cowpie2

I do quite a few Project Linus blankets each year and am aware of how easy it is to fall into the cute baby blanket rut. Now I make sure when I make blankets I have the same amount in each category, 1 baby girl, 1 toddler girl, 1 teen girl and the same for the boys. I have all boys, so I tend to like the girly stuff since I was always doing boys stuff. Now when I shop I make my self buy a boy style for each girl style. If I want another cute girly piece of fleece I have to find a boy themed fleece.

slbram17

Haven't made any yet but since it is for neo natal, didn't give it too much thought as to what fabric other than maybe brights (I have always heard bright is good for babies/children)

Peckish

Fortunately, there IS a program in my area. It's called "Passage Quilts", and no, I'm not talking about quilts that are draped on coffins. It's coordinated by the pastoral program at one of our local hospitals, and there is a large group of volunteer quilters that meet once a month and turn out about 40-50 quilts a month. The quilts are given to terminally ill patients. After the patient passes, the quilt is given to the family. If you could only read the thank-you notes.... !

An effort is made to match the quilt up with the recipient. One older gentleman was missing his cat, so he was given a kitty quilt, which brought him some comfort. The 9 year old son of a woman suffering from breast cancer picked a quilt for her that had apples on it, because he liked apples. That one made me cry.

I agree with the earlier post about the need for certain quilts. Older boys and men seem to be ignored; everyone seems to make baby, floral, or pastel quilts.

trolleystation

Mine are going to the local women's and children's shelter. There is always a need there.

rjwilder

I am the Sacramento, CA area coordinator for conkerrcancer.org Volunteers make pillowcases for children with life threatening illnesses. I am always reminding the volunteers to make boy pillowcases. There are a lot of older boys as well as young ones. I think women go fabric shopping and are drawn to the girly fabric. I have to tell myself to get out of the girls section!

LITTLEOLDME

Onebyone, so true about foster life and they get paid to care for the children as a family.

Jo Anne B.

Guilty of being drawn to making girly quilts, so in fairness I make sure I make one of each. I notice the same problem at Church at Christmas time when choosing Gift tags from the Giving tree. the little girl gift tags were gone very early on, it was the teen age boys that were chosen last. It found this to be saddening. I agreed to do two quilts for the Project Linus and Downey cooperative, thinking I could take them to a local chapter, they required mailing. That was a big deterrent.

Amarillo19

I've noticed it's harder to find boy/teen themed fabric. There are tons of girly fabrics.

Jo Anne B.

One more thing; I learned of a donation type quiltathon event at the Iowa State Fair. I thought this was an interesting concept. I am sure this is not new, just new to me. Groups work in cooperation; the sewers, the sandwichers, the topstitchers, and the binders. Fabric was precut, one very simple pattern. Thought this donation type Quiltathon would be fun to duplicate with a group of Quilting/sewing friends.

Suz

I make Quilts of Valor and the very last thing I do is put the quilt in the washer and dryer. They area going into a hospital setting.

I would think that newborn babies should also receive laundered quilts just for the safety issue. I know most of us are careful, but many of us do not prewash our fabrics and we have no idea who handled the fabric before us. I would err on the side of cleanliness, particularly for the newborns.