How to Donate Quilting Supplies
Quilting is a time-honored craft that requires skill, patience, creative ideas and lots of fabrics. Throughout history, frugal quilt makers have repurposed clothing, feed sacks and any other woven material they came across. Today, most quilters have the luxury of buying exquisite fabrics specially designed for the purpose, but there are hundreds of not-for-profit groups busy making chemo caps, baby clothes and all types of blankets for trauma victims and homeless people. The participants pay full cost for fabric and supplies to create beautiful give-away quilts. These organizations appreciate donations and can put them to use right away.
Things You'll Need
- Storage bins or cardboard boxes
- Clear plastic zipper bags
- Containers of various sizes
- Items to donate
- Transportation or money for postage
Instructions
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Choose your recipients. Research children's charities. Visit a local fabric or quilt shop to learn about groups needing supplies in your immediate area. Call to find out what they need, when they need it and to set up a delivery time. If the agency is located somewhere other than your town, you can mail the donation.
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Organize your donations. Package spools of thread separately to prevent tangling. Find a sturdy shoebox to pack scissors, rulers, marking pencils, seam rippers and tape measures into. Put needles, pins, needle threaders and pin cushions in a smaller box or sandwich-sized plastic bag. Pack safety pins into their own plastic bag. Group the fabrics by color. Make a separate stack of lining/backing fabrics. Fold pieces into uniform sizes for easier stacking. Stack batting separately.
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Pack it up. Place batting at the bottom of a medium-sized box and place fabrics on top of that. If space allows, place the bag of thread, the shoebox and the pin bags. If you're mailing the box, sandwich the tools, threads, etc. between the layers of fabrics and batting, then tape the box closed and prepare for shipping with the recipient's address and your return address.
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If you donate a sewing machine, take it in for servicing first. Pack all the attachments and accessories securely inside the carrying case. To these hard-working groups, an extra sewing machine is a real bonus. There are also nonprofit agencies that ship sewing machines to impoverished countries, giving people an opportunity to earn money with their sewing skills.
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Tips & Warnings
Donate often.
Be sure to ask for a tax receipt.
Not all fabrics are suitable for quilting. Sort through your fabric and donate cottons, cotton blends, wool and other tightly woven medium weight yardage.
