HettyB

Just finished quite a number of quilts for Linus. The tops were made by others; I just did the quilting and binding bit. During this current crisis the quilts won't be collected until safe to do so, but was told to expect a lot of tops to come my way.

So... before committing to doing more, because sometimes I felt I was fussing too much, which took away from the enjoyment, your comments please on:

What type of quilting do you do on charity quilts - SITD, E2E, allover meander, semi-custom
How much work to do you usually have to do regarding trimming threads, squaring up, stabilizing seams at block edges
Do you furnish binding fabric or just have to cut furnished yardage

And have you ever thought a fabric choice was inappropriate? Not sure the coordinator saw one top as it came from a collection point before it came to me. Aggressive colours and graphics - think zombie but not cartoonish silly fun but quite sinister.

My only serious gripe is - please send enough fabric for binding too! Had to raid my stash a few times. I am providing my time, thread, and wear & tear on my machine. If I am going to provide fabric, I would rather do the piecing too.

Thanks for your comments and thoughts on this.

QuiltMom2

I quilt a lot for my church group. The amount of quilting I do varies: brand new fabric. expertly pieced top more intricate, one of our many scrap quilts quick all over, child's quilt whatever I think will make it wear well. Sometimes I have binding already done, sometimes I make binding from leftover backing and use that. I try to trim as many threads as I can find, but the quilts then are handed off to someone who handstitches the binding to the back and trims threads. Fortunately haven't run into zombies ..yet! The more you do, the less you should fuss but I know what you mean it can take away the enjoyment. Yes, I too have raided my stash and on the whole, I think I'd rather be piecing but the quilting is fun too.

Iceblossom

I do a lot of donation tops and have for years, most of what I do is donation. When I am confronted with a project and I have options, I always choose the one for "how I would do it for the person I love most in the world". That doesn't mean every crib quilt should be quilted as an exhibition quilt. Some speak to me and just need more work than others...

"Pieces big enough for backs" is always an issue in donation groups. It's a new thing for me to actually enjoy it, but I find I'm rather liking bias binding lately -- maybe you can put out a call for someone in your group to help you with that aspect.

For me, my questioning of suitable is when someone donates a badly made ugly something. I mean really, stuff I would turn so the "better" side was up before I put it in the dog bed. But a lot of things I do are rather... "taste specific" and you are either going to appreciate them or not (but they are made well!). People are different and want different things, I make a lot of bright bold things for the people who like that, there are other people who do more subtle things. I prefer my quilts go to groups that allow the recipients to choose them instead of just being handed something. There is likely to be someone who is a huge Walking Dead fan and would love a zombie quilt!

So here are some of my donations... "Seahawk Pink" is just the serpentine stitch. It's a simple option that works very well with large blocks/grids. The fabric for that one was bundled together at the thrift store, it was $3.99 for the top fabrics and the back came out of stash. The Suzy's Zoo "Daisy Ducks" was a top I got for $1.99 at the thrift store. It had been layered with two layers of very thick batting (that's just one in the final product and it was thicker than I would have liked) and a slightly too small not right flannel backing. The batting has been used for two projects, the flannel donated to the local preemie blanket group -- not bad for $2.

Lee in Richmond

We have a lovely lady who quilts charity tops for my quilt chapter. She chooses an all-over pattern and trims afterward, returning the scraps with the quilt to the maker. She does not bind the quilts.

thimblebug6000

I make many charity quilts however I make the complete quilt, so not quite like what you are speaking about. I think you need to do whatever makes your heart feel happy.

Iceblossom

Seconding what Lee in Richmond said, most of this is based on pre-plague work parties. Can still be the same with minimal contact and drop off from person to person. Typically we have specialists who participate in various parts of the project. Some of those like the hand sewing of binding and that is basically their part of the project. I'm a piecer, but I'm also a fabric collector/provider so I try to provide backs when called upon, or borders, or bindings or sometimes it is all three. There are always less people willing and able to quilt, so we usually take good care of our quilters and the top is already gone over once or twice before they get to them. It should have everything you need and ready for your attention.

It's ok for you to say "before we go further with this, this is what I am willing to do and this is what I expect from the projects given to me from here out". Include how many you are willing to do, the state they should be in, how big of backings you require, etc. And if you need/want help with thread costs, well yeah, you are already providing labor and equipment and it seems reasonable to me that could be donated to you as well.

So the incoming project would go to the intake person who would record who brought in what. They would examine it for suitability and workmanship and it would go into the "ready for quilting" or "needs something" piles -- if necessary there is a reject pile discretely tucked away somewhere. If there were reasons for rejection that needed to be communicated nicely and discretely, it would be handled by someone with that skill and not in a group setting. Needs pile broken down into basically "more workmanship" or "more fabric". Someone usually helped cover the fabric table and put blocks together with sashing or alternate blocks or maybe sketch an idea and kit out projects for others. I'm pretty good at that part and it's fun.

Doing it as a guild work party we would have various stations some more fun or desirable or more/less skill based than others. Although I don't like to iron, I believe in it and would often donate that time to the cause, always a busy station, keeping the tops as well as the backs ready for the quilters. Typically I did my own quilts start to finish on my own time, but this was my donated time so I go where the needs are.

patricej

you are making a very generous donation when you do the quilting.
you should not hesitate at all to set standards for the tops, batting and fabrics you will accept.

you should not have to reinforce or repair seams.
you should not have to trim strings.
you should not have to raid your stash because not enough fabric came along with the top.
you should not be expected to quilt anything that is so poorly made you literally risk damage to your machine or your reputation as a quilter.

• poorly pieced, pressed to disguise that; so that the foot might catch at a seam;
• no attention paid to seam allowance so there are holes in places where seams should be; also risk of foot catching
• generally looks horrible;
• etc

i have gotten tops that have one or more of the characteristics i listed. using my embroidery machine, the first time, i tried to "quilt it out". the foot caught; the machine sewed the foot to the quilt; broke the needle; and nearly damaged the whole machine. it was no fun at all cutting the quilt away from the machine and then the foot away from the quilt. after that, i sent back anything dangerous.

let the quilt, your time and your heart choose the quilting design.
have fun with them. [img]/images/smilies/smile.png[/img]

juliasb

The charity quilts I have made, I have alway made from start to finish. I have done that many in recent years. I will be making more with the COVID-19 is not an issue where I am making so many mask. Once out quilt guild gets to be back and running.
I would hope that you can put down a few ground rules. Many good suggestions have been given that should help you to establish those ground rules. Don't let others take the joy out of the good work you are doing.

Jordan

Iceblossom-very nice quilts and thank you so much for all of your quilts you make for donations. Kudos to you. You are a very special person to do this.

HettyB

Thanks to everyone who responded. Some very good suggestions and things that I should think about.

My situation is that I am a 'lone wolf' no longer a member of a quilt group as there are so few in my area and of those, they either meet when I am at the day job or are closed to new members.

The tops were delivered to me by a neighbouring regional coordinator who collects them from groups but also from local/regional craft shops and fabric shops that have groups or are drop off points for fellow 'lone wolves'.

Of the 20 (lap size and above) I have done since Christmas, one had a design that was ok but the fabric awful, seams jammed my HQSwt 16 and that is saying something. I suspect it was lightweight home furnishing fabric.

But Quilt 20, which I saved for last was a beautiful mariner's compass surrounded by a circle of flying geese then with a tooth/compass point border and then another border. AND the piecer used batiks! Gorgeous. I think it was the centre for a much larger quilt but never finished. This quilt was custom quilted and I used double batting. Wish I could keep it.

Will start piecing my own tops for awhile, gots lots of fabric to get through, and before lockdown I bought a large roll of batting - just hope my thread supply holds out!

Thanks again, everyone

Stay safe.