Today was our first in-person quilt guild meeting since July! Our October program typically focuses on community service efforts by guild members during a particular year. Representatives from several of the organizations for whom my quilt guild donates quilts, placemats and pillowcases spoke about how our donations are utilized to assist their clients – the elderly, veterans, kids in hospitals/hospice and kids in foster care. It was wonderful to hear positive feedback, not only from the organizations themselves, but also in notes from actual recipients as shared by the representatives. A number of charity quilts were turned in at today’s meeting. An impromptu “Quilts on Parade” was the finale where members walked around showcasing all the quilts that had been turned in this morning. It was awesome!
Notes I made from the various speakers on how I can better help them with my donation item efforts:
Ryan’s Case for Smiles (pillowcases): (1) no flange on pillowcase, (2) French seam construction seems to hold up best to frequent laundering and (3) need pillowcases for ‘tweens & teens.
Meals on Wheels (placemats) – (1) seasonal and theme placemats are a big hit, (2) veteran/patriotic themes are needed and (3) great way to use up your orphan blocks
Family & Children’s Services (quilts) – (1) kids in foster care choose their own quilt from the stash DFACS keeps on hand and (2) the majority of kids currently served in my local area are girls, ages 10 & up.
Going forward, I’ll focus my efforts on throw quilts suitable for girls 10 & up and pillowcases for girls and boys of the same age group. I’ll turn the collaborative patriotic blocks my students made last year into placemats for Meals on Wheels to distribute to the veterans they serve. I’ll also start setting aside larger cuts of fabric I know I won’t use. These fabrics will get donated to Community Service and assembled into kits for other quilters to take and turn into charity quilts. Next time, I’ll plan on attending a guild charity sew-day event.
One of the reasons I joined this guild is because of its strong tradition of community service. That is right up in my wheelhouse as volunteering/giving back is one of my core pursuits.
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