Sunshine Charity Quilts

Quiltville Custom Quilting
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Bonnie's Sunshine Quilts
And Others...

One of my favorite causes is making quilts for children. As part of the Sunshinie Online Guild I have found an outlet that not only stirs my creativity where scrap quilts are concerned, but helps people all over the world as well! It is a double blessing for me to be able to create quilts to brighten an orphan's life...as well as find a way to make even the oddest of scraps useable and beautiful!

Do you feel a need to serve someone in your life but don't feel you can reach very far from within your own walls? THINK AGAIN! Join us in this wonderful cause and find out how fulfilling a bit of giving of yourself can be. Even to someone you do not know...someone you will never meet. You can brighten up the world of a child far away!

I have made dozens of quilts for Sunshine over the past few years, and really never thought to take pictures of them. I wish I had! It is fun to look back at the ones I *have* taken pictures of, and feel once again the love and prayers that went into them for some children far away. Now I am also the Charity Quilt Chairperson for my local guild, the Devine Quilters in Columbia, SC. We are involved with making quilts for many causes, such as Camp Chemo for kids who are battling cancer. The Children's Garden, which is a charity daycare for the children of homeless parents. (these children have literally NOTHING.) And the Palmetto Health Breast Center where our quilts wrap those battling breast cancer. Preemie quilts are also frequently given to neonatal units to bring color and cheer to the NICU as long term preemies and sick babies struggle for their little lives. There are worthy causes everywhere. Just get involved!

Here are a few of the more recent quilts I have made for charity:

Sept 2005: Trip Around The World, twin size, also destined for Katrina relief. Lots of evacuees have been relocated near me in Columbia, SC, and this one along with many others is being donated locally to help.

This quilt donated to Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts.

Sept 2005: Still on a mission to make quilts for Katrina Survivors. This quilt I call Brick Paths. The bricks form diagonal rows down the quilt, offset by cream on cream plain squares.

This quilt donated to Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts.

September 5, 2005: Another one for the Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts. I made this Scrappy Bargello from a bin of 3" scrap strips. Bright and cheery, I hope it brings someone some comfort.

This quilt donated to Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts.

September 2, 2005: This is the week that Hurricane Katrina has devisated the gulf states. I am making quilts to send to help the refugee effort. I wanted to make something sturdy that could be used for a pallet on the floor as well as a quilt to keep someone warm, so I turned to my bin of recycled denim from jeans, and came up with this Denim Brick Road quilt. Pattern is "Yellow Brick Road" by Atkinson Designs.

Pic of fun "cows over the moon" backing and label
This quilt donated to Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts.

I just finished this cute top and I love how it turned out! I call this pattern Boxy Stars. This is one for the breast cancer center, and I think its a good one for that because of the size (54"X68") and how bright it is...it should cheer SOMEONE up!

I delivered 7 quilts there this past week, made by guild members and myself, and they are always so appreciated....the lady in charge of patient services is really good about letting me know bits and pieces of who they go to and what the reaction is. There aren't enough quilts for everyone, I wish there was..and when I hear the stories, I want to do more. She gives them to those who don't have alot of family support, and are having a very hard time coping with their disease etc..those who really need hugs and uplifts but dont have anyone near providing anything like that...

I love finding fun ways to use up scrap strips. This is a fun pattern I call Strip-Twist! Strips are alternated light dark light dark and sewn into panels, then cut into triangles. It looks harder than it is! This is one I plan on uploading the directions for. Stay tuned!

Another cause I am devoted to is providing quilts for breast cancer patients at Palmetto Health Breast Center. I have never met such courageous women in my life. And a quilt can mean so much to cheer and comfort someone going through chemo, radiation and reconstruction. These women are someone's daughter, mother, sister, aunt, neice, cousin, grandmother or friend. One of these women could be you. Please remember your mammogram and your monthly self exams!

I just finished this Hidden Spools top, and will be quilting it soon!
You can find the Hidden Spools pattern HERE.

After making the hidden spools quilt above, I had all these leftover trimmings. I couldn't bear to just toss them out! I used the trimmed off triangles along with extra strips to make this quilt I have nick named
"Spare Parts"! This quilt will also be donated to the breast cancer center.

Our guild, The Devine Quilters of Columbia, SC, has taken on a project to make children's nap quilts for "The Children's Garden", a non-profit day-care for the children of homeless parents. They take children from 6 months up to 5 years. I have included directions for this very easy 42"X46" child's "Streak of Sunshine" Quilt. The quilt is also just the right size for a lap robe for those who might be wheelchair bound. Here are a few examples in different fabrics:

Streak of Sunshine #1 Streak of Sunshine #2 Streak of Sunshine #3

Have you heard of 'Crumb Piecing'? This is an easy method of using up all your left over trimmings! Start with a center piece in the shape you desire. Simply place the next piece against your center with right sides together. Stitch, flip and press. Continue until you have a pieced section larger than 6.5" square. Trim block to 6.5". The weird shaped pieces that you trim off can become the center of your next block! this method is very addicting and makes up into a darling scrappy quilt. Here are a few of mine!

Crumb Quilt #1 Crumb Quilt #2 Crumb Quilt #3 Crumb Quilt #4
Crumb Quilt #5

I've put up a crumb piecing tutorial for you so you can crumb piece too!

Crumbs, Crumbs Crumbs!

A Variation on the Scrappy Bargello is made much the way a traditional 'many trips around the world' quilt is made..but these are all scrappy! Instead of working in long panels, these quilts are made in 'blocks'.

Scrappy Trip #1 Scrappy Trip #2

You can find directions to make your own Scrappy Trips quilt HERE!

Spools are a favorite motif of quilters! I made this Scrappy Spools quilt using leftover 2" strips.

1 1/2" leftover strips quickly make up into this Sticks & Stones quilt!

3 1/2" squares and 3 1/2"X 6 1/2" rectangles make up into fun scrappy squares quilts.
Scrappy Squares #1 Scrappy Squares #2

The very end leftovers of a piece a fabric are often called 'strings'. These are the uneven tapered end strips left over after squaring up a piece of fabric, etc. These 'strings' make great diamond designs when diagonally stitched to foundations. The foundations I used were 8" squares of paper. Paper is removed before sewing the blocks together. The cute border fabric has frogs on skateboards!
Perfect for a kid's quilt. String-Pieced Squares Quilt

Preemie Quilts are especially small and sweet...these quilts measure 24" to 26" square. They can be as simple as adding borders to a 12" orphan block...they don't take alot of work, alot of time, or alot of expense, yet are so welcome in NICU's where all the machinery seems so cold and stark. The quilts go home with the parents when the baby is ready finally to go home, or if the baby doesn't make it, the parents get to keep the quilt as a tender reminder of their little one lost.

Preemie Triangles #1 & #2
Preemie Spools
Preemie Churndash
Preemie Stars

This Bear Paw quilt was made out of 4 lonely blocks that had sat unfinished for about 10 years! One day I got the urge to set them together and put borders on them...perfect for some child as a cuddle quilt!

This baby postage stamp quilt was made out of left over 2" watercolor squares. The pink and yellow borders and binding add a soft touch...just perfect for a baby girl somewhere! Even the back used up some leftovers. The backing fabric was not wide enough so I took a left over band of pioneer braid that was also in my UFO box and added it to the middle of the backing....

I love string quilting to use up scraps! This was a fun one that I call "String Quartet" It came together in no time at all and used up alot of odds and ends. A bright quilt for a bright little boy!

Scrap-Crossing is another fun strip-pieced quilt. Similar in construction to the String-Quartet above, it uses planned sizes of strips in widths of 1", 2" and 3". The narrow black strips really make the colors pop!

This is another string quilt called String-X. Another quick fun quilt to make...perfect for using up scraps.Follow these directions to make your own String-X quilt today for your favorite charity.

This Scrappy Bargello lap quilt is perfect to use up all your odds and ends scraps. A rainbow of color to comfort a child far away. Directions are also provided for you to try this one yourself. I hope you enjoy it!

A myriad of different scraps went into this Hidden Pinwheels quilt. Lots of brights andconversational prints will make this quilt fun for any child. You can also make one with this fast and easy method!

More to come!!!