If you donate quilts do you...?
 

My niece works at a Sick Kids Hospital and mentioned that they take donations for handmade articles for baby's and kids. So being fairly new to quilting, I thought I would like to make some flannel quilts up, so yesterday hit the local fabric store and bought 12 yards of flannel. (on sale for $4.00 yard) so now I have all this material and just eying to figure out what is the best way to make them.
My question is..."If you were making these would you add batting in the middle of the flannel?" Not sure what to do and I will wait for your feedback since everyone has helped me so much in the past.
Also trying to figure the best pattern. I got 3 different colour groups. Pink, yellow and primary blue with 4 different patterns in each colour.
Look forward to hearing your answers and getting these beautiful children in need.
Thanks for your help!!

Be sure you wash the flannel before cutting it! And you will probably want to wash all your fabric first being that you are making blankets for kids - get the chemical finish off the fabric. Our church ladies made 'prayer blankets' for the minister to give to members or friends he visits if they are ill. They are just cotton fabric one side and flannel the other.

I would add the batting, how about something simple like strips or just blocks or 9 patch blocks. I think that would be awesome. Thank you for doing that, truly a wonderful gesture. Have fun!

You're wonderful for doing this for the sick kids. Sometimes hospitals have special requirements, do it would be best to check with them. Ask about batting, fabric, size, etc. before you start making things and that way you won't be disappointed if they are unable to use some of your quilts.

Try a rail fence pattern...it will look nice and it is quite simple. Make sure you wash the quilt when it is done...and go over it carefully for stray threads and pins. I sew quilts to donate to Downey's Quilt for Kids and they give you a list of do's and don't's.

Our group makes sure every child leaving the hospital pediatric ward goes home with a quilt. We usually do a cotton top, batting and a flannel back or vice-versa. Yes, be sure and wash the flannel first. We are required (if tied and not quilted) to tie every 6" and cut the ties back to 1/2" long.

Thanks Ladies so much for the comments! The fabric is already washed and have decided tomadd some batting as well. Look forward to handing them over to my neice to take to Sick Kids Hospital. Sort of gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside!! LOL

pre-wash- use batting- machine stitch the binding (front and back) and make them durable- also wash the finished quilt before giving it-
remember that in the hospital the quilts are going to go to the industrial laundry- be washed in hot water- and dried in a dryer- they will not recieve (special care) so you need to make them durable-
you may want to check to see what size they prefer also- our pediatric floor accepts quilts that are 40"x 50" up to 50" x 72" they do not want ones that will hang over the sides of the bed much- they accept different sizes- but prefer them to be on the (smaller than bed-sized) quilts
do not add buttons- or embellishments that can come off-
you could visit the Linus Project or Downy quilts for Kids web site to see the patterns they use-and sizes ===their guidelines are good to follow for most quilts going to the hospitals for children.
but durable and washable/dryable are the biggest things to be concerned with

i make alot of quilts for kids so i use one side with flannel and other side with cotton i always put a light batting in between. if im doing both flannel and flannel i dont use a batting be sure to wash your flannel first

I do small charity blankets for babies -- about 40" square or less, and usually do not put batting in them. For larger flannel blankets, I use batting or a layer of flannel as batting. It is definitely important to pre-wash the flannel.

Call the hospital where you want to donate before cutting any fabric. They may have specific requirements of donated items such as sizes, fabrics, battings and quilt density. They also may have pattern suggestions. The Hospital where I donate quilts wants all new fabrics, poly batting because of allergies, a denser quilting than normal (quilts get washed frequently), and no black or black print fabrics. It seems like a lot of rules for charity, but there are reasons for everything.

here's what i was taught in my quilt guild.... buy a queen size batting, fold in half, cut on fold, fold each half in half the other direction and cut on fold again...that way, one queen size batt gives you 4 baby quilts...now make your quilt to fit the batt... this also means the quilt bat is 45 x 54... a nice size for baby quilts... AND you can use one length of 45" fabric for backing...I DO have to check for the 45...or buy 60 on sale... knit, fleece, upholstery fabric, and some cotton wovens are wide enough to use without piecing. even if you pay a bit more, it's only one length so cheaper in the longrun... it's easy to resize your blocks to fit the 45" width, go for easy, wash flannel at least twice, but 3 times is better...it keeps shrinking more than once.

BrendaM ... as your fellow Canuck here ... I'll echo about the importance of checking on any specifications the hospital has. Better to know now, than to do all your work and find out that they are rejected. (and yes, perhaps your niece has given you all that detail.)

Another idea would be to make FUN pillow cases for the kids. I know some hospitals welcome them ... and of course, some would totally refuse them, as not being the regular bed linens.

How good of you to want to do this for the kids!

Since you live in Canada ... add the batting. If you were here in Arizona then maybe not.

ali

Thanks again Ladies for the great info! The material is about to be washed for the third time now and just waiting to hear from neice for sizes.
Thanks again!!