December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
CQ received many quilts during October 2021 – See pictures below:
Quilt made and donated by Donnaleen V.
Summer 2021
A ‘tip of the hat’ to Alexandra S. who, over these summer months, has completed twelve (12) community quilts!!!! And, from Kathleen C., six (6) quilts, Holly D. two (2), Donnaleen V. & Jacintha B., one each.
Distribution of quilts has been challenging but when the restrictions were lifted, a donation of 30 adult and 30 children’s quilts were delivered to Sistering.
In response to the devastation of the town of Lytton, BC, ten adult and ten children’s quilts were sent to a quilt store nearby for distribution……the inventory that has built up over the course of the pandemic allowed us to respond quickly.
Looking forward to future donations, York Heritage will once again be giving kids quilts to Nonnina’s Table. Keep in mind the target date of mid-December to bring your quilts and other sundry donations.
You can continue to drop your completed projects, quilt tops to our CQ Collection Sites where you can also pick up kits for quilting. See your YHQG Newsletter for a list of the CQ Collection Sites.
January 2021
Despite the pandemic, our members once again outdid themselves in their generosity: a total of 114 quilts (baby, kids, adolescents & adult themed + sizes) were given to Nonnina’s Table, a community based not-for-profit organization. They distributed 350 gift baskets which contained turkeys and another 150 additional baskets. In addition to the quilts, members sent numerous gift cards, personal care items and cash donations. Nonnina’s Table organizers were very grateful.
“Anne and Wendy, your Quilts were beautiful and the sizes were perfect. We gave them to families with kids, seniors and newcomers.
They were so happy, especially the kids.
Also thank you for your monetary and gift cards.
Please say THANK YOU to your quilt members that put in so many hours to make these beautiful quilts.“
In late November, 10 large quilts were given to Covenant House as gifts for those young women who were victims of the sex traffickers.
From our roster of recipient organizations, Women’s Habitat in Etobicoke received 30 comfort and kids quilts. Additionally, Sistering was the recipient of two sets of three (an adult, adolescent & kid/baby quilts per set) for their Holiday celebration parties.
December 2020
Sistering hosts two Holiday parties for which YH provides two sets of three quilts (adult size, youth and baby) that are given out in a free raffle.
November 2020
October 2020
A few samples of quilts recently donated to CQ!
September 2020
Prizes! Prizes! Prizes!
Whether you participate in the sew along or work away on CQ projects on your own, you will be eligible for the prize draws which will take place at the November meeting. The grand prize is a curated set of twenty-four fat quarters provided to us by Tamara Kate who spoke our October 2019 meeting. There will be other prizes as well.
Draw chances will be awarded based on the following contributions to Community Quilting:
- One chance – every completed CQ quilt kit top or top donated from your own stash
- One chance – every quilted and bound a CQ quilt sandwich kit
- Two chances – every completed quilt from your own stash.
If you’ve already provided a completed quilt, top, or sandwich to CQ, don’t worry! We have your names and you will be entered in the draws.
Thank you!
Thanks to the following members who were busy over the summer months.
- Leslie B. six! from CQ & her own stash
- Jacintha B. two from her own stash
- Tiina C. three sister blocks and four slab blocks
- Wendy D. from CQ & her own stash
- Holly D. two quilts from her own stash
- Jean H. one baby quilt from CQ
- Joanne L. three from her own stash
- Deb L. two CQ quilts, a touch blanket, and a sister block
- Gail L. from own stash
- Ethel P. five from own stash
- Janet P. twelve International Sister blocks
July 2020
Thank you to all of you who have dropped off CQ quilts or those from your own stash: they will be greatly appreciated by the recipient organizations. YHQG will continue to support Nonnina’s Table at Christmas as well as a number of shelters.
Received thus far from the following:
Katie P. quilted ALL 15 of the quilt sandwiches we had prepared for the March meeting. Brava!
Peter R. put his midarm to work on four rather large quilt sandwiches. Yes!!!
Judy M. completed two batik braid quilts.
Jacintha B. continues to impress with beautiful and complicated quilts, a couple of which will go to Covenant House for the women who had been abducted into sex slavery and are being housed in two houses in Toronto.
Community Quilting as the outreach arm of our guild is still going strong. Although we can’t meet in person, we are devising new ways to facilitate the creation of quilts for distribution to women’s shelters and for some of the marginalized population in our community.
You can pick up the following items from four members’ home doing a curbside pickup and/or drop off:
– Kits that contain a pieced top, backing and batting.
– Kits that have cut blocks for piecing.
Curbside pickup and dropoff at Anne McL., Leslie B., Donnaleen V., and Wendy D.
Here are some of the quilts that have been recently received by CQ:
June 2020
Community Quilting is Back!
We’ve recently provided finished quilts to Nonnina’s Table, which is helping several refugee families to settle into their new homes. We know that the shelters we support are full, and that there is even greater need for help during this difficult time.
We’ve heard that you’ve all been sewing away at home, and we bet that some of you have finished quilts for Community Quilting…and we expect that those of you who have been working away on masks would be happy to return to making regular quilts.
Now that things are starting to open up a bit, we’ve arranged for places where you can drop off your finished (i.e. quilted and bound) quilts for CQ. You can also drop off finished International Sister blocks (from the kits you picked up at the February meeting, or ones you’ve made from your own stash).
Please call/email the person at your preferred drop-off location first, to arrange a convenient drop off time.
We could use a drop off spot in the west end; if you can do this, please contact Wendy and she’ll arrange to get the word out to our members.
This is a great time to use up your stashes making quilts to donate through CQ! If you’re interested in a simple pattern for children’s quilts,you can download it here, get a copy from the Guild website, or you can make up a simple quilt using the slab block pattern that was in the April newsletter.
Stay well and keep on sewing!
Drop off locations:
North: Leslie BathurstSt. & Finch Ave. W., Toronto
workshops1819@gmail.com
Deb Hiway 7 East & Ninth Line, Markham
yhqgNewsletterEditor@gmail.com
Northeast: Donnaleen York Mills Rd. & Victoria Park Ave. ., Toronto
Central: Anne Avenue Rd. & Lawrence Ave., Toronto
Wendy Yonge St. & Eglinton Ave., Toronto
East: Irena McCowan Rd. & Kingston Rd., Scarborough
West: Mical Oakwood Ave. & St. Clair Ave. W
Carline King St. W. & Queen St. W.
February 2020
Kudos to Anne McL. and Bev S. for the great job they did in organizing the Silent Auction. To the membership: thanks for supporting CQ by bidding! Approximately $800 was raised – that will go along way in supplying batting for the many comfort and children’s quilts made by guild members.
Special thanks to the following for their assistance at the silent auction tables: Jan McG., Carol P., Joanne L., Kathy C., Brenda H., Del H., Susan G., Pat S. and for BJ R. who recruited these volunteers.
A new “International Sister Block” was introduced to members at the February meeting. Bev S. has prepared many block kits for members to take home to assemble. Members lined up to get the kits and instructions! The instructions will also be emailed to members, so they can make blocks from their own stash. Quilt tops will be assembled by the CQ groups from the completed blocks. Bev has promised to cut more kits for future meetings.
Members continue to support CQ by making quilt tops & finishing quilts : these gifts are gratefully received by the recipient organizations. This month, fifty quilts (21 adult and 30 children’s quilts) were delivered to Sojourn House (sojournhouse.org), whose mandate is to “provide Emergency Shelter and Transitional Housing services to newly arrived refugees coming from all parts of the world. We provide a safe place and an inclusive environment to people who have had the refugee experience.”
5 completed CQ quilt sandwiches were received this month, as well as 4 tops from CQ kits and 4 quilts from members’ own stashes.
A large fabric donation was made by Ludgera W. – CQ much appreciates this gift!
January 2020
Many thanks to those who created appliqued circle blocks at the January guild meeting. As well, many quilts and quit tops were received at the CQ table! For November and January, the grand totals are: 29 completed Community Quilt Sandwiches, 23 quilts from members’ own stashes, and 15 completed CQ quilt kit tops.
Each Christmas, Sistering help their patrons to celebrate the holiday season by hosting two dinner receptions. Prizes are raffled and YHQG quilts make up some of those prizes. The guild donates two sets of quilts (each consisting of an adult, child and baby quilt).
From the quilts received this month, two have been earmarked for just this purpose. Phoebe V. made a stunning red, pink and black quilt from her own stash and the other was a very large CQ sandwich that Bob G. quilted on his long arm.
Comfort Quilts for a new men’s residence
Sixteen striking quilts (60″ x 80″) were created by our members and donated to a new indigenous men’s residence that opened in late 2019 in Toronto. This is yet another example of our focus on reaching across societal boundaries to show we care.
See all the images here.
Community Quilting Annual Report: 2018-2019
The number of quilts made from CQ materials, or from members’ stashes, is the biggest factor in the success of this outreach program. A great big shout-out and thank you to all of the members who contribute their time, talent and material goods. An average of about 25-30 quilts are brought in each month. As they attend our monthly meetings, our members deliver completed quilts, quilted sandwiches, quilt tops and touch quilts for distribution to those in the wider community who need a helping hand (we call these “comfort quilts”). Total number of quilts this year? Somewhere between 200 and 225. Pretty impressive!
A selection of quilts are chosen and then offered to not-for-profit organizations to assist in their fundraising (we call them “auction quilts”).
Maintaining a list of recipient organizations for both the comfort quilts and auction quilts is an ongoing process. Comfort quilts have gone to Sistering, Humewood House, Nellie’s, Na-Me-Res, Winona’s Place and Dr. Roz’s Healing Place in past years. We have also given auction quilts to Wellspring and the Toronto Intergenerational Project.
We encourage our members to think about a favourite not-for-profit organization that might benefit from our creations, and submit the details to Wendy. A kids’ quilt or lap quilt is the kind of item that is offered for either silent or live fundraising auctions.
We have a special relationship with Sistering: for their two holiday parties for their clients, two sets of three quilts (for a Mom, a child & a baby) are supplied for their raffle. These have become much-prized items over the years.
In 2018, an appeal for kids quilts for Nonnina’s Table resulted in 65 beautiful quilts as well as donations of personal care products and some gently used baby clothes for the organization to put in their Holiday Baskets for families at risk. We are hoping to be able to supply a similar number of quilts to this worthy cause again this December.
At the February 2019 guild meeting, fussy-cut circles were prepared for members to appliqué onto bright coloured squares. Sufficient blocks were completed that night (and many more brought to subsequent meetings) to complete at least six quilt tops.
For the coming guild year, we have accepted a new challenge: a request for 16 quilts for a new Toronto Housing Project for indigenous men. This is a tangible way for our quilting community to begin the process of reconciliation with an aboriginal population. Bev will be designing and cutting kits for this project, to be available for members through the summer (contact Wendy) and at the September meeting. If you are interested in participating and want to use your own fabrics, please contact Wendy for the particulars regarding size and colour. It will be a tight turn-around, as we’d like to be able to deliver the quilts by the end of October, before the really cold weather returns!
November 2018 – Show & Share of some of the quilts received for donation
Oct 2018 Tables of quilt “sandwiches” for members to take home and quilt.
Guild members handing in quilts pieced and some waiting to be quilted,, all so lovingly put together for donations.
Here is an update by Wendy on the fabulous work our guild has been doing
Feb 2019 Report click here
Recent donations:
In May 2018 YHQG gave two quilts to a very grateful YWCA. Here is a photo of the quilts:
Sistering hosts two Holiday Parties for their clients and children. This is the fourth year that YHQG has given them two sets of three quilts (adult, child & baby) that are given out by a free raffle. They tell us that these quilts are prized by the recipients.
Quilts were made specifically for this donation by guild members Jacinta Bennell, Jane Cramer and Judy Messenger. The baby quilts were from CQ kits that members pieced and quilted. Here is a look at some of the quilts our guild donated:
The AWHL (Assaulted Women’s Helpline) held its 14th annual helpline gala Friday November 17th 2017 and they were very happy with the turnout. To maximize the proceeds from a quilt donated by YHQG, they used it in a raffle which ended up raising $458.00!!
They told us: “We are thrilled that the quilt brought in that much money, and we cannot thank the York Heritage Quilt Guild for their generous donation!”
In September 2017 our guild made a donation of 21 quilts to NaMeRes, a safe place for counselling and learning for men in the aboriginal community. Click here to see the thank-you email they sent.
In January 2017 YHQG donated 32 comfort quilts to Seven Oaks, a long-term care facility in Scarborough. Here is the thank-you they sent:
“I wanted to thank you and you members for the wonderful and very generous donation of the beautiful quilts. Our new residents are enjoying them as well we have displayed some on the walls of our 5 resident units and will be having quilt draws to raise money for resident programs.
On behalf of the residents of Seven Oaks we really cannot thank you enough.”
2015-2016 summary:
Guild members have been so generous with time, energy and supplies in creating quilts or using CQ kits and/or quilt sandwiches to make quilts to be donated….to Syrian newcomers, residents of Fort Mac or women in shelters. Bev Stevens has already started cutting new kits for members to piece for even more beautiful quilts for distribution next year!
The grand total for the quilt year 2016 is at least 68 quilts. The response by membership for quilts to be distributed to Syrian newcomers was remarkable. In April, it was announced that going forward, CQ would return to the usual distribution to shelters with about 30-35 held for further Syrian newcomers.
35 quilts were sent to Fort MacMurray via the Hobby Horse in Georgetown. This was just in time for the call for actual quilts (beyond the need for cash donations), when the residents were advised that the process for returning/rebuilding could start.
Here are some of the comfort quilts made recently by our guild members (click for larger view):
Community Outreach Weekly Meetings
A dedicated group of volunteers meet weekly on Mondays to coordinate the making of the quilts. These quilts are then donated to various charitable organizations across the GTA. The group meets on Mondays between the hours of 9:30am and 3:00pm at the Stan Wadlow Centre at 373 Cedarvale Avenue (map below). At present, we are at capacity for volunteer space here. However, we would love your help! Community Quilts has quilt top kits to be pieced and pre-sandwiched quilts to be quilted, and these are on offer at the CQ table at YHQG meetings. Take some home and work on them there… or you can donate a quilt made from your own materials if you wish. All sizes and styles welcome. Questions?Contact Wendy Dines for details.
Supplies to make the quilts come from bequests, individual members and businesses. Recently, CQ has made its extensive fabric stash available for purchase by the membership, and this fundraising initiative has been especially helpful with the purchase of batting.
Comfort quilts are distributed to organizations that provide emergency shelter or temporary residential facilities. Women’s shelters, shelters for new immigrants, nursing homes and the Linus project have all been beneficiaries of YHQG comfort quilts.
Is your group interested in receiving a quilt? If you would like more information on how to apply for and receive a YHQG community quilt for your fundraising project, please contact Wendy Dines.
A couple of years ago, guild member Nancy Webster started a quilting outreach project at Sanctuary. Here is a photo of some of the participants hand stitching on a ‘4-boards/4-clamps’ frame. This is their third group quilt in such a short time. What a wonderful way to bring quilting to a wider audience.
York Heritage Quilters Guild 