Tell me when you make charity quilts what fabric do you use? Is it fabric that you yourself would like in a quilt, is it a lower quality fabric that you got just for charity quilts, or is it fabric that you had and just didn't care for it after you purchased it? Also what type of pattern do you use? Something that works up quickly or one that may take a few days to work on? Thanks and I look forward to hearing everyones thoughts on this.

I try to use something in my stash...some is better quality than others, but it is all quality that I would use for a personal quilt too.

Hiya Roxie I am the North Wales, UK, Coordinator for Project Linus, and personally I just love using quilting cottons but I also recommend quality Poly-cotton, easily obtainable from Charity/Thrift shops as it is designed to be laundered and all charity quilts get more laundering that our normal quilts. All I would say is to remember that, they will be laundered more therefore one of the things I ask, or do if it hasn't been done, is to machine stitch the bindings as they get so much wear.

People who need charity like and deserve nice things!

Our guild made over 100 large size community quilts plus three dozen crib quilts and two dozen incubator quilts this past year. They were all from our guild's stash (all donated) which includes a wild assortment of fabric from the last fifty years. Most of our quilts are scrap quilts because most of our fabric is smaller pieces. We try to sort our fabric so that the poly/cottons are all together to be used in quilts that will be washed frequently. Much of the fabric is leftovers from member quilts or fabric that they are no longer in love with. I have seen some incredibly beautiful quilts come from these bins of fabric. At the worst, they are interesting or charming. Having the "best" fabric does not necessarily mean stitching the best quilt.

I only use the quality of fabrics that I would use for myself or for my family. If I don't like a fabric, I will not use it in a quilt to be given away to a stranger or an organization. To me, it's simply a question of respect for others and for our craft.

For charity quilts, I would only use fabrics that I would be happy with for a quilt of my own...it's just part of the "do unto others" thing as far as I'm concerned.

I would not use a fabric for someone that I would not use for myself. In fact, I often use better as it is going for someone in need and they are often downhearted and feel bad enough as it is. Try and lift their spirits.

I try to use from my stash too, which is things I would use for family and friends. I do try to always buy on-sale fabric and my goal is to keep it around $2.00-2.50 a yard on sales. I also buy batting by the roll from an outlet here in town (it is about $1.25 a yard if you buy a whole roll of 80 yds.)It is good batting and washes well. I try to sew a tight sew, and put enough quilting into it that it will take being drug around by a little kid, tossed in the washing machine, and still stay together.

I snap up sale fabric usually at Joanns. It is usually 100% cotton and age appropiate for my Linus quilts. I also like to use cotton flannel on the backs. I usually make my Linus quilts out of one pieces of a children's print on the front and a plain flannel back. I make them pillowcase style by sewing the three layers together and then turning them. I use decorative stitches and usually some kind of varigated thread to quilt them simply about 4 inches apart crossways and then about 1/2 around the outside edges to make a self binding. This method allows me to produce about 20 a month. Our county chapter of Linus averages about 600 donations of quilts a month.