidden in the bottom of the placket which means it would be a little difficult to open..."
So I fixed on crochet and do my donations that way. There's some beautiful copies of old-fashioned quilt patterns on the crochet sites, and I've made a few over the years to donate for hospital fundraisers. It was very gratifying to see that the winning bids in the auctions actually reflected the value of the items for the dollars spent on the yarn and the time invested.
Now I mostly make crocheted hats in a riot of colors and stripes for hospital patients. They're always well-received and it makes me feel good that maybe a spot of color and warmth helped in their recovery.
for what it's worth, if you're really interested in sewing you might want to give it a go again - the new machines are so much easier to work with that the older ones. I struggled with my old Singer for years until getting a new machine (I have a Janome) - It's a night/day difference.
I have a canning apron to finish up and then I have 3 quilts to make..
as commitments and somewhere in between each I plan to make a small size donation quilt to offset these gifts.. One for a grand daughter, one for a wedding gift, and one for DH and me. <<--- why are we always last?
Hoping also to make some smaller ones (in between each) for donation to Linus group. I had made a nice antique reproduction quilt for Q o V last summer (Quilts of Valor) also a wonderful place to donate.. our war hero's
deserve a lovingly made blanket as well..
BOTH charities are very worthy and with the Holidays coming.. you and you alone can make a donation quilt.. you and few others can make it faster, or make more.
Check it out.. Scroll to see the link in the other posts, and share what you've decided on.. ask any sewing questions or share tricks, or equipment that is working for you like the Janome machine (does it monogram??)
Perhaps we can get a quilter / sewing section under hobbies or something..
I'll try to figure out how to get a photo of a quilt up to get the ball rolling.. Don't be shy.. show us your stuff!
CS
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giving quilts
