karenpatrick

A few years ago, our church had a project of donating blankets for the homeless. Our pastor (who has never been one to mince words) announced in church one Sunday night that he was embarrassed by the fact that so many of the blankets were used. Ours is a reasonably comfortable church. Not rich by any means but no one was going hungry. He was embarrassed by the fact that so few of the blankets were new. So he said that we would be donating all the used blankets to Goodwill and would only be donating new blankets to the homeless. You would be amazed by how many new blankets showed up the next week. We had enough donated that we were able to supply all the shelters in our town with new blankets. So maybe a word to your pastor is all it would take for this situation to change.

carolaug

Since i have started quilting and researching...I have read and heard many things about donated quilts...yes there are many quilters that use good materials but the few that do not. I would never want a donated quilt from someone I do not know...and my son who is in the Service...I will tell hime to decline a donated quilt... if he wants a quilt I will make him one. I would be afriad of the batting being a dirty old blanket with bugs...yuk...

Traditional

I feel God wants our best.If you are not able to take a quilt and hand it to someone in need and feel good about it you are missing such a blessing.
I think I would talk to the Pastor is he aware of the standard that the leader is setting. We are doing charity quilts now and there are only about 6 of us. Contact local quilt shops, for a donation. long arm quilters may have scraps of batting left if you get the word out there are people who are willing to donate to such a worthy cause. I hope you share your feelings with the group.

galvestonangel

I would not want to donate anything that I wouldn't use myself. Just because they are needy does not make them less than. I would bring it up to the whole group, maybe suggest going thru and organizing the usuable fabric. If they still want to give "crap", I would find another group that cares. The bad fabrics can go the the animal shelter..

nativetexan

oh my goodness, how did they get to doing things that way? I agree, that's terrible. hopefully you can say something at least about the middle of the quilt needing to be sewn together and not just placed down. even charity quilts need to be made to last awhile. good luck.

callen

Talk about a touchy situation. I would hope that because these quilts are for charitable purposes, these ladies don't think that they should use decent fabrics, batting etc. If they wouldn't put it on their beds, why would they think that it's ok for others to have to use it. IMHO anyway.

w7sue

Someone needs to speak up - maybe through the pastor - I would never donate a quilt that I couldn't be proud of - I make four or five for a group that I sew with and always want them to be beautiful. The quilter this group used didn't do as good a job as the longarm quilter who did all of mine - so I paid to have mine done by my own longarm quilter. Now I have a longarm myself and am learning how to use it by doing charity quilts - I always try to do my best on them. Good luck - I think I would find another group to be associated with.

craftyheart2

I also would never donate a quilt to charity that I would not be willing to say I made. I make a few tops (sometimes quilts) each year for donation through the Heartstrings project and I have sometimes been told by other local quilters that my quilts were too good for donation.

I think getting the pastor to speak up is a good idea. If that doesn't work I would be looking for another avenue to donate my time and work to.

Happy Tails

I agree with PTQuilts, I would be finding another group to join. I keep remembering back to when I worked at "Pheonix House" ( a house for teens) and I remember them getting donations from the rich part of the city. We sat around in a circle, the kids were so excited. What came out of those bags were atrocious!!!! you wouldn't let a pig lay on them, let alone wear them. One of the kids turned to me with tears in her eyes and said "I know we're poor" but why do they insult us with their garbage? I have never forgotten that statement or the devastation in the room that day. I personally would never insult another human being, needy or otherwise, therefore would have nothing to do with a group who sends that kind of crap to anybody and I sure as hell wouldn't waste my precious time making one with such materials. How would they like to make one for their own kid with that stuff!!! Man that ticks me off!!! JMHO Wendy

topstitch

I donate my time and thread to long arm quilt, without cost , any charity quilt. Sometimes I am dumbfounded at the lack of any quality, design or color coordination that is given over to charity quilting.