I am guessing this isn’t news to all quilters who happily participate in Hands 2 Help each year but the event is being coordinated by Mari of Academic Quilter this year. Sarah has a lot going on right now and rather than having to skip a year of making quilts for deserving people and organizations, Mari has stepped in and is hosting the whole event! We are all grateful to Mari for taking this on but most especially grateful are the staff and families at Mercy Hospital in Sacramento, California. To read the details about this year’s Hand 2 Help event, hop over to this post by Academic Quilter.
Mercyful Quilts was started back in November of 2018 by me and my friend Patty, a nurse at Mercy Hospital. There are many posts on my blog about Mercyful Quilts and you can look through them by clicking on Mercyful Quilts at the top of this page.
If you haven’t heard about Mercyful Quilts, we make and donate lap size quilts for Mercy Hospital. These quilts are given to families who are saying goodbye to a loved one who is currently in the hospital. Mercy treats adults only so we cannot use juvenile themes for our quilts. The patients are male, female, older adults, young adults, ore sometimes veterans. It is helpful for us to have a wide variety of quilts with a variety of colors and styles. Family members are invited to choose a quilt and use it to cover their loved one. They stay with the person throughout the dying process. The family will keep the quilt as a remembrance of their special person.
Reminder of the requirements for Mercyful Quilts:
Lap Size – this is very flexible. So anything from 50″ x 50″ up to 75″ or so. Square or rectangle – whatever works for your design is great for us.
Look – Please feel free to use your imagination. We have received so many gorgeous quilts and each has a unique look to it. From modern designs with bold color, to sweet soft florals or maybe fishing and western motifs, they are all appreciated. It is great when a family member sees a quilt and says ‘Oh, this is just perfect for my dad, mom, sister, brother.’ That is just what we hope for!
Labels – This is left up to the quilter. If you want to put a label, great. If not, that is fine too.
Laundering – please wash and dry your quilt before sending it. Do not use any scented laundry soaps, fabric softener, or dryer sheets. These are used in a hospital setting so as close to scent free as we can be please. After washing, give the quilt a quick once over to be sure no seams have frayed. Now and then there might be a fray at the binding. When I see this, I hand stitch it. If you could check though, that is so helpful.
There has been a change in our process that I need to let you know about. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I will soon be moving up to Washington state. I hope to continue to work with Mercy Hospital as I think the program is wonderful. If you have donated previously, please do NOT mail the quilts to me. Going forward, they will be mailed to my friend Patty who is a nurse involved in the program. When you have a quilt to send, let me know and I will send her mailing information to you. I have found using the flat rate, large size box to be the least expensive way to mail a quilt.
I think that sums up our program and what we need in the way of quilts. Please feel free to read through the other Mercyful Quilt posts if you’d like to. Thank you all for considering donating a quilt to Mercy Hospital. These quilts bring comfort to families at a time of deep sorrow. Let me know if you have any questions. Happy quilting all!!
Thanks for this. I’d not seen it before and although I’m working on other projects right now, I’ll slip this on in and work on creating something for Mercy as soon as possible. Blessings to you!
Thank you Carol! I remember you sent us a quilt when we first got started – I would love it if you sent another one for Mercy. No hurries – I know you have a lot going on. Hope the house hunting is progressing for you. 🙂
Absolutely! I have one at the long arm quilter’s right now, that will go to my niece, then two for Quilts for Kids to complete and then I’ll be free to make one for Mercy. Happy to help! Still waiting for the home in that mobile home park to become available. Keeping fingers and toes crossed! One of the bonuses to living there is they have a huge community room with tables that can be put together for laying out quilts! Take care!
Thank you for connecting us with this program, Bernie, and thanks in advance to Patty for continuing to coordinate the delivery of the donation quilts.
Yvonne, You have donated so many amazing quilts to Mercy Hospital. So our thanks go to you! We are grateful for the fun, bright and modern quilts you have added to the collection for families to choose from. 🙂
Love this program, and I am on board for this year, too. So great that Patty will carry on…
Hi Kathleen, I wanted to stay involved but it certainly wouldn’t make sense for me to collect the quilts and ship them to Mercy! It is strange because I won’t get to see the quilts as they come in. Honestly opening the boxes of quilts is like Christmas all year round! Hopefully Patty will text pictures to me so I can see what everyone is making!
Thanks so much for posting this Bernie! I’m so happy to make another Mercy quilt for you. And thanks for linking to the kickoff post, too!
No problem Mari – I am trying to get back to my blog writing and reading habits now that the house is about 80% packed. It feels like we are almost there and I feel like I have a little more time each day for the fun stuff!!
Bernie, Best of luck on your move. I have a quilt top that I would gladly donate, but I’m not able to quilt it. I don’t have a long arm machine and frankly, with working full time, it’s not easy for me to get quilting done on a twin-size quilt. Any chance you guys would take a top only? If not, I totally understand.
Elana, My apologies for the late reply. I cannot take quilt tops (no long arm here either). However the Canadian organization only wants quilt tops. A little more expensive to mail it but not horrible. So maybe Victoria’s Quilts? Mari has the details on them. 🙂
So excited to have another year of beautiful quilts. I truly feel the love that all of these are made with and am so touched when one is chosen for someone. The families often choose the quilt for the patient and it is usually something that sparks a memory or connection in the quilt that makes them pick that special one. Thank you all for your gift