One of the Piecemakers By The Bay (which will be referred to as PBTB henceforth) quilt guild's service projects is Quilts for Kids. Started several years ago, this project is for small quilts to be given to kids undergoing special problems. The ladies started making the quilts and seeing to it that the local police officers had them in their trunks to be given to kids when needed. The fire department had some, too, and the local schools. I started making the conversation print larger quilts to be given to teenagers, as nearly all the quilts we were getting made were small, little-kid sizes. Once or twice a year, the ladies get together for a 3 day sew-in, where lots of quilts get made. We have a storage unit for extras. The last I heard, we had given away more than 2,000 quilts for this project by the time this article was written, and that was several years ago. The pictures above were taken a few years ago at a wonderful place called The Retreat House here in Rockport, TX. The owner had graciously donated the use of the facility for 3 days. For a small fee, ladies could spend the night there. I prefer to sleep in my very own bed, since it's only 15 minutes away. We worked from early morning until into the night, and got lots of quilts done.
We also have Winter Texans in the guild who come from frigid Northern states to enjoy our nicer winter weather. One of them brought more than 30 quilts to this retreat, that she had made over the summer. Her quilt guild didn't have a project like this, and wasn't interested in starting one. Sad.
What kinds of service projects do your quilt guilds have? Later on, I'll tell you about our Quilts for Heroes project.
Now that sounds like my kind of party!!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to have officers keep a quilt for when it might be needed. I used to have a blanket in my car when I worked as a police dispatcher in a small department. I gave away lots of them and could have used a nice simple quilt for someone who has lost everything or had nothing. Many such person came my way in that place.
ReplyDeleteI am not in a quilt guide but sew costumes for local high school programs. It's a lot of work and pardon me - a lot of drama- but art is important.
I'm really impressed with people that can sew garments! Quilts are easy, they're flat and don't have to fit around bumpy surfaces.
ReplyDeleteWorking as a police dispatcher must have had some interesting moments. :)
My tiny guild makes quilts for preemies at the local hospital. We also make quilts for local nursing homes. Several of us are also involved in Quilts of Valor in our area.
ReplyDeleteMy quilt guild in Michigan did tiny quilts to go over the preemie bassinets, too. Kept all those bright lights out of their eyes.
ReplyDeleteI'll be writing some more about some of PBTB's service projects in the future.