Charity Projects |
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*** This page is currently being updated for 2022-2023 and it's not quite done!
If something doesn't look just right we're probably working on it! *** Our charitable projects are an opportunity for guild members to give something back to the community and our membership (of all abilities) has certainly done that, donating hundreds of items each year.
The following is a list of sewing activities that we hope you will continue to enjoy, knowing how much they are appreciated . Thank you! SEW DAYS - Because of the continual outbreaks of Covid, we have been unable to secure a venue for a sew day. Anyone with an idea of where to hold a sew day, please notify the guild. -- Marilyn Erskine, Charity Team Lead Contact Charity Team Contact Marilyn Jelly Roll Charity Quilts - due March 2023
This year, we would like to make use of much fabric that has so generously been donated to us by making twin size quilts (approximately 60' x 72') for Bernadette McCann House, Lanark Interval House, and perhaps the new Dave Smith Centre in Carp which is currently being built and will be where scared or traumatized youth will call home for months at a time. The guild has prepared many kits, using the 2 1/2" strips which can be made into whatever you wish. the sky's the limit! You will receive 40-60 strips and some fabric for borders and it's up to you to decide what you'd like to do with them. There are many ways to make use of Jelly Rolls. Make a traditional jelly roll quilt or check out some of these Youtube quilt sites. Basket Weave, Batik Braid, Boxes of Colour, Four Corners Quilt, Gobble Chain Quilt, Off the Rails, Royal Squares Quilt, summer at the Park, Windmills at Night, and Sugar Bloom. You will have the kit, but feel free to add some of your own fabric or subtract any fabrics from the kit that you wish. The goal is to be close to a twin size quilt. Preemie Quilts
Being the year of our long awaited Quilt Show, we hope to display approximately 100 Preemies. To-date, we have 28. After the show, these little quilts will again be sent to the Neonatal Special Care Nursery at The Ottawa Hospital, Civic Campus.
Size: 24" x 24" Use 100% cotton Flannel makes a soft, cozy backing. Batting, labels and often flannel, is available from "Charity" Completed preemie quilts can be dropped off at guild meetings or at Marilyn's house in Arnprior. Fidget Quilts
What is a fidget quilt? A fidget quilt is a lap quilt that helps provide stimulation for the fidgeting hands of Alzheimer's, dementia, and autistic people. It soothes the fidgeting by entertaining them, busying hands and fingers, stimulates their senses, and gives them something to do.They feature zippers, ties, ribbon, strings, buttons, snaps, closures, different textures – like minky, stretchy, pom poms, buttons, pockets, braids…you name it! Anything that can keep the fingers busy and can be washed will work. Most completed fidget quilts are usually 24" by 24", but you can make yours at any size.
Fidget Quilts donated to Arnprior Regional Health
Walker and Wheelchair Bags
Arnprior Regional Health has identified the need for wheelchair/walker bags. Upholstery fabric with a cotton lining works best and for a pattern and helpful video, go to https://feltmagnet.com/textiles-sewing/Walker-Totebag 
Sample bag
Donated upholstery material and quilter's cotton as the lining were used to make this one. Repurposed jean material, any kind of thicker material that you may have on hand can be used to make these bags.
The pattern and a helpful video can be found here (from Felt Magnet.) Kits with everything you need to make one of these bags are available at guild meetings. For more information contact the Charity Team. Palliative Care at the Arnprior Hospital
These quilts can be any size, to be put on the beds of palliative care patients, then given to the family of that patient.
Christmas Gift Bags for the Local Food Bank
 Drawstring Gift Bags
There is material cut and ready to sew, to pick up from Marilyn, or you can use fabric from your stash. The bags can be a great stash buster, and you will feel great donating them! Instructions for Making Drawstring Bags Holiday Placemats for Arnprior Meals on Wheels
Always a fun project to provide holiday placements to Arnprior Meals on Wheels to be delivered with the Christmas meal. Christmas themed fabric on one side and something interesting on the other means they can be used year round. Design is your choice! Size is approximately 15 in x 11 in. 2021-2022 ArchiveVolunteers Needed!
We're looking for volunteers to assemble the Pick Up Sticks blocks into quilt tops and to finish off the Bethlehem Star quilts. If you can help please Contact the Charity Team.  Kit contents
Instructions for Pick Up Stick Quilt Tops Each complete kit contains 12 blocks and 1 metre of fabric for borders and binding. The blocks have not all been squared up. We recommend that you stack your blocks to see which one is the smallest, square it up, it should be about 11-12” square, then square up the balance of the blocks to that size. Assemble 4 rows of 3 blocks, add 4” borders all around and your quilt top is done! For the borders: cut 5 x 4” strips of WOF. Finished size should be minimum 40" x 60", maybe a little bigger. Creative opportunity: we used the guild stash for the borders. If you don’t like these colours, or if you would prefer to have a small inner border (see photo below under Charity Quilt Block), and use your own fabric for the borders, go ahead and do that. As you are cutting the border, please cut the balance of fabric into 2.5” strips. Set aside 5 of the strips for binding (please put them in a sandwich bag pinned to the top) and the rest of the strips can go back to the charity stash for the next time we make quilts from strips.
Always a fun project to provide holiday placements to Arnprior Meals on Wheels to be delivered with the Christmas meal. Christmas themed fabric on one side and something interesting on the other means they can be used year round. Design is your choice! Size is approximately 15 in x 11 in. 
Holiday Placemats
Charity Quilt Block
Placemats for the new Grove Nursing Home
We have been asked/tasked with making placemats for the new, larger Grove Nursing Home that opened in October in Arnprior! The idea is to have 96 new placemats, one for each resident, to welcome them when they move to their new home. We were asked to make some cheery colourful placemats. So sky's the limit for design: maybe try out some new techniques or blocks, use up your beautiful colourful scraps! Make it scrappy and happy, monochrome in various shades, or very nicely colour coordinated, it is all up to you! The only stipulation is to make them all the same size (approximately 15 " X 11") , so they will fit uniform on the table settings. So please have fun and enjoy making cheerful placemats for this community project. Quilt for Palliative Care at Arnprior Hospital
We have a quilt quilted and bound...generously donated by Chris Gordon. We will be meeting with the Arnprior & District Memorial Hospital administration before Christmas to pursue moving forward with this donation. This is a twin sized quilt for the palliative care room at the hospital. Quilts for Local Homeless Youth
We have completed 4 twin size quilts for "couch surfing" youth here in Arnprior. We have enough blocks to continue making 6 or 8 more quilts. We use 6 blocks for a quilt so we have done well this year block-wise. More is always good!!! Read about 3 quilts that have been donated Premie Quilts for Neo-Natal Unit
We plan again to provide little quilts for the babies in the Rich Little Special Care Nursery at the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital, and to the Special Care Nursery at the Queensway-Carleton Hospital. Quilters: See the Making Premie Quilts section of this page for information about making these special little quilts. Click to see more Premie Quilt Photos 
Premie Quilts
Touch Quilts
The Arnprior and District Memorial Hospital requires some "touch" quilts for their Alzheimer patients. They currently borrow a few from the nearby Grove Retirement Home. They would appreciate 20 touch quilts. Fidget quilts...twiddle quilts....activity quilts..... all the same!! We will be focused on these types of quilts in January 2020 through to the end of the year - this gives us the Fall to start to collect textures.... The Opportunity Shop is a great place to find textured fabric.... corduroy, velvet, flannel, denim, fleece, rags. For a few dollars we purchased enough feely clothes to make a quilt....with lots of leftovers. The object is to shop with your "feels" not with your eyes. A successful touch quilt looks motley sometimes...but they bring enormous comfort and calm to someone struggling with Alzheimers. Anything attached to these quilts MUST be secure....this time it is not about beauty...it is about how it feels. Examples 
Touch Quilt
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Check out our Blog for more information on our charitable endeavours.
Total 2021-2022: 154
Making Premie QuiltsUse 100% cotton fabric
Flannel makes a soft, cozy backing Size: 24” x 24” Minimal quilting to keep the quilt soft. Use cotton thread. Batting is available at the guild meetings See Instructions for more information. Preemie Quilt Photos |
Sew Days
Sew Days are planned for your opportunity to come join us. There are two Sew Days at Island View Retirement Residence in 2020 for the Alzheimer fidget quilts.
See Sew Days for more information.
Some of the lovely quilts that are awaiting donation.
Click or tap a photo to view it in full.
Click or tap a photo to view it in full.
