Princess Party Quilt

Grace and I spent last Sunday Crafternoon in the shop, working on our next set of donations for Quilts for Kids.  In case you haven't heard of them before, Quilts for Kids is a wonderful charity that brings quilts to children who are ill and in need of comfort in hospitals around the world.  When most children need comfort, they often turn to their family for a hug, or even to their favorite stuffed animal, but hospitalized children often have IVs, monitors and other cords surrounding them, and stuffed animals are not able to be cleaned as often as necessary to prevent the spread of germs.  Quilts however, if made of cotton and properly quilted, can stand up to the repeated washings necessary in a hospital environment.  Quilts for Kids donates hand made quilts to kids facing Cancer, HIV, and other life threatening illnesses, as well as abused and neglected children, and kids in the foster care system.

In order to create all these quilts, they send out pre-cut kits to home quilters.  Their small size makes them easy to put together quickly, and QFK encourages people to return an extra quilt made from their own fabric stash at the same time.  I put together a few of these kits last spring, and was itching to make a few more.  The fabrics are always so bright and happy that they are hard to resist.  Here's the fabric from my newest one, the Princess Party Quilt:

 

 After getting the front together and pin basted on Sunday, I spent a little time each morning this week quilting it.   

 

Progress shot of the quilting.

And today I finally got the binding on.  Here's the finished quilt!

Meanwhile, in the last two days we've had very little to do at work.  So I pulled out some pretty paisley fabric give to me by Craftster friend april again, and started cutting out some extra NICU quilts.  Between my stash, and scrap fabric at work, we were able to cut three whole quilts out of it!  Of course that means my cutting tables at work currently look like this...

Oh well, hopefully by Tuesday I can mail a box of quilts to kids who really need them.  If you get a chance, be sure to check out Quilts for Kids website.  If you sew, be sure to order a quilt kit to put together for them.  If you don't sew, but still would like to support this wonderful cause, check out the "How to Help" tab for more ways you can ensure sick children receive the comfort they need.