Hi Quilty Friends! Let's talk how to make a quilt for the homeless. My first experience making a quilt for the homeless was a few years ago. One of our local quit shops had bags of fabric to be used to make quilts. The fabric was free. We could add more fabrics or take out fabrics, as long as we brought back a quilt that was big enough to cover an adult. The shop owner suggested we make the quilt as ugly as possible. What? Why? A couple of reasons. The first reason is pretty quilts will sometimes be stolen by a volunteer. Sad but true. The second reason, these quilts will more than likely only be used for a few weeks or months. As soon as the weather turns warm they often will be discarded. There's an Ugly Homeless Quilt Project for making a large sleeping bag style quilt. I won't be making this style of quilt. Mine will be your standard style of quilt. For my first quilt I'll be using three partial layer cakes.
I need to add a few more squares of fabric to make the quilt large enough. The rules say make them ugly but my quilty soul says to add more orange since there is only 2 orange squares. This should help balance the overall design. In retrospect I should have grabbed any fabric from my box of fabrics to be used for homeless quilts.
The orange fabric below was pulled from my scrap bins and larger stash.
Within minutes it was time lay them out to be sewn. Adding the orange didn't balance it out. I tired of trying to get the color placement perfect. I had to remind myself it's an ugly quilt, don't worry about color placement. Just close your eyes and get it sewn together.
It only took about 30 minutes to sew together the rows. It's so satisfying to have a quilt come together so fast.
In no time at all the quilt top was complete.
Once again I couldn't help myself when it came time to make the backing. The pink backing fabrics were pulled from my no so loved stash cabinet. Is it ugly? Oh it's not the ugliest quilt I've seen. As a scrappy quilt lover it's hard to find/see any quilt as ugly. Even Mr. Podunk likes this one. Did I fail at making an ugly quilt?
Until next time...
I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!
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I purposely try not to make ugly quilts for charity. I make them then donate them. I guess the charity quilts I make are made from darker fabrics so they don't show dirt as much. Happy stitching!
ReplyDeleteI think this quilt is gorgeous. What an inspiration you are!!!
ReplyDeleteI am making a temperature quilt and wondered about what I might do with it. My son suggested making them for homeless people, given that a visual record of temperatures each day illustrates what people living outdoors face, especially in cold climates. I think I would use wool, perhaps from old blankets or remnants. Does this make sense?
ReplyDelete22 uears ago after having to getnout of a bad situation i stayed at a shelter till i was able to het a job save some money and get a place on my own.. i did it in 4 weeks. I was given an ugly bag while i was there and they let me takenit with me when i left. I still have it i still use ot and its more to me then just something to keep me warm. Who ever made it wanted no recognition . They just keep making them.. i have been making them and bringing them everywhere that will take them. I hope it never ends
ReplyDeleteAnd i call them grateful bags
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