Attention donation quilters , knitters , crocheters
 

I just thought I would throw this out there for all of the donation quilters,knitters and crocheters out there.

I currently work as Night shift house nursing supervisior in a local hospital. I have been noticing when I make rounds in the mother baby unit at night all of the girl babies have cute little hats , quilts or afgans while the little boys have on the hospital stockinette caps they put on the babies when they are freshly born and not bathed yet. I finally asked why . The reply was that they hats and blankies are all donated and there are hardly ever enough boy things donated . One nurse even said that if it was gender neutral the item still had pink in it somewhere and these "country boy" dads would never let their baby boy wear pink lol.

The tech took me in the back and showed me the tubs where the donated items were kept. Sure enough there were at least 50 little girl hats and not one boy hat . and out of the 20 or so quilts and afagans there was one little boy one.

So my plea is that those of us who donate to these types of things make more boy items! I bet project linus has the same issue. My next day off I crocheted a little hat . the next night I went to work I took it in. Well just so happens that we had a car pull up to the ED and the baby was already out ! It is in the 20's here so I am happy to say the little guy had a warm and cute little hat to show off after his shocking arrival into the world :)

Thanks for this info. I make baby quilts for the new babies christened in my Church and also "Quilts for Kids". I will do more blue.

What a heartwarming story about the new little baby!

You are so right about hospital charity blankets donated being predominately girlish. I guess we girls simply enjoy working on pink and purple things more than boyish or earth tones. Yesterday at Project Linus after all of the blankets came in, the coordinator said that she had a special request for 3 blankets for teenage boys. She found 3 that were good matches, but that about wiped out the supply of that type. For us the issue is getting enough blankets for older boys, and particularly ones that are boyish, but not juvenile (Bob the Builder, dinosaurs, cartoon looking fire trucks, etc.).

Concerning new born babies, I think a teenage father or other young new dad might be helped in adjusting to his new baby boy if it is wrapped in something he himself would like - camouflage, team sports, plaids, etc.

Dayle

Excellent post. I never thought about it but I do tend to work in mostly feminine colors. I will have to get some more masculine colors to make a few blankets.

yes, indeed! more blue is in the planning from now on. thanks for the reminder

found that is true for most of the charities- downy quilts for kids too always have more girly quilts- i always try to make 2- one for each-
also many pediatric wards have need for (gender neutral) teen quilts- sometimes 14-15 year olds wind up in the hospital- and need a little loving warmth too- and really really love the quilts :)

I have to tell you that I belong to a quilt group that does charity quilts for kids/babies and around Christmas we did 21 quilts for specific families in our local area and we found that we had a hard time as about 60 or 70 % were boys and when we really starting looking, it's hard to find boy fabric even at the quilt shops. Seems like most has flowers or pink or something to make it more girl friendly. We are trying to be more careful to select for boys but it's difficult. Glad to know that it's not just us.

I have been preaching this to my charity group for a long time. We have delivery days and they all bring in the items. I always comment how girly everything is, especially near Valentines day and Easter.

I was on a shop hop, they had truck themed panels marked down and I purchased a lot of them. Cleaned them out. LOL

I have to chuckle! I volunteered to do some NICU items from donated yarn. There was lovely navy blue cotton/cashmere, orange, peach colors. Unfortunately the blue runs. But I digress.. In speaking to three people at the hospital I got three very different requests. But the pervasive theme was: They need blue stuff. Boy stuff. Manly stuff. Apparently most dads do not want to see anything the least feminine. Blue and pink/peach/orange/yellow is not the same. I get it... So while the yarn that got donated was beautiful, I will be off to AC Moore for some blue and camo yarn. Yes, I live in an area with a lot of hunters.....Blue, blue and blue...
ANd I have to agree, strictly boy fabric is hard to find. I did do a project Linus quilt that was a panel piece, cartoonish dinosaurs pushing carts and playing in the water....Best I could find...

Thanks for bringing this up. I've been stretching my boundaries a bit to intentionally work on more "boy" items, for the same reason. I keep seeing all kinds of girly things and hardly any for the boys.

Several year ago I told the quilt guild I belonged to that we must remember that not all babies are blue eyed and blond haired. I showed some camaflague, outdoor, animal prints I was using.......even some ethnic prints and South West and cowboy prints. I love to make some of the old type red/black bandana print fabric I have. Love the Thomas Train fabric I have.....So.....................right on with your post. We are a diverse population. Lets have our quilts and other items reflect this.

And let us also think about the fact that our military personnal may not want red white and blue quilts. I read this somewhere.

This is so true! I work with a group that supports a NICU in our area. All the babies get hats, booties, and fleece sleepers. So many of the items made with donated fabrics turn out pink! The group buys lots of boyish products to counterbalance it.

As the mother of 3 boys and 1 girl, I just kind of automatically gravitate toward the boy-ish items. My daughter (the youngest of the brood) always was a bit of a tomboy (how could she be otherwise with 3 older brothers) so we didn't have a lot of frilly pinks in the house even then. I think greens, oranges, blues, and golds work well for boys/young men. I look for animal prints and geometric prints since flowery prints, even with no pink in them, still look too "girly". When I donated to Quilts for Kids, I always do a "boy" quilt. The last one I got a bit carried away with the size, but they said it was great because it would work for teen boys, something they never had enough of.

Pam

I agree that we all make more girlie than boy things....I am having trouble coming up with quick manly quilts. I spoke with our local St Jude group and they are really low on quilts...especially for teens....seems they are the last to get a quilt...I realize it takes longer and more materials and money to make them but they really do need them. Also it is hard for us to make something for teen boys...It is either childish or hunting.....not all are into hunting. Anyone have good ideas for quick quilts for teens, especially boys. While here I am putting out a request for all of us to check our stashes of quilts made and see if we can't give some of them to worthwhile charities or people who really need a warm loving "blanket" quilt. Make it your number one new year objective of 2012.

We made the 6(?) hour quilt in our guild. I think that is what it's called and we made sure to make specifically for boys. They are so easy to make. Strips, batting and quilting all done in one sewing. Quick and easy and cute. Good for any size.

I made a log cabin out of plain scraps, hoping it would be suitable for a boy. It had no pink, no purple and no posies. Arranged it in a vertical zigzag pattern. Looked very masculine to me, and very easy. Also nice way to use up plain scraps.

When I dropped off some quilts and afghans at the Binky Patrol I asked the coordinator if there was a particular need that I might fill. She didn't hesitate an instant before answering "teen-age boys!" They are definately the forgotten ones. Since then that has been my focus. It takes more time and materials but well worth it.

I make pillowcases for Conker Cancer Org. And that is something I've really tried to be aware of. It's really hard finding a variety of fabrics suitable for boys and male teenagers.

i have 2 sons and no daughters and my guild's donations are so predominantly floral and pink that I always make it a point to make twin size boy quilts... i usually do the sting quilt blocks on a 13 inch base, then i strip pc on the diagonal... when i have 12 of these, i place them face down on solid fabric and make 'magic squares' ... which gives me 24 blocks that finish at 12".... quilt is 48 x 72 before i put a border on... the solid color ties it all together, the size is big enough for a twin bed... somebody has to make quilts for the 'big boys'...

When I did pillowcases 2 years ago and turtle pillows last year for our guild's community service project, we were asked to do at least half, and more if we could, in boy fabric. I actually found a lot of fabric for boys that wasn't particularly juvenile. I found a lot of masculine colors and patterns that weren't prints, just designs, that worked really well. And some oddball stuff that guys would like.

this is a great thread...and oh so true..everybody associates hand made items with being "girly"....but I always sewed for my boys...here the teen boys are always forgotten too....yet when it comes to the quilts for soldiers, it is always the opposite..the girls/women get forgotten...stereopying at its finest I suppose! I have two boys quilts ready to be quilted! THey are RED..hehehe..with sailboats and blue with trains...hope they work!

Good to keep in mind - Thanks :)

I just did the "Layered Star" quilt for a teenaged boy --- no florals, of course! Just lots of dots, bold colors, geometric patterns, etc. I used blue, purple and gold as the 3 'star' colors. He adores it! And I did a "Tumbling Blocks" quilt for a 4-year-old. Lot's of colors, but all masculine: blue, green, gold, tan, brown, etc. No prints, but some dots and small patterns (e.g. wavy lines). He adores his. You really have to think from a different place when putting a "guy quilt" together. I find it helps me to stand in my husband's closet, or look at a man's clothing catalog, just to get a sense of the colors and designs. My husband caught me in his closet once, and ask, in a puzzled voice: "What are you doing in here?" I told him I was "communing with his clothes." I could hear him laughing all of the way out of the room. I'm not sure he ever figured it out!

Thank you for this reminder. When I was making pillowcases for the local homeless shelter for the Million Pillowcase Challenge, I looked at the pile I had amassed and realized they all looked feminine. I made a point of producing an equal number of "guy" ones.

I made some soup bowl holders for the boys across the street. I used dolphine prints and they loved them.

After the Alabama tornadoes last year, we made close to a 100 blankets of various types. We made it a point to keep a good bunch of them quite masculine and also quite a few were gender neutral.

HOWEVER---------I've got yarn to use-------------maybe I ought to start on some little boy caps.

Boys also love their Animals...and browns, greens, tans, fishing, hunting, camping, flannel backings is a favorite request from my boys, sports, college themes, NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, sking, motorcyles

I find this rather funny as I am always finding myself drawn to little boy things and hardly ever girl things. I would so wish I had to means to be able to afford to donate items for these little ones, but I just can't do this at the moment.

I agree with the OP. I have a friend who is a nurse, she has 2 longarms and quilts about 30 quilts a month for terminal patients at her hospital. The group she works with to make these quilts get a lot of donated fabrics and tops, and they are ALWAYS short of boyish items.

Let's not forget out elderly Veterans and men in nursing homes. They love soft, snugly and warm quilts too.

Great catch...I will definately do blue!

I picked up about 6 yards of car fabric (1940s cars in black/white/red) at a quilters garage sale and will be making some twin quilt tops for boys for our local residential home. I think a big disappearing nine patch would show off the fabric.

Last year I found gorilla family fabric at Eleanor Burns sale in Paducah and it was the basis for all my boy quilts. Green and grey were great together and I found some banana fabric at Joanns. Those gorillas made me smile every time I looked at them. i am going to keep a piece on my wall.

I will tell my mom in law to make more boy things. She does all her knitting and crocheting for a local hospital. Maybe I will use my coupons to buy some camoflage yarn. Thanks for the reminder.

Really good thread. Maybe our shop owners can remember this when they order fabrics?

I am guilty as charged. I will be more conscious and make more "boy" things! Thanks for bring this to our attention!

I have been donating to my local hospital for years. I have found this out also.Not enough for little (boy)babies.
so now when I do this. I make 10 for boys and 5 for girls.I have found that there are more for girl fabric then for boys.I shop at my local Jo Ann's/Wal Mart and Hobbie Lobbie.I find that I buy the same 4 fabric for boys.Boy babies do not care what they have it's a blankie and hat to keep them warm.1 blankie/hat pre baby.

This is good to remind people of this. I have 3 sons and 1 daughter, plus 3 grandsons and 3 granddaughters. So I have always been a boy knitter, and sewer. Quilts for Kids has been asking for more boy quilts, especially for the older ones. I make very few things with "girlie" colors. But if you notice when you go shopping, it is very hard to find soft baby yarn without it having some sort of pink in it. And most print fabrics seem to be girlie. If the manufacturers would cooperate, we wouldn't have such a problem with this issue. Thanks for bringing it to everyone's attention.

Someone on the board recently asked for us to make pillowcases for a class project. Now I'm glad that when I made them I thought about making the more masculine looking pillowcases. There are also more boys being born recently, for some reason. They say more boys are born in times of war. Don't know about that but I know there is a lot in my area.

I tend to forget the older boys. I have to really think about more masculine colors or maybe denim as well.

Denim would work great for a teenage boy or a man. A nice flannel backing and it would be wonderfully warm and rugged.

Check out this link for an idea. If you look at the book on Amazon you'll find other ideas using the applique.

http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...s-t159106.html