Quilts for Kids Inc.

Quilters are the most generous and loving people in the world.  Their creativity doesn’t stop once they’ve given quilts to all their family members and friends. But what do they do with the quilts they can’t seem to stop making?  

Quilts for Kids Inc., founded in 2000 in the USA, has the answer:  donate them to hospitalized children fighting a life battle with an illness or to children suffering from the affects of abuse or natural disasters. And now you can do this in Canada:  help children fighting a life battle with an illness - in your own back yard.

By working with the charity Quilts For Kids, Inc. you can make a difference in Canada just like the quilters all over the U.S. are doing.

QFK wants to work with quilters who would like to head up chapters of the charity throughout Canada. WHY? Because Northcott – a Canadian fabric company – has partnered with QFK and they have fabric to donate to groups wishing to be a part of the charity they hold near and dear to their hearts. If you have the talent, a sewing machine and friends, a church group or quilt guild who can help make these colorful works of art – QFK is interested in chatting with you.

All photos used with permission from QFK website

With the USA having 97 chapters of Quilts ForKids Inc. nationwide, these volunteers have made tens of thousands of crib sized colorful quilts in child-friendly prints, bringing a smile to the faces of children going through the worst that life has to offer. The quilts are approximately 40”x46”.

Now, thanks to the support of Northcott and other Canadian textile manufacturers, Canadians are able to start their own chapters.

Giving a child a quilt not only comforts the child, but also the whole family. They are so uplifted by the thought that a total stranger has made a quilt for a child they don’t even know.  Your quilt makes a difference in the lives of these children.

Founding President, Linda Arye, knows first-hand how it feels to wrap a quilt around a child who needs comfort.

“As a mom whose daughter was hospitalized I knew what it was like to spend long days in a stark hospital room.  My daughter, Mollie, wasn’t allowed her stuffed animal “Bear-Bear” due to allergen issues (he was sort of her version of a dust Bunny as she’d crawled around the floors with him for a long time). If she’d had a patchwork quilt that could be washed often the hospitals would have allowed her to have something to hold onto while going through frightening testing.”

Please visit www.quiltsforkids.org for more information on how to start a chapter, or email them at info@quiltsforkids.org for information. Remember to say you are interested in starting a chapter IN CANADA.

Here’s a documentary that will help you see what it is is the charity does first hand: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP6kbgc9jh8&feature=youtu.bes

by Linda Arye