Mercy Quilt

My sister recently has affiliated as a volunteer with the local hospice, and mentioned that there is a need for quilts of all sizes for the patients.  I posted earlier about a very, very sad need for tiny quilts for neonates, and made a handful of them last month.  I decided that for the summer, I would have a personal goal of making one hospice quilt per month, of any size.

I need to say that sometimes when I see what people call "charity quilts," I am disappointed in them.  Sometimes they look as though the maker just threw together whatever fabrics were around.  I understand this in situations such as Lutheran World Relief where the quilts aren't used as coverings but rather to create makeshift "walls" in refugee camps.  So I'm thinking that the quilts that we make with particular care and with pride, quilts to give away to folks we don't know who need them, these might be "mercy quilts," rather than "charity quilts."  At least in my garbled mind, there is a difference.

Yesterday afternoon when I was looking for something else (that I still haven't found), I came across a large bag of 9" finished CW CDs on muslin -- I remember when we did that swap and I had something in mind at the time.  Whatever that was is long gone.  There was a kind of masculine look to most of the blocks, just perfect, I thought for a hospice quilt for a man.  I had a jar of 2.5" CW strips from another swap (why do I feel compelled to get into these myriad swaps?) (rhetorical question) and started cutting sashing strips from them and from some muslin left over from a recent backing, got the cornerstones.  I have a bolt of extra-wide muslin that I bought for backs, and will get this all pin-basted together and then I'll begin tying it.  There might be a half-yard piece of brown CW that I could use for binding, but if not, I think scrappy would be just fine.

This is a quilt I'd comfortably give to one of my sons if he needed a quilt.

I believe there are enough pastel CDs left to yield a baby quilt next month.

Comments

pcflamingo said…
I like the distinction between charity quilts and mercy quilts. 95% of what I do is "charity quilts" and our group struggles with what to do with sub-par donations. We try to take the high road in our newsletter, and emphasize that the recipients of the quilts are deserving of our best work. But sometimes the only thing you can do with a completely unsuitable quilt is give it to the animal shelter for a pet bed.
Janet O. said…
Hear, hear! When I was president of our church's women's auxiliary a few years back I was cleaning out the organization's closet and found some quilt tops that had been donated for humanitarian aid. They were ghastly!! As my husband's aunt said, "I wouldn't put something that ugly under my sewing needle." For the next few nights I was unpicking and resewing. Ended up with a respectable full-size nine-patch, and a fun , pink/purple/green/blue baby quilt, with blocks leftover for a scrappy lap quilt. Had my Mom's congregation do the tying so that no one would recognize their recycled work.
I love CD blocks and this quilt makes a wonderful donation!
Yuki said…
As usual, a delicate topic, very well said.

ttfn :) Yuki
love the churn dash block..........nice quilt..........
Mrs. Goodneedle said…
Oh, MERCY is the perfect term for such a lovely donation quilt. Nothing grates on my nerves more than those slap-dashed quilts that are pawned off as "charity" quilts, it's appalling. I would be proud to receive such a generous gift of love.
Anonymous said…
Oh my, I totally agree and from now on will refer to them as mercy quilts.

Hope my Quilts for Kids that I showed on Saturday met the mercy mark.

Bobbi, no blog
Anonymous said…
A gal and I in our AZ quilt group found some blocks to put together for a "charity/mercy" quilt and found some co-ordinating fabric for sashing and borders. We both missed two sessions to put quilts "together" and when we returned to work on our quilt found that someone threw some ugly fabrics with it and wanted us to finish machine quilting it. We both declined and discussed that we would not even give it to a dog if we had one. I want to be proud of what I do. My friend and I quickly put together "pillowcase" type blankets for my cousins project and are now working on some "block" ones. Your CA cuz
antique quilter said…
I agree I do not donate or make anything I would not want in our home
just mho
Kathie
suz said…
I so agree with you. Sometimes the "charity" quilts I see are butt ugly. If I wouldn't use it, I won't give it. Never thought of donating those "dogs" to the animal shelter - perfect place!
Angie said…
I like you distinction between the two. :) and I LOVE that churn dash quilt. Churn dash is my most favorite block. What a lovely goal to make one 'mercy' quilt a month.
Tanya said…
I admit that sometimes my thinking when making donation quilts is "I have all this extra fabric I can use up." Or I'll try to speed through a machine quilted piece rather than hand quilt it... I'm going to try to put more love in care into my donation quilts thanks to your words.