Category Archives: Quilt Donations

Living and Loving Quilt Therapy

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Remember me posting this photo of a finished quilt top I had made for a very special (local) friend?

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This is made from my friend’s mom’s pajamas that she wore as dementia ravaged her brain and life.  My lovely quilter, Meloney, has finished quilting the quilt and I cannot wait to get my hands on this beautiful creation and finish it!  Here are some photos Meloney shared with me:

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I think this is a beauty!  Thanks Meloney!

The Quilted Beauty of 116 Quilts

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I stepped into our church yesterday to view the fruits of the labor of the wonderful church ladies who made 116 quilts for Lutheran World Relief.  You may remember how excited they were when I delivered a boatload of fabric to them.  I cannot tell how many quilts were made from the fabrics that were donated by the quilters I know…but, there is pure quilted beauty in the display of their efforts before they ship the quilts off.  Behold…

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Filling up my Stash

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Linda at AbbiMays.com sent me 20 pounds of fabric for our church’s Lutheran World Relief quilt-a-thon:

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I had to rescue some of the fabric for my stash as it was too lovely or fun for me to pass up O:) – but never fear, the church ladies were still very appreciated of the box of fabric that I AbbiMays.com had sent to them!  And I am truly running out of room in my one-butt sewing room for more stash fabric!

Even if you do not need stash fabric, do you still purchase something that is too lovely to pass up?

Charity Quilt-a-Thon

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The wonderful and tireless ladies at our home church began their two-week Lutheran World Relief (LWR) quilting today…and they will quilt for two solid weeks.  Many of them will be at the church from early in the morning until late at night.  ALL of them are dedicated to a worthwhile cause and our church is always so (sew?) pretty when their two-week LWR quilt-a-thon is finished as they hang all of the quilts over the pews, the communion rails and anywhere else they can find to hang them so the congregation can enjoy their beautiful colors before they are boxed up and sent to their new home.

I have never been able to join them while they quilt.  First it was because I was the main breadwinner in our family and then, once I was diagnosed with MS, there is no way I can handle the hustle and bustle, chaos, movements and noises from the group.  So, I felt compelled to help in SOME way that would not affect an exacerbation of my MS symptoms.

I decided I could donate fabric to the cause!  I already had one LWR quilt sewn but had lost it in my sewing room and recently uncovered it so that went into my donation box along with some fabrics.  Then, my MIL was going to our little town’s quilt group a few weeks ago and she mentioned my request to the ladies in the group.  And, as with most things that have meaning and quilted hearts – the word spread like wildfire and the next thing you know is I had over 200 yards of fabric for our home church LWR ladies!

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Donated fabric filled up the back end of my Suburban.

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A few of our church quilt ladies and one of the men who helps his wife.

ALL of the ladies were very appreciative of the donations – downright GIDDY, actually!  And I was happy that I could do what little I did to help them along in their LWR quilt-a-thon journey.

Free Fabric Opportunities for Quilters

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I recently received a comment from a reader who said she lived on a fixed income and could not afford to purchase fabric to make quilts and it got my brain cogs churning.  The first thing you hear from those who are ‘in the know’ when it comes to quilting is that you must purchase quality cotton fabric for a quilt.  I tend to disagree with that statement – mainly because a quilt is a part of a person’s heart, no matter what fabric is used.  Of course I do realize that if you are making a show quilt, you want the best-of-the-best fabric to do so.  But what if you just want to make a quilt for a hobby?  Or for a homeless person?  Or for a donation to your church?  Does it really have to be 100% quilt cotton fabric? 

I know my husband’s grandmother brought a dreadful colorful polyester quilt to me and asked me to tie it.  It was very difficult to do, getting a needle and yarn through two layers of polyester and a layer of batting – but, I did it (with a trusty pair of pliers) and realized once the quilt was done that it would be a super-warm for someone who needed it.  I would never make a polyester quilt unless I had an abundance of fabric and lived in a colder climate where my quilted heart efforts would be appreciated by someone who needed quilted heart warmth.

Here are some ideas I came up with for obtaining FREE fabric to make quilts:

  • There are a number of towns and cities who offer clothing to the poor.  Go through the clothes and take whatever you can cut up to create a quilt.
  • Ask friends, family and neighbors to save their worn out clothing and give it to you to make quilts.
  • Go to a fabric store and ask them if you can have the scraps they cut away (and usually throw away).
  • Make a trade or barter with a quilter!  Perhaps you have something a quilter would like and they have fabric you would like.
  • Go to the dry cleaner’s and ask if they have clothing that no one has claimed.
  • Talk with businesses or your town municipality and ask if they have a lost-and-found that needs clearing out.
  • Talk to a seamstress and/or local tailor to see if they have scraps of fabric to give to you.
  • Old, worn-out sheets work great – contact the hotels and motels in your area as well as the hospital and nursing homes to see if you can take their worn-out sheets off of their hands.
  • Contact quilters and ask them if you can have their fabric scraps.
  • Many fabric manufacturers and/or distributors have fabric they have been unable to sell.  Ask them for it!
  • Offer to make demos for quilt shops, with the understanding that they will provide the fabric, thread and quilting and you get to keep the finished piece, once they are done using it as a display.
  • Using social media, simply ask if people can donate fabric to you.
  • Enter as many contests for free fabric as you can!  These are usually found on various blogs.

I’m sure there are many other ideas to obtain free fabric to quilt with.  If you have one, please leave your idea in a comment!