New Teaching Sample

 The members of the PCQ charity committee had an opportunity recently to tour the local family services agency we support. We learned a lot about what they do, who their clients are, and what their needs are regarding quilts. The agency's focus is on helping victims of sexual violence and trafficking, combining law enforcement, medical, and counseling/therapy services under one roof to reduce the trauma. Their clients are predominantly teenage girls, some younger girls, and the occasional boy. Each client is given a comfort item upon arrival at the agency.

We learned that they receive donations from several organizations, of toys and comfort items such as stuffed animals and crocheted blankets as well as quilts. Unfortunately they have a closet full of items they can't use because the items are too small or not suitable, such as toddler toys, baby blankets, baby-sized quilts, and quilts with construction trucks, etc. themes. 

Their preference is for quilts large enough for teenage girls, and they need a mix of soothing palettes and palettes that include black, depending on the age and taste of the recipient, who gets to choose. 

The original sample I made for my PCQ Quilt for Kids pattern (post here, scroll down) is too small and too babyish. So, after the tour, I raided my stash, found some Kaffe leftovers and coordinating prints, and made a new sample. 

The new sample is 45 x 60", using 48 blocks. It could be enlarged further with borders. 

I cut everything (using a die cutter for the strips) in an hour. I made the Kaffe print blocks in another hour, and the black and white blocks in a third hour. This project was on and off the design wall so quickly that I didn't get a design wall photo for today. I got the top assembled at social sewing on Wednesday morning. That's me holding it and it's obviously big enough for someone my size.

Outdoor photos are always better than indoor ones....

The person who gave us the tour told a story about three girls who had been brought in together. She offered them three quilts to "fight over," her words. Two of the girls immediately gravitated to the quilts that had black in them. The third girl was left with pastel florals and she was "visibly disappointed" so they gave her a different quilt, more to her liking. This story inspired my fabric choices. I didn't have enough of either of the black and white prints so I used both. 

It's heartbreaking to know there's a need for such an organization and the services it provides. PCQ can continue to support them, but we need to make quilts that are more suitable for their needs. 

We're having a Community Service sew day coming up, so members of the charity committee have been cutting and packaging up quilt kits for it. All the kits will be for 45 x 60" quilts, and the sewists can add borders later if they want to make theirs larger. The fabrics are all from the club's stash, but we avoided all the baby and juvenile prints and instead chose colorful batiks, perky prints, and girly pinks, purples, aquas and greens. We also mixed in a few cheerful-looking prints that have black in them. To my knowledge there are at least 17 kits in work; that's about how many people with sewing machines can fit comfortably in the Fiber Arts room. 

My top will be the teaching sample for the sew day, and each kit will have a print-out of the pattern included in it. Not everyone will finish their top in the six-hour work day, but that's fine, they'll take them home to finish. 

The tops can then be paired with backings and members of PCQ can quilt them on the club's long arm. My sample top will get quilted and finished, too. Hopefully soon we'll have a batch of suitable quilts to take to the agency. 

Link ups: Small Quilts and Doll Quilts,  Love Laugh Quilt