Quilters are truly giving and generous people. They donate countless handmade items to support charities and individuals in need. When a sudden need pops up due to a natural disaster or other horrific event, somebody, somewhere, immediately starts a drive to make and donate a quilt or other comfort item. What a great way to give back to the community—and the most beautiful thing of all is that we get back as much as we give. We get to practice the beautiful art of patchwork and maybe even grow our skills a little.
There are many organizations that accept quilt donations. Below, you’ll find a short list of national organizations that distribute quilts to people in need. Short on quilting time? Most organizations will accept monetary and/or supply donations as well. Please be sure to read the guidelines carefully before donating to any charitable organization.
Project Linus provides comfort and security to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers.”
Binky Patrol distributes quilts to children who are born HIV-positive, drug-addicted, infected with AIDS or who have other chronic or terminal illnesses, and to children who have been abused, are in foster care, or are experiencing trauma of any kind.
Quilts of Valor has a mission “to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing quilts.”
American Hero Quilts provides “recognition and appreciation to our wounded service men and women who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.”
The One Million Pillowcase Challenge, created by our friends at American Patchwork and Quilting, challenges those who quilt and sew to help reach a goal of donating one million pillowcases to charity. As of this writing, 701,749 pillowcases have been donated!
This is by no means a complete list! There are many, many more organizations that accept quilts. If you want to keep it local, check with your local guild. Guilds often have a local charity (or two, or more) that they support. You can find your local quilt guild here and here.
Related: Lift your spirits: stories of charity quilts, shared by you
If you’re looking for quick charity-quilt patterns, browse our eBooks on sale this week for some fast and easy designs.
From Four-Patch Frolic: Make Four Patch blocks two at a time; then add strips above and below. Done and done! Imagine this 50″ x 50″ quilt in sweet pastels for Baby or in scrappy red, white, and blue fabrics for a patriotic lap quilt. Make a few extra Four Patch blocks to turn into darling pincushions for your quilting buddies (instructions included).
Aunt Bea quilt and Easy Pincushions from Four-Patch Frolic
From Sew One and You’re Done: These giant one-block quilts range in size from 45″ to 56″ square—just the right size for baby quilts. Big pieces, easy patchwork, big fun! Inside you’ll also find lots of advice for starting a charity-quilt group.
Left: Heartstring Quilters with pieced tops they made for charity from Sew One and You’re Done. Right: Cowlitz Prairie Crazy Quilters with their charity quilt tops.
From Pick Four: Sometimes choosing fabrics can be the most time-consuming part of making a quilt, but not with this Stepping Stones quilt—just pick four fabrics and you’re off! Based on a Nine Patch block, the quilt is deceptively simple to sew. Switch out the green for a navy-blue fabric and you’ve got a beautiful quilt to thank a solider for his or her service.
Stepping Stones quilt
From Rolling Along: This String Square design is a great choice when you want to make a quick quilt. Alternate blue and red string blocks with a white background for a patriotic quilt; skip the border and breeze through 16 blocks for a fast baby quilt.
String Square quilt (also available as an ePattern)
Do you know a charity that accepts quilts and is close to your heart? Please share it in the comments!
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The post Cut, sew, give, repeat: super-quick charity quilts appeared first on Stitch This! The Martingale Blog.