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FamilyCares Comfort Quilts

Quilting! For most of us, quilting conjures up the old days when women and girls would gather together for fun, friendship and the practical aspect of making a blanket out of leftover pieces of fabric to keep warm. Besides their usefulness, quilts were treasured for artistic and sentimental reasons. Quilts are still treasured today- few items can be more comforting than a homemade quilt sewn especially for a child or adult going through a difficult time.

Your family can sew small quilts or make a large quilt through the FamilyCares Comfort Quilt project for one of the following groups:

  • Wounded soldiers in veteran's hospitals
  • Pre-mature babies in neo-natal hospital wards,
  • Patients with AIDS/HIV
  • The elderly
  • The homeless
  • Children in foster care
  • Local police departments to keep in their cars for accident victims,
  • Children who suffered in natural disasters, and
  • Children overseas who suffer from war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

See Organizations below if you would like to send quilts outside your community.

Below are two different ways to make your quilt: A Lap Quilt made with fabric squares and a Crayon Transfer Block Quilt.

Materials Needed:

Scraps or “blocks” of fabric — 100% cotton preferred
Quilt batting or fleece — thin batting is easier to work with
Sewing machine
Thread, scissors, straight pins, needles

Steps Involved:

  1. Decide on the on the recipients of your quilt.
  2. Contact the agency. Talk to them about your project, or choose an organization to mail your quilt to.
  3. Make arrangements for your family to deliver the quilt to the agency and visit with the recipients or tour the facilities.
  4. Decide on the type quilt you will make. See below.
  5. Ask family friends if they could donate fabric. Ask a local merchant if they would donate NEW cotton fabric. Tell them where you are sending the quilt.
  6. Your family can recreate the fun of an old fashioned quilting bee with other families. Invite them to help you. The project will take several meetings.
  7. Read one of the books below or discuss with your children why you are making the quilt.

Lap Quilt

To make a 36" by 48" quilt:

  1. Cut squares of fabric into 6-inch squares. 100% cotton fabric is preferable; it does not “pucker” like polyester.
  2. Sew squares into pairs – Use ¼ inch seams, try to keep seams uniform
  3. Sew pairs into rows
  4. Sew rows together
  5. Cut one large piece of fabric 38-1/2 inches by 50-1/2 inches for quilt back
  6. Place batting 36" x 48" on top of back – use thin batting – an alternative filler would be a piece of fleece or a clean, washed, gently used fleece throw.
  7. Place quilt top on top of batting
  8. Turn remaining perimeter fabric from back so that the quilt top has a one inch border on all sides, or
  9. Cut the back 36" x 48" and buy quilt binding to attach the top to the back.
  10. Tie the quilt. For visual instructions go to Tying a Quilt at
    http://www.nmia.com/~mgdesign/qor/begin/tying.htm.

Instructions for this quilt were inspired by the Lap Robe Project at
http://www.thecraftstudio.com/qwc/94quilt.htm.

Crayon Transfer Block Quilt

This type of quilt can be more creative for children. Each child can contribute an original drawing or message by using crayons on one 8" x 8" or larger square. An adult can piece them together.

Materials Needed:

100% cotton fabric
Crayons
Freezer paper
Iron
Ironing board

Steps Involved:

  1. Pre-wash the fabric – do not use fabric softener
  2. Cut into squares
  3. Iron the squares onto freezer paper
  4. Outline the design onto the fabric square with a Pigma pen (won’t fade and is waterproof)
  5. Color the design with crayons, the harder one presses, the better.
  6. Protect your ironing board with a couple of sheets of newspaper or paper towels.
  7. Put the colored fabric face up and cover it with a paper towel.
  8. Press with iron set on wool or medium. As you press, you will see the paper towel start to absorb the excess wax. It may or may not have color.
  9. Change the paper towels until all wax is removed. If colors are not dark enough the process can be repeated.
  10. Let the fabric square cool. Peel off the freezer paper.
  11. Assemble the quilt using instructions from the above Lap Quilt.
The instructions for this type of quilt were inspired by QuiltBus at
http://www.quiltbus.com/crayon.htm

Books

Flournoy, Valerie. The Patchwork Quilt
Jonas, Ann. The Quilt
Johnston, Tony and DePaola, Tommie. The Quilt Story
Hopkinson, Deborah. Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt
Polacco, Patricia. The Keeping Quilt
Ringgold, Faith. Tar Beach

Organizations

Quilts of Valor Foundation (QVF).
Over 53,000 troops have been wounded in the war with Afghanistan and Iraq. QVF is a national movement providing quilts to soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and 70 other U.S. military medical centers.

Project Linus
Project Linus provides love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans.

Quilts for Kids, Inc.
Quilts for Kids transforms discontinued designer fabrics into quilts that comfort children with cancer, AIDS and other life-threatening illnesses, as well as battered & abused children.

The Binky Patrol
The Binky Patrol makes blankets and gives them to children and teens in need of comfort. Check the website to see if there is a chapter near you.

Warming Families
Warming Families delivers blankets and other items to homeless and displaced families. Check the website to see if there is a chapter near you.

Kids Creating Comfort
Creating Comfort started as a home school project for five kids, Josephine-13, Logan-12, Ben-10, Ryanne-7 and Anastasia-4. Their original goal was to start a small business to earn additional spending money. The plan changed after Hurricane Katrina struck. The kids decided to earn money to make and send blankets to kids affected by the hurricane. They set a goal of 1200 and are just shy by 300 quilts and blankets. Any extra blankets over the 1200 received will be sent to other children affected by hurricanes. Email: Blankets@kidscreatingcomfort.org

More Than Warmth
More Than Warmth is an educational project for students of all ages to learn about world cultures. Quilts are sent to 29 countries and were sent to evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. Students can participate in creating a quilt, an artistic expression of friendship. Every quilt square is accompanied by a letter explaining its meaning. The project fosters understanding, knowledge, and compassion between cultures through nonviolent, nonpolitical, and nonreligious means.