Project Linus - Seattle/King County

Reminder - Our next workshop is tomorrow 10:30am - 2pm.

Upcoming workshops:

September 20, 2025
October 18, 2025
November 15, 2025
NO workshop December 2025
January 17, 2026
February 21, 2026
March 21, 2026
April 18, 2026
May 16, 2026
July 18, 2026
August 15, 2026
September 19, 2026
October 24, 2026
November 21, 2026

Quilt top donation guidelines

We love when people donate quilt tops! We have several volunteer quilters who are happy to give their time and talents to get them quilted. However, we are currently getting more quilt tops donated than we have the capacity to process in a timely manner. We really want to see your quilts get finished, and not be lingering in a bin for too long.

To speed things up, we’d like to encourage people to make their tops in a way that lets us take advantage of a charity quilting program at APQS Northwest (in Issaquah).

If you aren’t familiar with APQS NW, it’s a wonderful shop that sells longarm quilting machines and full-service custom quilting. You can also rent time on their machines to quilt your own quilts, and they will help you learn every step of the way. But for Project Linus, the best thing about APQS is that they will take our quilt tops and use them as practice pieces to help teach people how to quilt using their machines. They even provide the batting for FREE. It is a wonderful program, and we’d like to use it more. But it’s important that we only send them well-sewn quilt tops that will be easy for new quilters to practice on.

*The optimal size is around 40”x50” to 45”x60”. A practice quilt should be easy to handle, but big enough for the Project Linus requirements (at least 36”x36”). - Only use quilting cotton. Do not use flannel, or any other fabric. It’s even best if you don’t mix regular cotton with batik. Scrappy is fine, but you want the fabric to all be about the same thread count, so that it doesn’t cause tension issues with the quilting machines.

*No bulky seams. This means definitely no pinwheels or foundation-pieced string quilts, or any other design where multiple seams meet. Remember to nest seams at intersections when you can, to make them less bulky. Bulky seams can be tricky with the machines, and new quilters don’t need to deal with that when they are learning.

*Iron and inspect the quilt top thoroughly. After you’re done piecing the top, iron from the front side and make sure the whole quilt is as flat as possible. Check for stray pins, and double-check that you don’t have any open seams or trapped threads coming out. Threads and open seams are bad in general, but they can also catch the foot of the quilting machine and cause problems.

*Trim the outer edges if needed. It’s okay if your top isn’t completely perfectly straight on the edges. But if some parts are wildly uneven, go ahead and trim them. - Check all seams on the edge of the quilt. Make sure the seams are stable and will not pop open. The best way is to sew a ⅛” stay-stitch along the edges of the quilt. Your quilt tops will get handled a lot as we process them, and a stay-stitch around the edge will make them easier to handle and prevent seams from popping open.

*Package them nicely. Measure the quilt top dimensions (width x length) in inches. Fold the top in a way that minimizes folding right along a seam, so that the quilter doesn’t need to re-iron the top. Write the dimensions on a label (like a post-it note), and attach the label to the top with a safety pin (not a straight pin).

*(optional) If you include a back for your quilt, it should also be made with care. The top should be clean quilting cotton or flannel. Its dimensions should be at least 8” longer and 8” wider than the quilt top. If you make a back by sewing together two pieces of full-width fabric, you should trim the selvages along the seam, but leave the selvages on along the top/bottom edge. Leaving the selvages on makes it easier for the quilter to pin the back to the quilting machine rollers. The back should be ironed and folded nicely, and included with the quilt top.

Thank you!

Hello Blanketeers,

Our next workshop is scheduled for Saturday May 17, 2025, from 10:30am to 2:00pm, at Green Acres Park, 23825 15th Ave. SE, Bothell. Take the second entrance in the park, go straight, see the office sign. Parking is available by the trees and in the lot.

We will have irons, ironing boards, cutting mats, batting and kits available. As well as lots of wonderful fabrics for you to sort through. As a reminder, we have limited storage for fabric and are now to a point where we are doing a clean out. If you see something you like, grab it! Don't count on it being available at an upcoming workshop because it is likely it won't be.

Please bring your completed blankets to the workshop for Leslie to pick up. If your blankets are not bagged, we can do that at the workshop as well.

The upcoming workshop dates are listed below. Please note that due to a conflict with room availability, the June workshop has been cancelled.

Looking forward to seeing you Saturday.

Upcoming workshops:

NO workshop June 2025
July 19, 2025
August 16, 2025
September 20, 2025
October 18, 2025
November 15, 2025
NO workshop December 2025