emsgranny

Saw picture of your charity quilt - I am a great charity case that you can surely pass a quilt like this to :thumbup: :lol:

lisalovesquilting

Excellent thread. A woman in my quilt guild suggested calling them comfort quilts rather than charity quilts. I think she had a good idea.

bearisgray

That is one fabulous quilt! Beautiful!

Butterflyblue

Many foster children DO go home. The goal is always primarily reunification with family, until it is proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the parents just cannot or are unwilling to care for their children. But I wouldn't make a quilt ugly on purpose to give to foster kids just because there's a chance that their parents might sell it for drugs/alcohol.

I make my charity quilts for CASA, and they go to foster kids. I adopted my two children from foster care, and so making quilts for this purpose has a special meaning to me. I don't send anything that I would be ashamed of, or that I would have been offended if someone had given my children before they came to me.

But I love the old fashioned scrappy look, using all sorts of fabrics together, and I send a lot of those. I make them for myself and I make them for family members, so I have no problem giving them to charity. My main concern is durability - if I give a quilt to friends or family and a seam comes undone, I can fix it for them. If I give a quilt to charity, and a seam comes undone, it may be thrown away because the person doesn't know how to fix it.

Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. I took some quilts to the CASA office and the lady there enthused over all of them - especially the scrappy sampler ones, while I though that the ones my MIL had made with coordinating train fabrics were cuter. Kids will enjoy either kind, I think (especially younger kids; they have a lot less preconcieved notions about what is pretty). The important thing is that care and effort go into the construction.

Butterflyblue

Oops, double post.

bearisgray

I do, too.

There are times when a "utility quilt" made of double knit polyester in dark colors and tied IS a good choice for someone that will give it hard use.

Not everyone has easy access to washing facilities - - -

Sadiemae

I didn't give my opinion... I only mentioned what I had been told by someone else! I have never made a quilt ugly on purpose, although I don't always love them when they are finished!

It is the goal to reunite families, but most of the kids in the area where I donate will never go home. I have a friend who has adopted 5 foster children, and I feel really good donating to them. I also have friends who deliver the quilts to foster kids at Christmas, so I always know my quilts will be used.

Sierra

At this point in my life I am making more "comfort" quilts (I really like that term) than others. I don't know about the rest of you but I have in my stash fabrics that didn't get used before my grandkids outgrew them, and other fabrics which I bought with enthusiasm but now, frankly, just don't like. But I liked it once, so I figure someone out there may like it also and I use it for a comfort quilt.

I always put my name on my donated quilts. Not that I am particularly good at quilting (I'm not) but it is always the best I can do at that time (hopefully I get a pinch better each quilt). If I don't want to put my name on it then it shouldn't be given (I just put a relevant applique over the boo boo or something which usually ends up enhancing the quilt overall.

This last month I kept 3 grandkids for a few weeks (mama went to Europe to visit her aging "Finnish parents" from her high school days). The oldest wanted to make a quilt (she's made pillow cases in the past) so we took out some fabric I no longer particularly like (bright red bandana pattern) and some red fleece and planned the quilt (I don't put batting in any fleece quilt -- parents told me it makes it too warm to use). Well, this 10 year old disappeared while I was with the other two and finished the quilt by herself. The seams we sewn with tiny stitches and were not straight. I'd have gone blind trying to get them out! We embroideried a label on it with her name (used first initial and middle name because she is so young! along with her age), the date, and a message "This is for someone special like you. It is my first quilt ever." She loved making it and it is bright, large enough to wrap a child and was indeed made with love. Her mother was distraught that it was to be given away.... she said, "It's her first quilt! It's beautiful! We should keep it!!!" but daughter said I want some girl or boy to have it.

Next quilt I'll keep a closer eye on her, but there was nothing "wrong" with that other quilt!

bearisgray

Aww -- What can one say? What a sweet young lady. :thumbup: :thumbup:

Butterflyblue

Sorry if it seemed like I was getting onto you. :) That was not my intention.

It seems like here in my area, CPS goes to great lengths to send kids home, even when it isn't in the child's best interest (don't get me started :x ). But that's one of the things about foster care. Things vary so much from state to state and even from county to county depending on who the judge who oversees the cases is.