Charity Quilting Group
 

Our women's group at church has decided to start a charity quilting group. I would love to have ideas, tips, experiences you may have had, etc. BTW, it has been named "Threads of Love"!

how wonderful. Easy strip piecing is best and there are tons of patterns. Also many groups have a 10 minute rule as far as complaining. It makes it more fun for all if you don't have a constant cranky one going on and on! Since you are a church group do 10 commandments
1. thou shalt complain only for 10 minutes
2. thou shalt complete what you start etc! Have fun

Our church quilting group likes to see things finished quickly. We make twin size quilts (60x80), we have several designated charities: Lutheran World Relief, a women's shelter (we gave to the men's shelter for a number of years, but the organizers really mistreated the quilts and the men were not appreciative), a nursing home and Christmas House. We piece some quits, but we also make whole cloth quilts. We will sometimes quilt them, but more frequently we tie them (for Christmas house we made fleece blankets because that it what they want). We have folks who cut out the quilt/pieces, folks who do the piecing/quilting and folks who tie the quilts. By doing this, we have been able to involve more folks from the church. (We get a lot of me helping make he fleece blankets.)

I suggest you decide right now that you will only accept donations of 100% cotton fabric. You will be amazed the kinds of fabric you will get if you don't put limits on it.

Do you have experienced quilters or all levels of experienced quilters? If you have a mixed group, pick a easy pattern that everyone can get done in a reasonable amount of time. Maybe a 4-patch or 9-patch... that way you could tie the quilts instead of quilting them. They will get done much quicker.

Threads of Love Foundation is a charity with branches in almost every U.S. state and several foreign countries that sews comfort items for Newborn Intensive Care Units (NIC Units). Your church's quilting group name might cause confusion if they are using the same name. If you ARE sewing for NIC Units, welcome to TOL!

The older women at my church loved getting together to tie the quilts. One of the men made a PVC stand to hold quilts being tied. at church.
Some of our quilters preferred to quilt at home and just drop off their quilt tops while others liked getting together to sew.
Having a variety of options as to how the quilters can contribute is great.

\

This is a good idea to remember and will allow both home schooling moms and moms with smaller children to participate if they so desire.

Another idea my group does is make placemats for meals on Wheels. orphan blocks are used for them and the girls can get real creative with them.

Our quilt guild has groups (2) that make quilts for abused children. They meet at different times at different places so many people can participate. Both groups promote fellowship as they work. Most quilts are quilted because they wear much better under conditions that we cannot see. I have a quilt going right now. I received a bag with 265 4 inch squares and the backing. I am making a disappearing nine patch. I added squares of one solid color to tie it together, otherwise, it is just plain scrappy. I am having fun with it. I think we al need to do things for others and these charity projects for NICU, Meals on Wheels, nursing homes, fill that bill. And, we need to do our best work.

I agree. Be opened to all possible options and maybe some knitter too. These fleece blankets that are made with crocheting around the edges are in high demand. Just trust in the Lord and he will guide your group. I so much enjoy the fellowship of the church group I am involved with.