St. Louis Modern Quilt Guild - Charitable Activities (2024)

The STLMQG believes that it's very important to give back to our local and global communities and that, as quilters, we have a unique opportunity to do so.

This page will be updated to include links to present and past activities.
Thanks for visiting!

Results of the 2024 Keyway Center Charity Drive

On December 5, 2024, members of the Charity Committee delivered the results of this year's drive. They delivered 75 tote bags, 46 zippered pouches or bags, 26 quilts and 5 pillowcases. They also delivered personal care items for the residents use which are detailed in this file. Following are pictures from the delivery. Featured in the photos are members of the charity committee plus Tabitha, a Keyway Center program participant who graduated from the pilot Sew Hope apprenticeship program only one month ago. She proudly showed the committee her own beautiful first quilt! Click on photo to enlarge.

Also included are photos from Keyway's holiday party. They gave us permission to upload those pictures too. Looks like they had fun.

Thanks to everyone that contributed!

2024 Tote Bags for Keyway Center Residents

Our 2024 STLMQG Charity Project is making tote bags for the residents of the Keyway Center for Diversion and Reentry (originally called the Center for Women in Transition). We will have a representative from this organization at a future meeting so that we can learn more about their work. The facility houses up to 65 women so we're looking to have that many done to present to them.

November will be the last month to collect the finished totes.

Project Details - Tote Bags

Tote bags should have a closure and the straps should be long enough to go over the shoulder or crossbody.
Any pattern is fine. We've included a couple of sites for patterns in case you need one.
Make sure to add a STLMQG label. There will always be a members of the committee at meetings who will have the labels availble.
They will also accept quilts if members want to make them.
We're also looking for donated personal items to add to the bags. These along with the totes will be collected at each meeting.
Any fabric is fine.

Example Patterns

2023 LAP QUILTS & WHEELCHAIR QUILTS FOR SENIORS

This year we’re making quilts for residents in three of our neediest long-term care facilities; Blue Circle (St Louis City), Green Park ( St Louis county) and Frontier (ST Charles county). The extra warmth and comfort of either will touch resident’s lives every day. Quilt labels can be picked up through October and quilts can be turned in through November.

Our project this year also gives you the freedom to use patterns and techniques you enjoy – so please have fun! The pattern includes a lot of information about materials and options. You do you – we’re just sharing information to act as springboard for your creations. Because this is such a simple project, it’s the perfect place to try out or practice techniques you may not be as comfortable with. Over the course of the year we’ll be adding videos and handouts to help you along.

Thank you in advance for all your support. Being part of a group whose members care so much is truly an honor.

Thanks a million!

2023 Charity Committee

PDF pattern

Simple Applique

There are so many different techniques for adding applique to a quilt. This is a raw edge, no fusible technique. Simply transfer the design to fabric, sew on background and cut fabric.

Templates

You can freehand or trace any design you choose. We’ve included some templates you can print at home. We’ll also have these templates and paper available for you to trace at our monthly meetings.

Templates Thumbnails File - Full Templates - Baseball - Car Front - Featherweight - Car Side - Football - Hearts -

Flowers - Watering Can - Tools

Applique

Templates can be cut out and traced, perforated and pounced or sewn through. Applique can be made from a single fabric or multiple fabrics. We’ll be adding videos of different ways you can use your template.

Quick Guide/links

Sewing

You can sew simple applique using a regular stitch – but free motion sewing is so much easier and faster! We’re using larger templates for this project so it is a perfect chance to learn or practice free motion. If you are new to or struggle with the technique, please watch our video and reach out for help!

Quilting

These smaller quilts are ideal for domestic machine quilting.

Marking

We’ll be adding a video and simple handout for marking quilt lines using a ruler or painter’s tape.

Using a walking foot is a game changer when quilting. If you haven’t tried yours, check this video out.

The Awesome Walking Foot

Binding

There are several ways to finish quilt edges. We’ll share videos and simple handouts for a couple of the

possibilities.

Double-fold Machine Binding

Video 1 - Making a Binding Strip

Video 2 - Continuous Bias Binding