Wow! My last post put out a request for little hospital doll gowns for A Doll Like Me. What a fantastic response! In all honesty, I am not surprised, just grateful. Here are a few pictures of the gowns made so far.
Tina’s hospital gowns
These cuties were made by my sister, Tina! She used soft flannel. Don’t you love the prints she chose.
Made by Jean M
Check these out! Twelve tiny hospital gowns were donated by Jean. This collection is so sweet; Jean used a variety of fun prints and colors.
Gowns by Dawn L with quilts
Dawn made six gowns and also created six whole cloth quilts. These are super cute and much appreciated! Thanks Dawn.
Gowns made by Pat W.
If I am counting correctly, Pat made NINETEEN gowns for Amy. That is amazing. What a fantastic donation for A Doll Like Me.
In total thus far, one little post garnered forty doll size hospital gowns. This should keep Amy supplied for a good while! Of course there were seventeen responses asking for the mailing information and offering gowns. This means more are in the works. I say it all the time, but the generosity of this community never fails to amaze me! The need for these little gowns is ongoing so if you just feel like you want to make something simple, use up a few bits of fabric, make a charitable gift, feel free. These are always welcome!
I was asked how to fit the pattern pieces on a fat quarter. It can be a bit of a trick. I took a picture that might help.
If I am using a fat quarter to make a doll gown, I fold one length over just wide enough to lay out the front piece on the fold and pin it down. Then I fold the other side down for the back piece, which isn’t cut on the fold (because it needs to open in the back). It will lay end to end with the front piece and will look like it is over lapping. but it isn’t. I hope this helps. Does it make sense? Some fat quarters might be a tight squeeze but it does work. The size of the doll gown is flexible and if it is just a wee bit narrower, it will still work. Just in case you need it, here is the link to the free pattern.
Much time has passed since I last made anything for A Doll Like Me. You might remember back in 2018 I held a Spread the Love Campaign asking quilters to make doll quilts for Amy to include with the dolls she makes for children with limb or other physical differences. The campaign was an overwhelming success. Amy continues to receive doll quilts from people who heard about the need. The knowledge of A Doll Like Me has grown tremendously in the past five years or so. Amy’s work has been featured on many news sites, social media sites and popular magazines. All of this is important as the main goal for Amy is to increase awareness of the need for children with physical differences to be able to have true representation in the world. She wants each child to see themselves as enough, to see their own physicality represented in toys and dolls, and to feel accepted.
This sweet girl brought her doll dressed in a hospital gown to the hospital with her. (From Amy’s Facebook page).
A few months ago, I chatted with Amy on-line just to check in with her. I wanted to see how she was doing. It is tough building a non-profit, raising three active kids and making doll after doll. But she is one driven person! Anyway, she and I visited a bit. Toward the end of the conversation I asked her if she needed anything from the quilting community. Her response was…. ‘well, now that you mention it….. I could use more hospital doll gowns.” She is always so grateful for whatever we provide and doesn’t want to impose on people.
Hospital Gowns for Dolls made in February 2018
Do any of you remember making these? Above is a picture of the first few I made.
Hospital Gowns made in January 2019Hospital gowns made in June 2020
The gowns we make and donate to Amy are given to children who have one of these dolls and are facing a hospital stay. There is a very therapeutic aspect in playing with their doll. Being able to dress up the doll in a hospital gown is one more way to deal with possible fear or anxiety around the upcoming stay. Many of Amy’s children bring their doll with them when in the hospital and it is beneficial to have the hospital gown on the doll. This somewhat familiarizes the hospital process for the child.
Looking back at blog posts and pictures, I learned it has been a very long time since I made anything for Amy. Time to sew up some sweet gowns for her dolls! In the pictures above, I put the gowns on dolls smaller than what Amy makes. But it is fun to see them as they are used. Princesses, Pooh Bear and baby dinosaurs as well as a fun blue print were chosen for this round. Of course all were made from the stacks of fabric I have stashed away. Fortunately I also have a large selection of (thrifted) bias tapes which makes things really easy.
Six gowns ready to be mailed to Wisconsin. How about you? Would you be able to make a few of these and send them to A Doll Like Me? They are easy to make and require very little fabric. Use just one fat quarter and some bias tape to make one gown! Here is the tutorial for you. Amy would be grateful for any gown(s) you feel comfortable making and sending to her. If you are interested that would be just wonderful! Many of you already have her mailing information. However, if you need it, let me know in the comments and I will email it to you privately.
Butterfly Number One!
OK – that is it for now! I am working on my Positivity Quilt. Yesterday I made a little butterfly using Dresden pieces. It is adorable and I think the quilt needs a few more! We have an abundance of Swallowtail butterflies in the yard this year and they seem to really enjoy our flowers.
Just popping in to share the sweet gowns being made for Amy and her amazing dolls at A Doll Like Me. Really, if you want a fun project these are so easy to make and take little in the way of fabric, time or skill!
Just to remind you, Amy makes dolls for children (and some adults) who have special needs or limb or other physical differences. She knows the need for physical representation and the ability to see oneself as beautiful. Her work is amazing and has really taken off over the past two or three years. If you are unfamiliar with her work, please do check out her Facebook page.
Six sweet hospital gowns donated by Carol.
The gowns we make and donate to Amy are given to children who have one of these dolls and are facing a hospital stay. There is a very therapeutic aspect in playing with their doll. Being able to dress up the doll in a hospital gown is one more way to deal with possible fear or anxiety around the upcoming stay.
So many fun fabrics! Gowns made by Wendy.
The gowns you see above were made and donated by Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts. Love those emojis and the ice cream cones – fun fabrics the kids will relate to. Really, these are super simple and this tutorial will take you through the process. With a fat quarter or other similar size scrap and some bias tape, you can make a gown too!
Super hero gowns for out littlest heroes.
I made these three gowns. I had super hero fabric left over from prior projects and thought these might be fun gowns. Also had that unicorn fabric sitting on the shelf. It was fun to pick out the fabric and think about the little ones who would dress their dolls and take them along to their next doctor visit or hospital stay. Even if they just act out the idea of being at the hospital or doctor’s office, this sort of pretend play is cathartic and necessary for children facing these challenges.
The back side of the super hero gowns.
I remember last spring, my grand daughter developed a terrible case of hives with no known reason. She had a trip to the ER which was scary. They gave her a stuffed bunny while she was there. When she came home, we were talking over FaceTime. She would hold her new bunny and tell it, “Yes, that was scary. You’re ok. It’s all done”. This was a way for her to process that experience. I remember watching this and immediately thinking of all of Amy’s children who face scary situations far too frequently. How crucial it is for them to have a way to process all of it.
If you want to make one or two, please feel free. If you have questions, leave them in the comments and I will get back to you. Need the mailing info? Leave a comment and I will email it to you privately.
Thanks Carol and Wendy!! Amy will have a nice stack of gowns to send out as needed.
Ok, ok – You’re right. I can’t close before I share a picture of the girls.
This is a picture my son took last week. They are absolutely adorable. Big sis is three years old and little sis is three months old. (You are correct if you are thinking she isn’t all that little. Hahaha.)
Popping in today to share a few things with all of you. Many of us are having a tough time trying to deal with all that has happened over the past couple of weeks in our country. Much unrest, anger, sadness and feelings of helplessness seem to have settled over much of our world. There are ways to help and to remain positive though. Lots of people are trying to provide support where they can, donate to various organizations, and be really vocal about the changes that need to be made.
To this end, there is an auction starting today on Instagram. Hosted and organized by MrDomestic, many artists, quilters and people of all sorts have donated things to be auctioned off. There are a variety of items in all sorts of price ranges – from beautiful skeins of yarn, to out of print and collectible fabrics (think Tula Pink and Heather Ross) to amazing quilts and children’s clothing – something is sure to appeal to you! I know there are items on the feed that I am going to keep an eye on for sure.
Needle and Foot has donated both a $75 gift certificate to the shop as well as a bundle of fat quarters by Sharon Holland to the auction. This is a great way to contribute to a much needed cause. There are many, many items for auction so take some time to enjoy some scrolling and shopping!
You can find details about which organizations will be supported by clicking here. I like this format for fund raising as it allows people to help both by donating our hand crafted items or supplies as well as purchasing beautiful things and all of the money raised goes directly to the charitable organization. I hope you will go to visit the auction which is on @mrdauctionhouse. Also, please share this far and wide on all social media feeds – the more bidders, the better! (Try saying that a few times in a row!)
Moving on but still talking about ways to contribute in our world. This is a feel good project many of us have worked on in the past. Amy, of A Doll Like Me, is running low on hospital gowns for the dolls. She would LOVE to have us make more and send them over to her. For those of you who are not familiar, click here to read the post from last year. Amy’s dolls go to special needs children. She sends them their special doll (who looks just like the child) along with a handmade doll quilt – donated by so many of you – as well as a hospital gown, if needed. Many of these children are in and out of the hospital on a regular basis. They often bring their dolls with them and Amy likes to give the doll a gown much like what the child will wear during his/her stay. The gowns are super easy to make and you only need a fat quarter of fabric and some narrow, double fold bias tape. Truly a wonderful and easy way to contribute. If you have time (and I know you have fabric!!) would you consider making one or two (or ten?!?) and sending them to Amy in Wisconsin? If you need the mailing info for the gowns, please comment and I will email it privately. Just in case you didn’t keep the tutorial for making the gowns, you will find it here.
Stunning!
Finally, I want to share a sampling of the quilts that have arrived recently for Mercy Hospital.
Love this pattern. Does anyone know who designed it or how to find it?
I cannot thank all of you enough for making these amazing quilts and donating them to Mercyful Quilts.
Spring Flowers!
Truly you are the best of the best!!!
Isn’t this a wonderful palette?
These quilts will be loved and appreciated by their recipients.
Soft, soothing color.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
How could I close without a baby picture to make you smile. Yesterday, big sister took this picture of little sis. Doesn’t it look like the baby is giving her big sis the stink eye? That one eyebrow raise is hilarious. I love this one. Hope you do too!
Everyone – please hang in there. Our world feels upside down right now. Breathe in and out, try to find a calm place so you are able to react and help in whatever way works best for you. Let us hope all of this anger results in positive change.
This week hasn’t been one of the best. Lots of migraine kept me down most of the week. Such is life. There isn’t much to be done about it except take naps and wait for it to be finished.
Once I was feeling a bit better, I decided to make a few hospital gowns for Amy. Remember last week I posted an update on A Doll Like Me? I mentioned Amy is running low on these sweet gowns she provides to children who are facing a hospital visit.
Each of these gowns take about one fat quarter or similar size scrap. You also need a bit of narrow, double fold bias tape. Check out this tutorial for instructions and a template to cut the pieces. The fun of this project (other than the satisfaction of making something to create a smile for a child) is picking fun fabrics to use.
I had a bit of this Disney princess fabric in a scrap bag given to me by a friend. I was just able to squeak a gown out of it. It is a 1/2″ shorter than the others but I don’t think that will be an issue. Luckily I was able to center Cinderella on the front of the gown. I hope there is a princess-loving girl out there who needs this gown for her doll.
I also used a bit of this vintage red print. Last year, after Valentine’s Day, I saw several rolls of ribbon in a clearance bin at Michaels and snapped them up. It was fun to use some to create the ties on the back of the gown.
Also, thinking it would be fun to play with those decorative stitches on my machine again, I used a heart motif to finish the edges of the back side of the gown. The hearts aren’t the best, but it was fun.
I packed these up and hope to take them to the post office. I have heard from a number of you who are making gowns for A Doll Like Me. This is awesome and I really appreciate your time and creativity! If you want to give it a try and feel unsure or have questions, I am happy to help!!
Linking up with several fun link parties, including the DrEAMI event over at Sandra’s blog!
Last year I had the immense pleasure to start a friendship with Amy Jandrisevits, owner and creator at A Doll Like Me.
You might remember the Share the Love Campaign hosted here. Many, many quilters joined in to make special doll quilts to be sent with the lovely dolls Amy makes for children with physical differences.
So many sweet doll quilts were donated!
The campaign resulted in well over 300 doll quilts and I still receive emails now and then from quilters who want to send one to Amy.
I wanted to provide a brief update for readers as it has been nearly a year since the campaign. Of course the need for these amazing dolls is on-going and Amy continues to sew constantly in an effort to keep up with the demand. The amazing thing is Amy’s work has been noticed! Not just by us and the families she works with. Lately, she has experienced a surge of interest by the media as they are made aware of the important work she does.
Media exposure is a wonderful thing as it helps to spread the idea that all children want/need/deserve representation. They need to see themselves as ‘normal’, to know that their differences are not to be hidden or embarrassed by. Receiving a doll that reflects them and looks like them helps them to do this. Having the media spread the word as they have been doing over the past weeks is going to teach a huge lesson in acceptance for readers who haven’t necessarily thought in these terms or been exposed to this idea.
One of the ways this media excitement started was due to an honor bestowed upon A Doll Like Me by the Go Fund Me organization. Amy has had a campaign running on Go Fund Me for quite some time. Last December the organization really took notice of Amy by giving her the Hero of the Month award in December. Each month Go Fund Me does a story on a campaign they feel is worthy in the hopes of spreading the word even further. When they gave this award to A Doll Like Me in December Amy’s campaign spread like crazy and donations in excess of $20,000 poured in. The donations continue as does the exposure for this cause.
Largely due to the Go Fund Me award, many media outlets became aware of the work Amy does. The story was picked up by the local CBS station in Wisconsin, providing great publicity for this important work. Click through to see the five minute video segment – it is fantastic!
Photo from an article in Highlights Magazine’s blog.
Amy’s work was also featured in a blog post for Highlights Magazine – remember that magazine from when we were young?
I am so happy to see the increase in exposure for A Doll Like Me and the fantastic financial support Amy is garnering with the Go Fund Me campaign. She will be able to continue to work on these special dolls and with the funding, provide them to families who might not be able to afford them.
Three of the quilts I made for Amy last year.
I chatted on-line with Amy this morning to check in. She has sent out in excess of 200 quilts since last year!! She still has a supply to work with but it makes her so happy to have shared so many. The quilts are such a special addition to the dolls and both child and family seem to value them greatly.
Doll clothes and hospital gowns donated to A Doll Like Me.
In addition to the doll quilts, several of us made tiny hospital gowns for Amy. She requested these because many of the children experience a high number of hospitalizations. The gowns make the experience even more relatable as they can dress their doll in one when they are going to have another stay. Pretend play and working through the anxiety of each hospital stay is made a bit more relevant with these gowns. When Amy sends one to a child she knows needs it, she gets marvelous feedback. The parents have told her it makes the doll a complete ‘mini-me’ for the child. Some moms have told Amy the hospital gown brought tears to their eyes (and to one father’s eyes as well). These tiny gestures are incredibly valuable.
It turns out Amy is just about out of the gowns. She has asked me to let you know this in the hope some of you would like to spend an hour and make one or two for her. They are so simple to make. See this post for details! It only takes a fat quarter, some bias tape and about an hour of your time to make one. If you could, please do spend a little time on this! I am happy to provide the mailing info for A Doll Like Me. Just email me – I don’t want to post the mailing information publicly on this post. My email is [email protected]. There is no time limit on this – she would love to receive them whenever someone is inclined to make one. Questions about this can be left in the comments and I will get back to you.
That’s it for now. I am so happy to see the word spread about A Doll Like Me. Thank you so much for taking part in this earlier and for helping out as time goes forward. Amy is humbled by and grateful for your support.
Linking up with a few favorites. See the list at the top of the page, under Link Ups.
It has been a while since the culmination of my Spread the Love event that happened in February this year. (If this is the first you heard of it, you can read more here and here.) I wanted to share an update with you.
First of all, Amy, owner and creator of A Doll Like Me, continues to receive quilts regularly. She is grateful beyond words for all of the quilts, doll clothes and financial contributions she has received because of all of you quilters! The unique creativity and incredible energies put into the quilts is really wonderful. The notes sent by some of you with the quilts and other donations have been really special. Many of you relate to Amy’s work in a special way due to situations in your family. Others have expressed deep joy and gratitude to have such a special cause to sew for. It has added meaning to the process of quilting for for many of you which makes quilting even more special!
So far Amy has distributed over 50 quilts. This amazes me since it is only April so she hasn’t had the quilts for very long yet. She gave many to children for whom she didn’t have a quilt available when she sent their dolls. It was such a happy surprise for the kids to receive something new for their Doll Like Me.
She sent some quilts to a family in Europe who had adopted a child with limb differences from an orphanage in Romania. This little one is seven years old, yet had no experience with dolls and playing with, or taking care of, them. They taught her to wrap up her baby in her quilt. Isn’t it wonderful to think she is playing with and caring for her baby in a quilt one of you made? I love it!
We never know exactly how a quilt sent to a child will be used. But in this family, their sweet girl sleeps under hers with her dolly next to her. She looks so cozy!
This is the doll that was sent with the patchwork quilt you see covering the child in her crib.
Another child who received a quilt was a boy of about ten years. He suffered a terrible burn and has had many, many surgeries and still has many to endure. He loves sports so Amy made his Doll Like Me to have similar scarring, plus a basketball jersey and shoes. Of course she sent a quilt that was sport themed.
When in the hospital, naturally he brings his doll but for this the doll wears a hospital gown, just like his owner! This provides some comfort, a fun distraction and a great reflection of himself in the doll.
I love that the doll has the necessary wardrobe for being home and feeling good as well as being in the hospital. Isn’t it wonderful?
I was curious about how Amy managed to mimic the scarring on the doll so he could be just like the boy.
She said she uses a mix of paints, both latex and fabric paint., as well as alcohol markers and makeup! Pretty creative.
I am so happy that Amy stays in touch with me. A number of you have volunteered to make a specially themed quilt for a child who might need it. She really appreciates it. I am going to try to make some doll outfits for her soon. She gave me some measurements for the dolls she creates. I think it will be fun to sew a few things for them. Thanks to all of you who made quilts or gowns and who continue to do so. You are a special bunch of people!! Thank you for all of your generosity.
This week was a blur. Each day was busy and the time flew by. Big news at our house is that Julia has a driver’s license. This is always a huge milestone for any child and parent. The contrasting experience is substantial; the freedom and independence of being able to drive vs the increased worry and anxiousness! Quite the extremes for both the kid and mom and dad. She is a good driver and a responsible person; it is all the weirdos out there that make me worry. I am sure it will be fine though. She was so excited to pass her driving test. We celebrated with frozen yogurt afterward.☺
I was making really good progress on a quilt that I will share next week when I take part in a blog hop celebrating the release of Modern Plus Sign Quilts, a fabulous new book by Cheryl Brickey and Paige Alexander. I loaded the quilt top on a long arm belonging to a woman in our local quilt guild. This is a different machine than the one I have rented a few times in the past. Oh my gosh! It did not go well, not at all. I fought my way around for a while, continually thinking, ‘it will get better, this will smooth out.’ But it became clear that I wasn’t going to be successful. So we took it off of the frame and I have been unpicking the quilting. Ugh. Not so fun. But a learning experience, which is always valuable. For the hop next week, I will share the quilt top only. I have an appointment to quilt it at the shop (where I am more familiar with the machines) on Friday next week.
Moving on… between sessions of unpicking all of the ugly quilting, which is still not finished, I did make a cute little sleeping bag for A Doll Like Me. Remember I cut up my whole cloth panda quilt and made a smaller doll quilt with it? There were two rectangles that were too small for a doll quilt. But they worked together for a sleeping bag. I think it is really cute.
Basically I trimmed the two rectangles such that they were the same width but one was longer than the other by about six inches. I curved the top two corners (I probably wouldn’t do this again because it was hard to bind along that curve without a bias cut binding.) The top of the shorter rectangle needed binding to finish the edge. Then I stitched the top to the bottom, wrong sides together. I think I stitched them with about 1/4″ seam allowance.
Once they were stitched together, I bound the edges just like you would a quilt. As I mentioned, going around the curve was a trick because the binding wasn’t cut on the bias. So, next time I will leave a regular corner or will cut the binding on the bias so it curves appropriately.
When a doll is tucked into a sleeping bag, she needs a pillow, right? I took two rectangular scraps and cut them to the same size. Putting them wrong sides together I stitched around the perimeter, maybe 1.5 inches from the edge (I wanted to make a flange). For stuffing purposes, I left a two inch opening on one end. After stuffing it with poly-fil, I closed up that opening. Again, I finished the edge with binding (a single fold, narrow binding this time though.)
Thank you to Elena of That Fabric Feeling for the inspiration for the doll’s sleeping bag. She made an adorable set for Amy last month and when I saw it, I knew I could use these scraps and make one too!
I love the whole set and hope it will bring a smile to a child someday. Amy is cataloging quilts and sending them out to her special kiddos. I think I will hold on to this one for a bit. I am waiting for a few more doll quilts from members of our local guild. Once I have enough to fill another box, I will send them on.
See you next week for the blog hop. I absolutely love this book and I am excited to share it with you. Linking to lots of places today so be sure to take a peek at the top of the page, under Link Ups.
I don’t think I can really articulate all that this Spread the Love, Quilting for Kids event has meant to me, but I am going to try. This is likely to be a long post…. Bear with me.
When I first read about Amy and her shop, A Doll Like Me, I knew she was special. I knew the work she does is really important and so valuable. But I didn’t know what all would happen when I put out the call to the quilting community to make doll quilts for A Doll Like Me. I didn’t realize how much I would come to enjoy working with Amy. I didn’t know I was going to have the opportunity to become friends with her and get to know about her family and what is important to her about this work she does. Also, I had no idea I would make so many new friends within the quilting community. I hadn’t a clue how much support my family would pour into this project. My sisters that sew, made blankets, quilts and gowns, my family donated financial support to the Go Fund Me campaign for A Doll Like Me. My nephew works for Go Fund Me and he took Amy’s campaign to his management team – they loved it and donated $1,000 to it.
Kindness begets kindness. It has this incredibly powerful, trickle down effect. Let’s take a look at the flow of kindness within this event. I think it is so important.
Amy made a doll for a friend’s child. Kind act #1
Her friend showed it to another friend. Kind act #2
That friend asked for a special doll with a limb difference for her child and Amy made it for her. Hugely Kind Act #3
The friend shared the doll and Amy’s world changed. A Doll Like Me began. Hugely Kind Act #4
Sometime later, Elana of That Fabric Feeling somehow connected with Amy and offered to make doll quilts for her. Amazingly Kind Act #5
Elana posted about the doll quilts on her blog, thereby sharing the need with the online quilting community. Kind Act #6
I randomly stumbled on to the posts about Elana’s doll quilts. Random and happy occurence!
I decide this needs to be shared as a community event so more people can participate, thus creating Spread the Love, Quilting for Kids. Kind Act #7
Art Gallery Fabric offers me an amazingly generous number of prizes to offer and hopefully encourage participation so Amy would have a large stash of quilts to use in her work. Kind and Generous Act #8
My family reads about my work (they are such faithful blog readers!) and decide to contribute financially via the Go Fund Me campaign for A Doll Like Me. Kind Act #9
My nephew finds out about these donations from his mom (my sister) and takes it to the management at Go Fund Me. They donate $1,000 to the campaign. Hugely generous and Surprising Kind Act #10
Quilters take this event and announce it at their guilds, their sewing groups, their on-line community and I start receiving emails, lots of emails, asking if they can continue to contribute after the February event concludes. I can’t remember how many groups contacted me but it was at least ten. Kind Acts #11 through 20 or so?
My sister, who lives in the UK, offers to be a collection point so that quilters in the UK can participate without having to mail their quilts to the states. They are mailing their donation to Juanita and she will collect them, package them up and send them to Amy. Kind Act #21
A quilter in Canada offers to do the same thing so the participants in Canada won’t be paying such high postage expenses. Debbie is collecting the Canadian doll quilts and will package them up and send them to Amy. Kind Act #22
Doll quilts start arriving – I have received pictures of well over 200 doll quilts so far. Promises of more are in the works. I have heard tales of how meaningful this has been to so many quilters, how much they have enjoyed taking part in this and thinking of these kids who will have their Doll Like Me and also a quilt to wrap up their baby. So, let’s try to quantify this and say these are Kind Acts #23 – 228. I know there are more quilts in process but this gets the idea across, right?
Quilters ask what else they can do. Amy says ‘well, I would like to have some doll size hospital gowns for kids facing a hospital stay.’ So far I know of fifteen hospital gowns that are finished and sent. Also two more doll outfits. More are in the works, but for now this will be Kind Acts #229 – 246.
See how this works? Kindness begets kindness. Small acts grow, more people get involved, more compassion is extended, and people feel intrinsically rewarded; it feels good to be kind. That warm feeling of satisfaction causes kind acts to happen more and more. One mom is using this project as a teaching tool. She has five children and has committed to making five quilts, one with each child helping her. Those kids will likely benefit and become more compassionate for others, more sympathetic to the needs of others. How will they use that lesson in compassion as they grow? Who knows, but you know it will affect them in a positive manner.
I cannot thank everyone enough. You are all so amazing. Want to see some of the quilts that were made?
I didn’t think it was feasible to upload over 200 pictures so I just made a few collages. So many fun quilts though. I am sorry I couldn’t share every single quilt. They are all outstanding. Included in these special quilts are applique, strip quilts, animals, patchwork, Dr. Suess, Sesame Street, Raggedy Ann, flowers, tractors, and even race cars. Whether modern or traditional, each one is unique and so special.
This community grabbed on to the idea of helping children. It spoke to so many of us. It felt good to do something positive. To have something meaningful to work on as we deal with one senseless tragedy after another in this world we live in.
So many amazing, adorable, hand made quilts in all shapes, colors and styles. These tiny quilts aren’t going to change the world but we are giving something special to a child who needs our love, maybe just a bit more than the other kids.
Look at these sweet hospital gowns, pajamas and clothes that have been made so far.
When I was talking to my friend Mari about this doll quilt event I was dreaming up, I asked what she thought – she said there would be an overwhelming response. She nailed it, didn’t she? Do you know what? One quilter made seventeen doll quilts! She was on a tear (no pun intended!), making one after another; an example of the kindness spreading throughout the community.
Let’s talk about those gorgeous fat quarter bundles offered up by Art Gallery Fabrics! Each person who emailed me pictures of their quilts has been entered once for each quilt they shared with me. Also an extra entry was made if the person made hospital gowns or outfits. You may continue to email me pictures of completed items through February 28th.
Quilt bloggers who have gotten involved can share their posts by linking up below. The link up will remain open through February 28th. When I read through the link ups, I will enter the blogger once for each quilt shared on the post. I hope you will take a few minutes and check out the other posts. I am sure you will come away inspired and gratified.
On March 1st I will have the fun task of picking ten winners via Random Number Generator. I will email the winners and ask for their mailing information. If you are a winner, please email me your information within two days. Otherwise, I will pick another winner. Does this all make sense? If you have questions, leave them in the comments and I will get back to you.
I am so energized by the response from all of you. You are amazing, generous people and there are no words to accurately describe how gratifying this has been. Thank you for all of the time and effort you have poured into these sweet quilts over the last several weeks. Thanks in advance for the quilts promised to A Doll Like Me in the future. I know Amy is overwhelmed by the response and also very grateful.
Hi everyone! I have a few more finishes to share with you for the Spread the Love event. Remember this doll quilt drive is in support of A Doll Like Me, and will run through the end of the month. I have a box filled with donations for Amy and plan to send it off tomorrow.
In the box are a number of doll quilts (made by me as well as a couple of local guild members) and three hospital gowns. Amy has asked for the gowns because she wants to include one with the doll when she knows the child has a hospital stay in their near future. What a cute idea and how therapeutic it is for the child to dress his or her doll in a gown when she will also be wearing one. You can see the gowns up above from the front. I used this free pattern to cut the gowns out and used a simple narrow, double fold bias tape for the neck and ties in the back. They can be made out of a fat quarter or similarly sized scrap and take no time at all.
Doll size hospital gown, back side
Next on the list of projects to mail is this I Spy Quilt. I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago and finally got it quilted and bound. I used a black and whit polka dot fabric for the binding but it is pretty wonky. I do love the variety of fun fabrics used and think it will be a cute on for a child to play with.
The backing is a piece of fabric I have had in my stash for years. It has lots of animals scattered about and will be another fun one for a game of I Spy.
This Fire Truck Quilt is one of my favorites – you know I am a sucker for anything with a vintage look to it! The red and yellow combination is so sweet.
Determined to use only fabrics from my stash, I used red and yellow scraps for the quilt, sashing, backing and binding. It came together nicely and will surely be loved by its new owner when Amy decides to send it off to a child.
Just an update on the progress of this doll quilt drive. I have recorded more than 135 quilts finished and shipping at this point. Promises of many more are made. How amazing is that???
Here is a photo of some projects made by my sisters. Flannel blankets, a hospital gown, ruffles and flowers, trucks and cement mixers — perfect for A Doll Like Me!! I am so happy they wanted to make and contribute these.
Finally, I have had a few readers ask if there is a way to contribute to A Doll Like Me financially. Because of the costs of shipping, the fabric and accessories to make the doll, stuffing for the dolls, and most especially the need to fund dolls for families who cannot afford one, there is a Go Fund Me account. If you feel you would like to contribute, that is wonderful. Donations can be in any amount, don’t feel it has to be a large amount of money; five or ten dollar donations add up and are very helpful. The quilting community has given so much to Amy’s cause so please don’t feel pressured to make a monetary gift.
Remember if you are making quilts, you can email me for the shipping information. Any questions? Leave a comment and I will get right back to you. Thanks everyone!
Come back on Wednesday the 21st because I will be sharing the blogger bundle for February. Curated by Kitty Wilkin of Night Quilter, it does not disappoint!!
Linking to many fun places – check them out at the top of the page under Link Ups.
Loading InLinkz ...
