Ask Jo and Charity Quilts

Readers often send questions via the comment section or via my email.  I think others might like the answer to the question as well so I answer them here on the blog.  Today is one of those days.

A question came from Doreen H., “I have some quilt tops I would like to donate to you as charity quilts. Where should I send them?”

You can send the quilts to me.  Here’s my address:

Jo Kramer
111 2nd Ave NE
Waucoma, IA 52171

We accept donations of quilt tops, fabrics, thread, money and batting donations all the time to keep this project going.  I don’t do nearly as many quilts as I wish I could but I try really hard each week to donate a chunk of time towards charity quilting.  Either a quilt top gets quilted or one gets bound each week.

Not all quilts get shipped out.  Some stay here in about a six county area supporting benefits, people or worthy organizations.  My kids are active and know lots of people so if they hear of something they let me know and ask about a quilt to donate.  Over the year we’ve had many go out.  Some of the benefit quilts went to a grandma of my former childcare kiddos who has cancer, to a family who was trying to raise money to get a service dog for their child, to a child with a rare type of cancer who needs out of state treatments that insurance won’t cover as well as a few others, to a family who lost their home in a fire.

Some quilts go to support local organizations.  I think this quilt shown in the pictures will be part of the local fire department fund raiser.  Isn’t the backing fabric cute??  I love the emergency vehicles and how well the backing and top match.  I couldn’t have planned it better.  The top thread is a wonderful favorite of mine Maxi Lock Swirls Tie Dye Punch and the backing thread is white.  The quilting motif is just boxes.  It’s also a favorite of mine.

The quilt top came from Marge and the binding fabric came from another blog reader.  It’s fun how the project works like that.

Our church sponsors giving tree families and a quilt is included in the gift.  Last year several smaller lap quilts went to elderly who were getting Christmas baskets.

Beyond that we often send quilts out to Quilts of Compassion and other organizations that provide relief if a disaster strikes.

We have had blog readers send us places that they know of or people that they know of who have a need and we try to send something to them.

There is no guarantee on where your quilt top will go or when it will be finished.  I simply work on them as I can.

I really loved this top.  The pattern is great.  It’s a quick design that makes a great quilt.

Any money donations that we get in go into a special account to help cover expenses such as batting, backings or shipping costs.  Typically we bind the quilts with fabrics that are sent by readers.  I have a few readers who send their larger batting scraps.  I piece them together and use them in the charity quilts.  We work with whatever we get and if we don’t get it from a blog reader, we simply pay for whatever it is ourselves.

We often get questions about what size of quilt to send.  We take anything…large lap sized seem to be the most popular size we get.  There are several organizations that only take twin or single bed sized so if you’re thinking about sending a quilt top and want it to be most versatile in where it will go, single or twin sized is best.

It’s really fun to get a box of tops in the mail.  Often they are accompanied by a note that says something like-  I had these tops in my closet and I know I will never quilt them  -I am trying to use up stash fabric and put these simple quilts together  -I no longer love these quilt tops  -I don’t need anymore quilts.  I think all of us have made a top or two that we just don’t love.  Donating to a charity project like this is great.  Someone else in need will definitely love it.

I hope that answers all your questions about charity quilts…if not, just ask away….Here’s my email if you want to privately ask a question about a donation  rogjok@iowatelecom.net.