Hi Bev, and welcome to the group! Your volunteer work sounds like a lot of fun besides being very satisfying.
Dee in LeRoy, NY
"grbev" wrote in message news:bf3r45$c34$ snipped-for-privacy@terabinaries.xmission.com...
I have recently joined this group and at first posted as Bev Forsling and now grbev (Grandma Bev). I have been hand quilting for about 40 years. I love to hand quilt but don't get to as often as I would like. I work as a volunteer at the LDS Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake City managing quilting and fabric donations. I have been doing this for about 4 1/2 years. I spend most of my time while there putting together quilt tops (crib, twin, and full) to be make into quilts that are distributed to those in need around the world. I gain great satisfaction from this work. Another part of my job is going through boxes and boxes of people's stashes after they pass away and their families box everything up and send it to us. I have seen it all! We often get tiny scraps of fabric so small we often use it for stuffing in the toys and balls that are made and distributed to orphanages. Obviously it is too labor intensive for us to use for quilts. I also do lots of sewing for the Center at home, averaging about 20-30 hours a week. In my spare time, I cut up larger scraps into 9 1/2" squares (using a rotary cutter so pieces are true and easier to assemble into quilt tops). I have cut thousands of these! They are then distributed to other volunteers to assemble into quilt tops. When people come to the Center wanting to do sewing or quilting, they can pick up quilt tops and bottoms and just need to provide the batting. Our only criteria is that the materials be used for quilts and then the quilts returned to the Center to be distributed to the poor and needy. That way we are recycling donations and they can have the opportunity of doing service at a minimal cost. I love what I do and it does tend to be all-consuming (without a little self control!).
One thing I have learned from my quilt work at the Center - control your stashes, Ladies. What a pain it is for family and others to go through your stuff after your death. You know, some of that stuff has a shelf life! I have seen powdered (!) bonded knit, polyester by the truck load, cotton so old it practically shreds in your hands, cones of thread that break at the slightest tug, elastic that has no rebound, etc. This stuff is not usable! Storing for a project is good, stock piling till it disintegrates is not.
I look forward to being an active member of this group. I am not a purist, just a practical quilter who wants to provide warm hugs around the world to those who need my help.
From Utah,
Bev