Quilts4U Distinctive Creations for Special Kids

The beginning of Quilts For Special Kids

Years ago I began building a stash of conversation prints to make some quilts for kids, no one's kids in particular. I mainly enjoyed choosing the wonderful fabrics available for kids' sewing projects. Then I did nothing with this humongous hoard. Why my ideas got stalled I don't know. I finally found that inspiration again on a visit with my mother, Ruth. She never stops making knitted and quilted items for various charities. That's when I began to design and create quilts that are attractive to kids, rugged, stimulating to design and fun to sew. These quilts are social and interactive, designed to stimulate games such as I Spy. Some kids quilts I give away, others I have here for sale.

Over 60 kids quilts have so far emerged from that stash. Some of my hand dyed cotton finds its way into the children's quilts. I like my kids's quilts to have visual impact. By sticking to primaries (no dull colors), anything works with everything.

Pre-cutting patches

The first thing I did was sort through the conversation prints and other suitable prints I had so I could pre-cut squares of different sizes from the uneven remnants. The smallest bits were set aside. Now I had boxes of squares measuring 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5 inches. I was thinking ahead to the machine quilting stage - the correct distance between quilting ensures the quilt lies flat and is properly secured. I usually do "stitch in the ditch" quilting, referred to in the catalog as linear style quilting.

The design wall

It lets me audition patches for color, size, areas of interest etc. It's a very large piece of flannel I hang on the wall of my sewing room, where it's possible to attach fabric patches being considered for a project. This example of an "offset" designed lap quilt grew round by round from the centre outwards. In this case, a design wall is a must to plan each step in the process. Having pre-cut patches lets me play around, looking for an arrangement that is effective. I like this spontaneity.

Using up scrappy bits

I sort and store the smallest scraps by color. In between my quilting projects, I am always sewing the stash of scrappy bits together into roughly 6 inch bands. Odd triangles, off grain strips, just about any scrap at least 1 inch wide can be used. The process begins by speed piecing a continuous string of two scraps sewn together. These I snip apart, iron the seams to one side and sort into two piles.

Making scrappy bands/borders

One of the piles is scrappy 6 inches high pieces. I can make the bands any width I need. Then I join up more and more pairings and repeat the process. See the teal quilt example, left, of a long scrappy band set on the diagonal.

Making scrappy blocks

The other pile of pieces will need some more scraps added to make it grow into a larger block. A 5 by 5 inch block is a versatile size. These blocks get squared up to 4.5x4.5 inches and then are ready for a future project where the finished block will be 4x4 inches. The quilt above has scrappy blocks using hand dyed remnants.

Materials used

In all my sewing projects, I use best quality cotton and sewing thread. A Quilts For Special Kids quilt will last many years, through lot of tugging and loving and multiple washes. While the cotton fabric in a true quilt shop may look the same as lower priced cotton found at major retailers, these latter fabrics are not the same quality. Cutting costs by using inferior products is false economy in my opinion.

What makes Quilts for Special Kids so special and distinctive?

These quilts are made in the belief that they will bring pleasure to another person. These quilts are created for the satisfaction of making something new and different and personal and beautiful that will be shared with another person. The kids quilts were invented for young children to discover connections through language development.
I SPY - what a great game! Anyone can play it.

Quilts with quality

Buying a quilt from Quilts for Special Kids is buying 100% quilt shop quality cotton, (maybe a silk patch or two) hand crafted, precision pieced, color balanced, thematic, made for a purpose. Sometimes hand dyed cottons are selectively used, fabric that has been dyed by myself, the quilt artist.

You are not getting a mass produced off shore product. No two quilts from Quilts for Special Kids are ever alike or even offered in different shades of the same design. There is no same design. There is no polyester. The quilting threads are usually cotton. Two quilts in the Traditional  Quilt Collection are  different. one, Harlequin, is finely hand quilted with silk thread and another one, Friendship, is quilted with yarn for that primitive look that is so popular right now.

So having one of our quilts is interesting and worthwhile too.

Delight your child with an unusual hand made kids quilt. Allow your child to share the gift of a quilt with another child for birthdays and special occasions. Quilts for Special Kids hopes this message has built up some desire on your part to choose a kids quilt, and that you recognize the multitude of values there are in purchasing one of our quilts. Take a look at the Contemporary Quilt Art Gallery. See sidebar link.

We respect what we do. Actually we love making beautiful quilts. We invite you to explore the quilt galleries.

The quilt design influences the price

Every quilt in the Children's Quilt Gallery is an original design I created. Designing can be fairly quick or make take quite a few hours. It takes time to plan which fabric should be used where and how much of each fabric is needed. The more intricate the design, the smaller the size of the patches. Lots of small pieces involves more cutting and sewing back together, so naturally a lot time is spent pinning and sewing. You may notice that a few of the children's quits do have a similar look, the reason being I wanted to make some quilts more quickly in a lower price range.

Another fact that influences the pricing is the quilt's size. I like quilts to be a generous size. A larger quilt sits quite attractively when arranged diagonally on a bed as a topper. And when you and your child want to wrap up together to read a story, or cuddle in front of the fireplace, or cover a sleeping child in the back seat of the car, a larger quilt is more suitable. Using more material does influence the price. Most people are surprised to learn how much fabric is required for the backing piece alone. They are very surprised to learn considerably more fabric is needed to create the quilt top.

Why is so much extra fabric required? Pre washing cotton is a necessity, and it causes approximately 4% shrinkage of the fibres. Sewing the quilting lines causes any quilt to "pull in", and then it becomes a little smaller. Both these factors mean that the unfinished quilt top must be made larger to compensate. Again it takes more fabric. Most quilters allow a minimum of 2 inches extra backing fabric all around the quilt for the handling of the work in the sewing machine during the quilting stage. It's also insurance to allow for possible "squaring up" the quilt sandwich just before applying the finishing binding. The quantity of binding fabric alone is typically half a yard and so binding fabric must also be added to the quantity calculations.

Quality products cost extra. Quilt shop prices for printed fabric are rarely less than $9-10 per yard. I do purchase the batting in bulk rolls of 200 yards, and this savings is factored in to the quilt price. Quality all-cotton thread also comes at a price. There are no synthetic threads or fabrics in any of the Quilts For Special Kids quilt collection.