Once I Run Out of Relatives Who Do I Make Quilts For?
 

I've been quilting three years. I've made baby quilts for my grandchildren, lap quilts for my two daughters, plan to make lap quilts for my three sisters, I would like to try a queen size quilt for my bed. Then what?? I love doing this but I'm just wondering what to do with all the quilts I want to make

There's always charitable organizations looking for quilts of all sizes. Do a Google search, quilts for charity.

The 'babies' will grow and need a big bed quilt, then down the road they will need a dorm quilt, next is the wedding quilt. :) Also the families might want a quilt or two for their beds. Gifts of table toppers, wall hanging and place mats. Looks like you will busy. :)

Are you kidding???? i want a quilt in every room in the house (wall hangings, table runners...etc). oh and Christmas quilt and easter quilt and let's not talk about bed quilts...i am on my second for my daughter alone as she likes to change with the mood and i am working on a king size for me and have at least three more in my head and i want to change....oh and i do want for all our beds Christmas quilts (and THAT is my mood).....it goes on and on don't worry jusy keep stitching ;-)

Some of the most popular quilting charities seem to be Quilts For Kids, Project Linus, Quilts of Valor, etc.

Another suggestion would be local nursing homes and care centers. A quilt can really brighten someone's day, especially if they're in a situation where they believe that no one cares.

A homeless shelter, battered women's shelter?

Check with a local quilt guild and see who they donate too locally.

As others have said there is always charities. I am chair of our guild's charity, although I try to keep the ideas and patterns quick and easy I do try to make them nice/pretty also when I do kits for the members to make. Since a lot of the fabrics are donated that is sometimes a challenge. I enjoy the challenge.
When it comes to making quilts for family, I will probably die before I make one for everyone since I am one of 11 siblings, with their spouses, their children and their spouses, and their children my extended family counts at 75. Even making one per couple that is still a lot. Then there are friends I want to make quilts for.
Do you have a cousin or two you would like to make a quilt for?

Same here!!!!!!!!!

As others have said, there are always charities, and the babies will grow up, and then there are table toppers, tree skirts and all kind of small projects...I'm sure you'll come up with something. ;)

"If you sew it, they will come"!

In my experience, if you keep enough quilts out and visible they will gain admirers, and whenever someone gets attached to one I get a huge kick out of saying, "Well, since you really like that one, why don't you keep it? That one is an extra. No, really, please take it, so I will have an excuse to make another one!" and watching people go through the stages of disbelief, shyness about "taking" something, then finally excitement and snuggly happiness as they cuddle their new quilt.

There are only a very few quilts that are mine permanently. The rest, I'm just 'breaking in' until their true owner comes along. LOL

I learned this from my grandma, by the way. She was always very generous with her quilts; many, many, MANY people ended up with her quilts, not just family. She passed away 10 years ago now, and I STILL run into friends of the family that tell me how their quilt is still in use and still loved. Sometimes I almost think Gram enjoyed giving the quilts away more than making them, but then she made SO MANY she kind of had to give them out or her house wouldn't have had space to move in it!

I've found that kids need 3 quilts over the years, (1) baby, (2) big girl/boy quilt for a bed, and (3) one for H.S. and/or college (they have to help with this one). Besides that, there are extended family who have experienced something awful, or ones who have been extra sweet to us, and to make them a quilt is delightful. The head-of-school who left last year and is one incredible lady who nurtured a couple of our G-kids. Raffles and auctions for schools, churches, etc. This may be your time to try out new and challenging designs and give it to someone you think might like it, or give it to a woman's shelter.

I have a friend who makes seasonal and holiday quilts and her house looks entirely different each time I go. She loves celebrating the "now"! Maybe you would, also. There is also the Linus quilts for children in hospital.

I think exactly the same way Sewnoma does
I only have one brother and he has three daughters and the three of them have one or two young children. I am not making any quilts for them as I really don't think they will appreciate them. I am making quilts anyway and I am waiting for the "future owner" to come along l I want to see their excitement to receive a gift they did not think possible to receive!!!

just jokeing---ME-(ha-ha). There is groups/charties--nursing homes???. Again just jokeing ME. Don

One of my wonderful quilt teachers has made wedding quilts for each of her grandchildren and great grandchildren, though almost all of them are little kids. I think it is so spiritual that these kids will get something from Grandma even though she may no longer be with us. What a gift! I hinted to my mother (a wonderful knitter) but she thought it was silly. She has passed on, my daughter is getting married, and I'm pretty sure a handmade gift from Grandma would have meant the world to her. I will make many things for my grandchildren.....if I ever have any!!!

You can always offer them for sale. You can also make them for shows, challenges, and other competitions. Not everything has to be given away for free.

The easier question is, what CAN'T you do with the quilts you make?? You don't have to display/use all your quilts all the time. I plan to make different quilts for my bedroom and our living area to change out as the seasons change. One day my children will hopefully get married, and I'll make them new bed quilts for their married lives. I have people on Facebook constantly asking me to make them a quilt, and many of them don't care about style or even color - they just love handmade objects (I've sold several this way, actually; I usually only ask for the cost of the materials so I can go buy more fabric, but people often pay me more). I also have a tendency to make quilts for people I like who I think would like to have a quilt, but are too shy to ask.

I don't see myself ever running out of things to do with quilts. One of my most treasured things is a quilt my mother's Air Force roommate made for me on my first marriage 22 years ago. The quilt outlasted the marriage, and she has since passed away from breast cancer, and the quilt is looking a little ragged and should be put away, but it is one of my favorite things ever. I can only hope that one of my quilts may some day mean so much to someone else!

Quilting is an art form -- if we only needed "blankets" we would get them! The need to express our creativity is done through the whole process of quilting from fabric and pattern choices thru quilting and binding. Have fun -- donate some, have a couple on hand for gifts, make some smaller quilted items as gifts (placemats, bags, table & bed runners) and give some away for charity events, silent auctions, fund raisers for people in need.

I am a quilt addict, I just can not stop making them, my family is all quilted out but still I make them, I like to have a few quilts on hand to give away, ( to the needy and not the greedy).
I get that warm fuzzy feeling every time I give a quilt to a person who has fallen on hard times

Call the local church and find out if there is a poor family who might like to have one. I used to be in a group that made quilts for families in the area who were the victims of a house fire. They were mostly tied quilts, but they were greatly appreciated.

Hulalulu beat me to my idea. I was going to suggest looking for a way of donating for silent auctions as well. PTA's or school groups such as sports teams or bands are always looking for fundraising ideas (I have gone to way to many with my six kids). If you have a friend or a family member who is involved with a school group ask them. Or why not give your local elementary a call and find out if they are interested, who knows it might open up a friendship with the school leaders offering you many opportunities for service. I come from a long line of school teachers, and one thing that I have learned is that schools always need volunteers. You don't have to have a child in the school to help just the desire to be a part of someones life for good :)

I hear you - I also have been quilting for 3 years and have run out of family members who have not gotten a quilt already - one thing is to make another quilt for each family member because you are sooo much better then when you started. I also do charity quilts.

There are always weddings, births, graduations, birthdays, anniversary's, Holiday's, and then there's "just because"
I have been quilting since 1975, most of my quilts have stayed in my family.

I just make whatever I feel like making, and if I think it suits someone, it becomes theirs. I don't care if they stack up to the ceiling. I am new and have only made a few, but have two in production right now with no specific "home". I'll be happy to hang onto them until such time they get adopted out to a worthy recipient.

If you make them they will find a home.

I don't always know who will end up with a particular quilt. So I just keep making them and the destination appears, often with very little warning. In the past couple of weeks I finished two UFOs to give to friends. One went to a neighbor who had bypass surgery and the other was for a friend's grandson who was in the hospital. Nice to have something on hand that is close to completion for such occasions.

A number of people have mentioned various charities. But don't you have siblings, nieces and nephews who you are close to?

Then there are other possibilities other than bed and lap quilts - wall hangings, table cloths, christmas tree skirts, ...
Sue

This is where my delimma comes in. My sisters, daughters, nephews, nieces, all have quilts my mother quilted....she didn't piece, but she quilted. My mother is considered the goddes of sewing in our family, rightfully so, because she was vfantastic seamstress.

I seem to keep finding someone to give mine to. I have donated a few and will be doing more in the future. Even if no one wanted/needed my quilts I would keep making them and my family would have to find them homes when my time came.
D

Answer: YOURSELF!!! :)

How about bed quilts for your family? My family loves bed quilts. Also if you like quilting so much, how about making quilts that challenge you ?

I have made a memory quilt from her father's shirts for a friend who doesn't sew. I encouraged her to be part of the design process so she could feel a part of it. Now I just have to quilt it and get her to plan the label text. It will be so meaningful to future generations of her family.

I have 8 grandchildren. They WILL need more quilts. I've made baby quilts, kid quilts, teen quilts, graduation quilts which I'm still envolved in, and then there will be wedding quilts (shortly), then great grandchildren....plus friends and I've done a few for customers. Just finished a wedding quilt for a customer. Just keep quilting. I still haven't made one for OUR bed!

Check with the social workers at the hospitals. We have so many babies born each month here with basically nothing to go home in. Look up our organization to see how it works babiesinneed.org

They will be in my estate when I die. I don't have a big family and when everyone asks me what I'm going to do with them, I tell them I will give them to anyone who wants one. Then they all want one, but just if I give it to them. If I find a worthy recipient, I will give it to them. Otherwise, they will be in my estate when I die. They'll be worth more then than they are now. I also do charity quilts as well.

Table runners...placemats...totes...etc

Take a walk in the park near your home. When you see a young family, the kids would love a quilt. This is what one member of our quilt guild did. No one knew until she pass away in December and her family shared this about her. She has scrap books of picture of the child and their quilt. Really something to think about. And her love of quilting was shared. Since you love quilting so much, share it also.

Afghan sized quilts are welcomed and appreciated gifts for cancer patients going through chemo. Keep doing what you love to do and stack them. When you hear of someone who is going through this ordeal, give them a quilt to bring along for their treatments. Perhaps even a simple tote bag added to it. Happy sewing!

my mother made quilts for each gchild with instructions to give them when they married. One got his quilt twenty years after she passed. She loved them but knew she was terminal and wouldn't here to give them herself.

My 1st quilts were easy ones. Then I got into floral applique which take longer to complete. However, my closets are now full & it is hard to give these away & I do not have any relatives with an interest in quilts. I do make them when neighbors have grandkids & have sold a few.