GENESEE VALLEY QUILT CLUB
Rochester, NY
GVQC Community Service
GVQC community service reflects the needs of the time and has a long history of providing handmade goods to those in need. From the original intent of the club to inspire others to make better quilts, to making donations to relief agencies in Britain, Russia and the Red Cross during WWII, the club continues this tradition of giving today through its Love and Comfort Quilt Project, Fidget Quilts and other community service projects.
In 2003, the club created a formal committee to manage the projects that were being done by the membership and donated to those in need.
Love and Comfort Quilt Project
Club members make quilts by the hundreds each year to donate to local agencies for donation to those in need. Club members may make quilts from their “stash” or from the kits that are assembled by the LACQ Project Committee from the stash of fabric that has been donated to the club for this project. The assembled kits include all of the patches for the quilt top, strips for borders and binding, and sometimes backing. Backing can also be selected from the assortment of large cuts of fabric. At the monthly meeting, quilts are turned in at the Comfort Quilt table, as well as kits signed out. Some quilts are quilted by the maker, others are turned in and quilted by other club members. The LACQ Project Committee receives written requests from club members to donate these quilts to various charities, veteran’s organizations, and other organizations with outreach to those in need in the Rochester and Genesee Valley region. During the 2021-2022 club year, 431 quilts were turned in and distributed.
Fidget Quilts
In 2017 GVQC extended their comfort to those with dementia, Alzheimer’s, and autism by making fidget quilts. These little quilts, about the size of a fat quarter, are tactile, made with different textures of fabrics and embellished with a pocket, zipper, rickrack, and other items to keep fidgety hands busy. Requests for donations of fidget quilts are made through a GVQC member.
Draw String Bags for P.A.D.
In 2017 GVQC approved a new club activity making 10” x 13” drawstring bags for P.A.D., a community project that provides personal menstrual supplies to women in need. The drawstring bags are given to several organizations in Rochester who work with women who have need for such items. This project is currently looking for a coordinator.
Opportunity Quilt Proceeds Donated to Charity
Every two years the club makes an Opportunity Quilt selling raffle tickets with the winning ticket pulled the last day of the biennial Genesee Valley QuiltFest quilt show. A committee either designs or chooses the quilt, selects the fabric, and prepares block kits that members sign out and assemble. The quilt top is sewn together by committee members and is quilted by one of the club members. The club chooses a charity to benefit from the proceeds of the ticket sales. Previous recipients of Raffle Quilt proceeds have been Guilda’s Club (2011), Sojourner House, Compeer (2013), Lap Robes for Veterans (2015), Finger Lakes Quilts of Valor (2017), SewGreen@Rochester and Experience Fiber Arts (2019), and Finger Lakes Quilts of Valor (2022). Photo is of the 2022 Opportunity Quilt.
Previous GVQC Projects
In 2009 club members and attendees at the 2009 quilt show made over 1600 custom pillowcases that were donated to eight charities around the Rochester and Canandaigua area. GVQC has helped other community minded organizations. In 2009 Compeer Inc, an international, non-profit organization that helps adults and children overcome the devastating effects of mental illness received a generous check along with materials for its Quilt Workshop. A few of the organizations that have received donations are Arts & Cultural Council of Rochester which usedthe funds to create The Fiber Arts Program grant, Guilda’s Club, and Building Community Through Quilting. Beginning in 2017 the club helped to promote the Susan B. Anthony 2020 Quilt Project. Looking forward to 2020, the Centennial Anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution that granted women the right to vote, the Susan B. Anthony House sponsored the creation of a “collaborative textile art that honors women’s history, particularly in relation to the woman’s suffrage movement and the people, places, events, and issues that are related to it.” Many GVQC members participated in this project by making one or more "quilt" blocks.