Charity Champions: The Garage Girls Quilting Together

Jelly Bean Stars Quilt from America Quilts Together issue

We love the industrious Garage Girls of Yorktown, Virginia. They meet 2-3 times a month to sew crib and lap size quilts for charitable organizations in their local area. Recipient groups have included a neo-natal intensive care unit, organizations assisting the elderly, domestic abuse shelters, and a children’s hospice program. One of their recent quilts seen here is Jelly Bean Stars. I can see how this quilt would warm any child’s heart!

Garage Girls quilting studio... no cars allowed!

The “girls”  find that setting aside regular dates for sewing together keeps them committed and accountable, and guarantees a fun day for everyone. Group organizer Lynn Dash set up a few sewing machines she’d collected over the years on tables in her no-cars-allowed garage, so no one has to bring a machine on sewing days. Group members’ fabric stashes provide most of the quilt top patches, which are cut in large quantities to fit basic design grids. Once the patches are precut, they are stored by color, ready for assembly into scrap quilt tops. The group also accepts donations of finished blocks, to incorporate into their quilts. Easy designs are favored for speed of construction, but the quilts are varied and attractive, and most importantly, finished and donated quickly.

Click to preview every quilt pattern in America Quilts Together Autumn 2012

Complete instructions on how to make this cute and easy quilt are in America Quilts Together, on newsstands now. Or, Click here to purchase America Quilts Together from our online Quilt and Sew Shop. Instant digital download also available.

Tell us your stories of quilting projects with friends and family, we’d love to hear them!