Quilters are notorious for finding charity projects. Many individual quilters, quilt clubs and guilds provide hours creating incredible quilts for infants, shelters, children in foster care, veterans, and families in need to mention just a few. I would like to add animal shelters to the list.

Last month I told you about the quilt I was making as a fundraiser for a local no-kill shelter run by The Morgan County Humane Society in West Virginia. It’s finally completed and delivered and I know they’ll find ways to use it to raise funds for their continued good works.

I would like to encourage you to contact facilities in our neighborhood about the possibility of making a quilt as a fundraiser. These folks are providing essential services to abandoned and at-risk animals who are totally dependent on humans for their care. Many facilities are run on limited funds and with the help of volunteers. This is a place quilters can make a difference.

I constructed the dog houses and their backgrounds first, then machine appliqued animals from fabric that was covered with a variety of dogs and another featuring cats. As you can see, this is a simple pattern…some with roofs and some without. I used sashing but you can draft your own pattern and put them together any way you like.

Here is a quilt I made a few years ago for a rescue organization in North Carolina. They were able to add a new roof to their facility with the funds raised by raffling this quilt:

And if you aren’t a quilter, but involved in some other craft, the organizations have a variety of fundraising activities and many items can be used for silent auctions, for example. And, of course, there’s always cash contributions!!

One of the books in my Quilting Cozy series, The Rescue Quilt, tells the story of Sophie rescuing her first dog and her experiences while working in the animal rescue system. She was amazed to see rescued pets being delivered by car and by volunteer pilots from one part of the country to another. Of course there was lots of quilting in the book along with a crime to be solved by Sophie, Sarah, and all their cohorts.

The Rescue Quilt: a quilting cozy by Carol Dean Jones is available on Amazon in both print and kindle version. Although it can certainly stand alone, the series is best read from the beginning in order to follow the backstory.

Please leave your comments below. I enjoy hearing from you and having this be a two-way communication. I respond to all comments! Best wishes to all.

I look forward to hearing from you.