Last year the Sunbury Stitchers and Quilters donated 7 quilts to those caught up in the New Zealand Mosque tragedy, a jelly roll race quilt to a homeless lady and a quilt for a lady beginning her chemo journey. We also made several more quilts which are looking for new homes! If you hear of anyone in need of a quilt for comfort or for fundraising please let me or Judy A know. Thanks for the suggestions we've had already! We'll be documenting the quilts we already have in order to find the right homes for them soon.
Many of us donate to causes that we care about. I have a friend who runs as many 5K runs as she can to raise money for her cause. My niece has completed two marathons to raise money for a heart foundation after family members were diagnosed with severe heart problems. The stories behind why we donate and who we donate to are fascinating!
We donate a number of tiny memory quilts to Sunshine Hospital every year to help grieving families after the loss of their precious babies. As you know, I make quite a lot of these quilts because this is the cause that is closest to my heart. 23 years ago my daughter, Eirian, died when she was 8 months old and even after all those years I remember the shock and grief I experienced at that time and continue to experience now. I hope that by making these quilts with love that I can pass on a bit of love to the families of these babies. I want them to know that there are people out there thinking of them and I want them to know that their babies are important.
The hospital unfortunately needs about 80 quilts a year so if you have an orphan block or some scraps hanging around why not whip one up? The size of the quilt should be around about 12 x 14 inches although the ones I make are all kinds of sizes depending on the fabric or block I have at hand. You can use batting or back your quilt in a nice soft flannel. They can be bound or "bagged out". It's really up to you!
Here are some that I made recently. I challenged myself to use up some fabric scraps and I ended up with over 20 finished quilts.
Here are the 48 quilts we made this year that are on their way to Sunshine Hospital. Along with the quilts I made there are quilts made by Heather, Annie C and Maree.
A friend of Sunbury Stitchers and Quilters knitted these hats and they're on their way to Sunshine hospital too. My grandsons born at almost 32 weeks were kept nice and warm with a few of these recently! The pair are now wearing hats featuring magpies which is not going down well with the tiger supporters of the family I can tell you!
