Donating Fabric
 

"It's not considered hoarding if you have a place to store your stash."

Well, I think I may be a hoarder. I have been collecting fabric since the early 70s. I even still have a yard or so of the first fabric I ever bought. I'm always telling myself that I'm going to use up my stash before I buy another yard....yeah right. Like that ever happens.

So here's my summer plan. I am going to de-stash. Yes, I am committed (maybe I should be committed!) to this plan. I've already started washing and ironing the fabric that is going into the de-stash boxes. I am going to reduce my stash by over 75%. That is the goal.

Now, here's my dilemma. I figure I will have over 100 yards of fabric (maybe even closer to 150) when I'm done. I don't want to ship it anywhere. I don't want to sell it. I would love to give it to a charity in the twin cities area that will use the fabric for the greater good, not for profit. The fabric is good quality, it's just a bit dated. At this time, it's cotton quilting fabric, but there a few bins in the back of my basement and I have no idea what's in them. LOL. They are actually marked "fabric I like but don't know what to do with."

I've looked at various charities online and they want already made projects or money. Or they are too far away to give them the fabric. I looked at the quilting guilds around the cities, but the descriptions of what they do are pretty vague. Do all quilting guilds make projects for charitable causes?

Please, if you know of a worthwhile charity in the Twin Cities area, can you point me in that direction? If I know who I'm giving it too and what they do, I can use that to motivate me to get this project done!

Thank you everyone!!

Cheri

Bonnie Hunter visited a place in St. Paul that was teaching quilting to disadvantaged teens just before she came to the Minnesota State Quilting Convention in Rochester. I will try to look up her post. I know they would take some, but I don't know about their storage.

If you have ReUseIt in your city (a yahoo group on which you list things to give away), you could list groups of fabric there and a quilter will come to you. Or just google quilt guilds in your area. They probably make quilts for charity and would be happy to take your fabric.

1) Many local churches have quilt groups who take donated fabric & do good things with it.
2) Our Quilt Guild has a “free table” every month. Many members bring their finished product back next month to show what they did then its donated.
3) One of our hospitals has a quilt group. They hold a fundraiser to buy fabric but welcome donations too. Their quilts are prayed over then offered to cancer patients.
4) Patriotic fabric would be welcomed by a Quilt of Valor group & finished product given to Veterans.
5) There are groups who make little dresses for girls in Haiti.
6) Days for Girls needs dark flannel & pretty cotton prints for their project.
Possibilities are endless.

Bonnie's blog on Tuesday, June 11, Building Quilts, Building Lives told about the program Piece by Piece or Institute of Learning. It is in the inner city of St. Paul and taught by Carol and her mother. The students learn to make quilts. They sew on vintage machines that were donated. I don't know how to contact them because my knowledge of St. Paul is limited.

http:quiltvile.blogspot.com//2019/06/building-quilts-building-lives.html

I am going to "weed" out some better things like duplicate rulers. thread, and fabric and send a box up to St. Paul with the pheasant hunters in the fall. Two of the pheasant hunters work for the city of St. Paul and I thought they would know right where to go. I drove around in Rochester for the quilting convention okay, but I had better stay out of St. Paul. Drivers in St. Paul may not be so patient with an out of town driver like Rochester. Maybe the Rochester news had warned people to be on the look out for older quilting people attending the convention and dodging the construction.

I’m in the UK and have no idea of where you live but there may be a Project Linus co-ordinator in your area.
Project Linus is a children’s charity that donates quilts to hospitals etc for traumatised children.

I’m sure the charity would be delighted to have your fabric and could possibly arrange to collect it from your home.

Here's the blog that Bonnie Hunter wrote about the girls in St. Paul. I think this would be a wonderful place to donate your fabric to. If you contacted Bonnie I bet she would be more than happy to put you in touch with Carol & Granny & the organization called Piece by Piece.

https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2019...ing-lives.html

Donating the fabric to a local quilt guild or Senior Center is alway a good charity. Our guild welcomes all donated fabrics to be used for charity quilt projects. Right now our need for anything that looks juvenile or can be used for baby quilts, bibs, or burp clothes is more than welcome. So check these places out and you may find you want to give even more of your stash away. I started thinning my down this spring too. Right now there is even an inch or so on some of the flat folds! Thank you for wanting to donate some of your fabrics.

Cheri, I had great luck using the "Wanted" section of Craig's List. I looked under fabric and it didn't take long to start finding people. Textile students, Cosplayers, Quilters, an elementary art teacher took my craft stuff, all sorts of groups have wanted my donations and many people were willing to come to me for pick up.

Are you in the Minneapolis Metro Area? I know I don't have patriotic fabric and I would have to send it to them. Who makes the dresses? Are they in the area?