Do any of you make charity quilts and where do you get the fabric. Do fabric stores in your area donate material when they know you use it for charity quilts. I have been making charity quilts with my stash of fabric but need backings and fillers.

I never thought to ask fabric stores for donations. That may be a good idea. I make a lot of donated quilts but always used my own materials. That does get expensive but I thought that was part of the "giving". I only make what I can afford to do; wish it was more but it's 2 yrs now that DH has been unemployed. I hope you find some help for your projects.

make pieced backing from the leftovers.

muslin, which usually costs less than prints, is great for backing quilts.

many of us use sheets, too.

check out local thrift shops for fabric and check for cotton clothing. sometimes ours has a bag day if it fits in the bag the whole bag $1

I make lots of quilts for charity. There are a couple of online shops that offer very reasonable prices http://www.thousandsofbolts.com http://www.marshalldrygoods.com

Thanks for your replies. I use my scraps for the tops and I get donation from our local Christian Womens group for the thread.
Will use your ideas.

I don't think the LQS or fabric stores will donate for charity quilts. Contact the manufacturer of the products not the stores.

If you found a good condition used blanket then it could be back and batting. For children's quilts I recommend just using fleece as both batting and backing. It has such a nice snuggling-up quality.

Wonder if you asked your local charity if they could donate fabric or cotton clothing for you to make into quilts for them?

Maybe you could put an ad on Freecycle or Craigslist asking for donations?

isn't there one charity that supplies the fabric to make the quilt? thought I read about it here on the board.

QFK (Quilts for Kids) will send you a kit, its the top fabrics & back ~ you supply the batting, binding & labor. They do ask that you send a 2nd quilt from your stash's fabrics to help defray the cost of them sending you fabrics & shipping it to you.

You can also get the kits thru your local chairperson. Then you delivery finished quilts back to that chair, vs. mailing back to PA if they mail you the kit.

you can forget most retail stores, only the actual corp. can make those donations and they don't!
Lqs are barely making it now, so doubt there would be any help there...

Like others have said, FREECYCLE.org for your local area is a good place to try.

I also go to my thrift stores on Tues at one and Fri at the other, they have a sale area and I buy the 100% cotton mens shirts for $.25! Do you know how much fabric you can get out of a 3xl long sleeve shirt???? and for that kind of money I stay well stocked on charity fabrics! Skip the womens shirts, too many seams, darts etc and they are never 100% cotton, they always have poly or spandex in them!

I have always just used my own stash when making charity quilts. Definitely post on freecycle and craigslist. I have donated to people on freecycle before.

Yes there is, but I do not want to machine quilt and they require it to be machine quilted because of the heavy use it gets.

Who do you donate the quilts to? I know that all the Children's Hospitals require donated quilts to be entirely 100 % cotton, prewashed, and machine quilted. They have strict size requirements also so I hear. But I've heard that they accept pillowcases with similar structure requirements. Someone told me they were making wheelchair lap quilts for the VA and that these had to be so very flexible and warm that they used a lot of fleece and only quilted with Stitch in the Ditch. For all of you who quilt for charity, THANK YOU!!!!, and please pass along the requirements. Maybe more of us will start.

Yes, quiltsforkids.org. But you have to supply the batting. They like you to also make quilts from your stash, but they want new fabric.

I would think there would be lots of places you could donate that wouldnt care so much about size and type of fabric. Battered womens shelters, places that take foster kids, nursing homes, animl shelters, for the not so perfect ones.........

I would think there would be lots of places you could donate that wouldnt care so much about size and type of fabric. Battered womens shelters, places that take foster kids, nursing homes, animl shelters, for the not so perfect ones.........

I am in charge of the quilt project at our church, we get fabric from people who quit quilting, estates and I haunt the clearance tables at the stores that sell fabric. I choose the better kind, if I can see through it,I don't buy it. We have used drapery samples for tops and discarded bed sheets from a local motel for backings. We don't use polyester any more, I refuse to sew with it, too hard on the hands and sewing machine. We tie all our quilts and they are taken to Milwaukee to several churches and places where the poor and homeless can come for food and comfort. Word gets around if you mention you can use fabric for quilts at the cutting counter. If I see marked down fabric I buy the whole piece and people always ask, what are you going to make? Our group was mentioned in a synod mission newsletter and we received boxes of fabric from out of state. A 95 year old lady cuts our squares, another lady sews tops, 8 of us tie and two of us hem the outsides. I keep track of everything and call the man who takes the finished quilts to the charities. If there is a fire in town, we donate quilts to the victims or if we hear of someone in need, they get one or two. We sell some now and then and the money is used to buy batts with coupons, another way to save money. We also make baby quilts for the Right to Life Groups in our area. Out of the scraps from cutting squares, I make strip quilt tops so we use it all up. You can do alot with strips two inches wide.
Some places have requirements and the quilts have to be machine or hand stitched, we don't do that. There is another church here that handquilts so we send people to them.

Carol J.

Dirt Cheap stores have $2.00 blankets that can be used for filler a/o back. Dollar General stores have $5.00 ones which will make 4 lap size quilts. Can't beat that except free!

I buy fabric at a place in Fayetteville, Tn. I live close enough to drive, but have ordered on line also. The prices are very reasonable. The website is Sirsfabric.com. Take a look. I think you'll be very surprised at the low prices.

I have donated quilts, lap blankets to nursing homes, Childrens homes, Anne Marie shelter, Place of Hope etc. I checked into the Gifts for Kids but don't want to quilt them by mahine. Thanks for all your suggestions and I will check out the places suggested.
Bea

I make quilts for Project Linus. The store where I buy my fabric donates three fat quarters per quilt. Does'nt sound like much, but it sure adds up. Over the past two years I've made about one hundred lap quilts. Of course I have to buy batting that they sell for less than $3 a yard.[56ins wide].Really love to do this.It keeps me busy,my husband is handicapped and we are retired so I have plenty of time. can't sit idle. this store is a discount store but they have top quality fabric.

You can also go to the ReStore stores. They're run by Habitat for Humanity and are like Goodwill and Salvation Army stores.

My guild makes charity quilts and we just use flannel for front and back with no batting.

Shop at your local good will and garage sales.

I kind of doubt if any quilt shops would donate fabric, they might donate some thread. I do QOV and I use my from my stash. If you can find 100% cotton clothing at places like goodwill or salvation army you could use that.

My Circle at church solicits donations of fabric from which we make charity quilts. We get some very nice cotton fabric. Other types of fabric we give to another church that makes quilts for the homeless.

To the county Family Services office and the Lutheran Social Services. In addition we give to families who's homes have been destroyed by fire, tornadoes, floods.

Is there a local quilt guild? Guilds often have large amounts of fabric and will provide it free to their members for making charity quilts. They usually also provide the batting, and often someone in the guild will longarm the quilt if you don't want to do the quilting.

Please make sure that if you donate to young children or babies (like Project Linus) that it's new fabric. Shirts from Goodwill or wherever may be from smoke and pet homes. Hospitals providing quilts to the NICU cannot take those quilts. I get a lot of fabric from estate sales of quilters and one time from Craigslist, a woman had given up quilting (!) and gave away her entire stash for $10!

Try garage sales, estate sales, free cycle, goodwill or salvation army...all of these provide low cost materials. Our guild gets donations from all sorts of people. Once a year we have a auction among the members. All fabric not sold comes to the Charity Bee for donation quilts. I usually have one going all the time. Contact the local American Sewing Guild chapter and solicit left over fabric for charity quilts. Just keep looking...

if you live near a city with textile mills you can get lots of free samples...and in the 'big-cities' some of the companies will give you permission to (dumpster dive) they literally throw away thousands of dollars worth of great fabrics...every month.
also link up with your local 'free-cycle' another great place to find needed items for free. it is sad but there are numerous (quilters-seamstresses) out there who pass away every year, leaving behind rooms full of (stuff) their loved ones have no idea what to do with...some of them take the time to think about it and sell it...some give it away, some call someone in to clear it out...some just toss it all in a dumpster thinking no one would want all this 'stuff'...i always encourage people to get involved with free-cycle, it gives you a great resource and a place to -pass on- all the things you have no need of.
our local salvation army has a baler, and usually denim, (torn jeans) clothing that they consider to *used* to be sold they bale of and send away...when my mom was making denim quilts she went to them and got a whole bale (about 500 lbs worth) of jeans ... for $20!... back then we thought she had lost her mind! i can not even get my mind around how many quilts they made out of all that denim...and some of the jeans were, just fine...usable jeans too :thumbup:
also check with area churches and small groups in the area(like the senior center- sewing/knitting groups, they all usually have bags or boxes of extra they don't know what to do with.

A LQS in my area offers store credit $'s for every pound of donated fabric that customers bring in for charity groups to make quilts. They do this at least twice a year, and it gives us a chance to contribute, and donate fabric that we no longer want. There are a few restrictions such as size of fabric (no smaller than a FQ). I loved trading in fabric that I no longer wanted to buy newer fabric. It was like a discount for some great new fabric. I think the last time the LQS did this they collected over 3,000 pounds of fabric. This was a win-win for all.

Downy Quilts provide you with the fabric for one of their lap quilts. Search 'Quilts for Kids', promotion is by Downy fabric softener. Sign up for a kit, and they will send you the cut pieces for a quilt top, plus the backing fabric. All you have to provide is the batting. Send the finished quilt back to them and they distribute the quilts to those who need them.
This topic has been mentioned here on this board so you maybe able to 'search' and find more information on these quilts.

Don't know if shops give material, can't hurt to ask but they might give a discount on the fabric....and if you have someone do the quilting they might give a discount or just charge for materials....In either case, if you advertise that you and the shop or quilter did the work, it's advertising for them...Might give them more business...just a thought..

Our quilting group makes charity quilts. We ask friends who sew to think about donating thier scraps, we shop yard sales, Resale shops. At times I have bout a large bag of cottons for $3.oo. I got a lawn bag full at a fund raiser for the high school band for $3 and there were several 2 and 3 yd pieces. Just keep an eye out. You can also try making a raffle quilt and raise money. How about teaching a once a week beginners class in your home? I have done this and it works. Marvel

We do primarily Linus Project, nursing homes and church members. We get lots of donations of fabric. The hard part is washing and sorting, some have been stored stash for years. We also take advantage of any coupon sales to add solids to our stash. The church helps us out with batting when we buy a larage quantity, usually 50% off at Hobby Lobby. Thrift shops and garage sales are also good.

I donate to Project Linus too. Linus has many many chapters in all states. See if maybe there is one close to you. Here is the chapter listing.

http://www.projectlinus.org/chapter.php

Some of the Linus chapters can provide you with some of the fabric or batting. Our chapter was given 100 bolts of fabric from a quilt shop that was closing and we had quilting parties and used most of it for backings. The chapter also requested donations from the Warm Company, which has been kind enough to send us rolls of Warm & Natural batting for use in Linus quilts. I think it's easier for a charitable organization to get donations from businesses than for an individual to do so.

I do quilts for my church, we did 31 of them last year. We are very lucky, people have donated fabric, unfinished quilts and we use sheets for middles. I use some of my fabrics and sheets from the closet. We tie our quilts. I am also very lucky some of our thrift stores have fabric inexpensive.