About a month ago, I posted some thoughts about charity quilts and since that time have given more thought to the subject. The gist of my
initial post was that there are times that I see quilts that people have made that are not particularly pretty, not made with particular care, and the makers will say, sort of dismissively, "Oh, this is a charity quilt." As though if a quilt is being made for someone we don't know, someone who is down on their luck, homeless, a disaster victim, then it really doesn't matter what it looks like, or how carefully it is made. As though a person in difficult or reduced circumstances would not appreciate something beautiful.
Not long after that, I worked on a quilt for my guild, a "charity" quilt where others had pieced the blocks and my task was to make them into a top.
I did what I had volunteered to do. But it isn't a quilt that I would have given to one of my grandchildren. And I felt a little bit uneasy that it was going to a child who had lost a parent. I guess I didn't think it was good enough.
My friend Mary was in a
similar situation last week and she wrote eloquently about the perceived worthiness of the charity quilt recipients.
I've just finished a quilt that I will give to the hospice unit of our hospital. It will go to a very sick man, someone I don't know and won't know. I loved making this quilt, and love how it turned out. Sometimes when I was working on it, I thought about the potential recipient, whether he would like the colors, be interested in the pattern. I wondered if he would know that it was a churn dash block. Sometimes I prayed for him.
As I said, I've thought a lot about this in the past month or so and have come to understand what is at the root of my discomfort. Some of us serve One who says, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters, you did for me." It makes me uncomfortable to think of anyone as "the least," but I know that the homeless, the very sick, the tornado sufferers, all may live on the margins of our society. And as such, are worthy of our very best effort.
Comments
It is a lovelyt git of your time and effort and kinfess.
Maybe it will work.
I make lots of quilts for others (gifts AND donations). I cannot give what I would not be happy to keep for myself ...
I love the term Mercy Quilt!
Yeah, right.
My quilt guild calls them "service quilts/projects," which I like better.
I believe one gives quilts for the said purpose of giving warmth and comfort to others. I also think that I don't want to give something away that I wouldn't want to keep myself.
We all could find ourselves in circumstances where we need the comfort, love and support of others. I like to think of quilts as gifts of kindness and caring- whether I know the person or not.
I like that you made a beautiful quilt for someone you do not know. I am sure it will be treasured and loved.
Sometimes the ones that I get the most pleasure of giving away, are those ones that I have given to people with whom life has not been the easiest.
I feel fortunate that I am able to do something nice for others.
Thanks for the reflective post.
Warmest regards,
Anna
Food for thought...
Kris
You are truly an angel on earth.
Also, Teresa wrote that she heard herself say, ""If I don't like this I can always make it a charity quilt." As soon as I said it I felt uncomfortable and I knew my heart was telling me I was wrong."
Of course "charity quilts" should not be items with inferior materials or workmanship. However, IMO, if something is well-made and good quality, but just not to my aesthetic liking, why not finish making it and donate it to an organization where it is more than likely someone WILL find it to their taste? As Brenda said, trendy fabrics (or techniques) and the latest lines are not likely to matter to the recipient. (Actually, I think that's true of most of the non-quilting world.)
If, for example, I decided to challenge myself to make something out of my least favorite colors, the odds would be that, in the end, even with my best efforts, I would create a lovely quilt but it wouldn't "speak" to me. Yet I'm sure that it would appeal to someone else and would make a fine donation.
Guess I'm just playing "devil's advocate" here to caution that something can be good quality and well-made but not necessarily to one's personal taste.
p.s. I've also seen them called "healing" quilts, another name I like.
I guess the issue for me was that the bright quilt seemed to have been "thrown together" rather than carefully thought out. Maybe I'm too picky!
I'm still trying to sort out the quality/quantity question, and I guess that when many quilts are needed quickly (so many q's in one sentence!), this prolly isn't the charity venture for me because I like to take more time to be sure fabrics really go together.
You are absolutely right that "taste" and "workmanship" are two different animals. I have given away many quilts that I finished up that were not to my taste -- but were well made and that someone would like very much.
I suppose I need to try to think further in that direction, and your comments are helpful with that.
Some of this, I think, comes from the fact that I'm relatively "new to scrappy" and that for many years all of my quilts were planned out. I'm learning to love to work scrappy, but for me there's a point beyond which scrappy loses its charm and turns into a jumble, a mish-mash.
I need to remember that what I see as a jumbly mish-mash (so happy to be done with all those Qs), others may see as pretty.
Thank you again for taking the time to comment.