High School Outreach Program -- The Latest News
Scroll down for a history of this very successful program.
Request for fabric cuts for the School Outreach Kits
As mentioned at the recent Guild meeting, we have begun to create the High School Outreach quilt kits for next year. We will likely need 40-50 kits in the fall, and have some fabrics on hand. However, we are asking the membership to see if they may have some pieces in their stashes that they can contribute. Keep in mind that these will be NICU baby quilts and that we try to make the kits a pleasing project for the students and a keepsake for the babies - light, bright, fun! No flannel or plaids, thx!
The quilt requirements are as follows:
Sashing - 3 cuts of 3 1/2” x WOF (or one 11” x WOF piece)
Binding - 4 cuts of 1 3/4” x WOF (or one 7 1/2” x WOF piece)
Backing - 1 piece of 38” x 38”
Squares - 7” x 7” (10 needed per quilt, but any amt. appreciated!)
Rectangles - 7” x 3 3/4” (20 needed per quilt, but any amt. appreciated!)
The assembly of the kits will be an ongoing effort until the end of our year in May, and into the fall, so this is not a panic request. However, we hope you can keep us in mind as you work thru your projects and bring in fabrics along the way that could be of use to the Outreach!
Many thanks!
Heather McLeish
The pattern used for the Outreach is Beginner's Baby Quilt (Strips, Blocks #1). Click here for the pattern
As mentioned at the recent Guild meeting, we have begun to create the High School Outreach quilt kits for next year. We will likely need 40-50 kits in the fall, and have some fabrics on hand. However, we are asking the membership to see if they may have some pieces in their stashes that they can contribute. Keep in mind that these will be NICU baby quilts and that we try to make the kits a pleasing project for the students and a keepsake for the babies - light, bright, fun! No flannel or plaids, thx!
The quilt requirements are as follows:
Sashing - 3 cuts of 3 1/2” x WOF (or one 11” x WOF piece)
Binding - 4 cuts of 1 3/4” x WOF (or one 7 1/2” x WOF piece)
Backing - 1 piece of 38” x 38”
Squares - 7” x 7” (10 needed per quilt, but any amt. appreciated!)
Rectangles - 7” x 3 3/4” (20 needed per quilt, but any amt. appreciated!)
The assembly of the kits will be an ongoing effort until the end of our year in May, and into the fall, so this is not a panic request. However, we hope you can keep us in mind as you work thru your projects and bring in fabrics along the way that could be of use to the Outreach!
Many thanks!
Heather McLeish
The pattern used for the Outreach is Beginner's Baby Quilt (Strips, Blocks #1). Click here for the pattern
May 2023 Rutland Secondary SchoolEveryone agrees that the colors of the 2023 quilts were great!
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May 2022 Rutland Secondary School
Our members were delighted to work again with the students in their Home Ec. class. The students were provided with a kit to make a quilt for the NICU and members worked with the students over 4 sessions.
November 2019 Rutland Senior Secondary School
Rutland Sec. School Textiles 10 students made 15 quilts for the NICU.
We are already booked in for the Spring term 2020!!
Thanks to all our volunteers and Dorothy Northrup for organizing the program.
We are already booked in for the Spring term 2020!!
Thanks to all our volunteers and Dorothy Northrup for organizing the program.
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Lovely Thank You Note from the students!
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October 2019 Mount Boucherie School
The students at Mount Boucherie made quilts for the NICU. Thanks to Dorothy Northrup for organising such a wonderful program and thanks to all our volunteers.
Here is a wonderful letter from the teacher Mrs Geislinger:
"Once again the Orchard Valley Quilter's Guild wowed and inspired us with their beautiful examples of personal quilts. Each year I am impressed with the knowledge and kindness these lovely volunteers shower upon my students. The students love all the one on one instruction and time they get with the members. My students enjoy getting to know the guild members, learning how each member got into quilting, their approach to quilting and how they share their passion with others. Most of all the students find making the quilts to be calming and enjoy that they are giving back to their community in such a meaningful way, and I often hear students talk fondly about their quilting experience. Thank you again to the guild and the volunteers for sharing their time and passion."
Shawna Geistlinger
Mount Boucherie Secondary ~ Fashion & Sewing Program
Here is a wonderful letter from the teacher Mrs Geislinger:
"Once again the Orchard Valley Quilter's Guild wowed and inspired us with their beautiful examples of personal quilts. Each year I am impressed with the knowledge and kindness these lovely volunteers shower upon my students. The students love all the one on one instruction and time they get with the members. My students enjoy getting to know the guild members, learning how each member got into quilting, their approach to quilting and how they share their passion with others. Most of all the students find making the quilts to be calming and enjoy that they are giving back to their community in such a meaningful way, and I often hear students talk fondly about their quilting experience. Thank you again to the guild and the volunteers for sharing their time and passion."
Shawna Geistlinger
Mount Boucherie Secondary ~ Fashion & Sewing Program
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November 2018
The students at Rutland Secondary School made baby quilts. Thanks to all our volunteers! In the word of their teacher, "This year we had 16 students making quilts at RSS. A few of them had made one last year, but for the most part the students were brand new to quilting. They had a wonderful time learning from and working with the volunteers. This year was extra special as one of our staff member's grandsons received a blanket made by RSS students. Having someone so close to us receive our blankets really helped students feel like their work was making a difference for families. Thanks again to the wonderful volunteers for donating the time, skills and knowledge!" Thanks, Pamela Bruder Home Economics Rutland Sr. Secondary |
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November 2018
Students in our most recent session at Mount Boucherie Secondary School produced baby quilts. In the words of their teacher, As always it was such a delight to have the Orchard Valley Quilters Guild's outreach program come into to our Fashion and Sewing 9 class. The level of expertise, patience and creativity of its members is always admired and appreciated by myself and my students. This year was a truly a special year, as we had a neo-natal quilt recipient in the Fashion & Sewing 9 class and were able to connect the now 15 year old student and their mom with the maker of her quilt. It was a really special moment for both the quilter, the student and my class to see how cherished these quilts are by their recipients. The neo-natal quilt project is practical in skill development, meaningful to its real life application and charitable in that it gives back to the community. Many thanks for the many quilters who volunteer their time and energy into this beautiful project. ~ Shawna Geistlinger, MBSS, November 2018 Mount Boucherie Secondary ~ Fashion & Sewing Program Thank you to all the Outreach volunteers who did Show and Tell for the class and assisted in the completion of these wonderful donations. |
History of Our Outreach Program
Orchard Valley Quilters Guild Reaches Out to Local Students
In 2012, the organizing committee of our 30th Anniversary Quilt Show decided to do something daring and launched an Outreach Project to several local high schools. Not only did we want to look to our past of thirty years but we wanted to look to our future: the next generation of sewers. Our goal was to inspire young people to discover the joys of quilting while giving to the community.
Each year the OVQG gives hundreds of quilts to various organizations and groups within our city of Kelowna, BC. We felt the preemie quilts which we donate to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of our local regional hospital would be a perfect match for the students as the quilts are small and adaptable to simple patterns. We also believed that quilts for premature babies would appeal to the students.
The project required a lot of advance planning and preparation. Four months before the beginning of the first classes in the fall semester of 2011, contact was made with our school board to get permission to email the teachers in the high school about our idea. Eight schools were approached and five responded to our offer to provide all the materials and instruction to make a small quilt. Originally it was estimated that a total of 282 students would participate during two semesters of the 2011-2012 school year. We then decided that they would work in pairs to keep the supply list reasonable.
Letters were sent to all the quilt stores in the area for donations of fabric and they generously gave enough fabric for 150 quilts! Without the help of Cottage Quilting, Fabricland, Linda’s Quilt Shoppe and Tyjo’s , it would have been very difficult to meet this need. As it was, we decided to have a Christmas raffle to fund the cost of the batting. Usually the guild provides batting for donation quilts, but this year we also needed to give over 100 larger quilts to the Rotoplast Mission which provides pediatric plastic surgery to correct cleft palates in children from Central America.
Upon consultation with the school teachers, simple patterns were picked that required no matching of seams for the beginners, and more advanced patterns for the seniors. Lesson plans, instructions and quilt assembly diagrams were emailed for photocopying by the school. Then the guild formed quilt cutting bees where our members cut and packaged the kits into Ziploc bags. Although the students were paired for the quilts, each one of them also received a strip set to practise their quarter inch seams.
The teachers were very excited about the program and looked forward to the help and expertise of our guild members. There was a good mix of girls and boys in the classes with the boys surprising everyone with their work. Two guild volunteers were required for each course for a proposed 8 hours of classroom instruction. Although a few classes required more time, this proved to be a reasonable expectation in spite of some schools having a one-hour class and others having a two-hour class.
Learning outcomes were set as: able to sew a quarter inch seam, able to complete quilt within class time, basic understanding of importance of colour value, basic understanding of layout designs, and basic understanding of labelling. We also gave two small trunk shows: one at the beginning to whet their appetites and one at the end to inspire them to greater things.
Feedback from the students, the school teachers and our guild teachers indicate that the program was a success. Kudos go to the students and the teachers for supporting this project and a standing ovation goes to our members who taught them. We heard stories from the teachers about how some students have now chosen a quilt as their senior project for the year while others from different classes were heard saying they want to do a baby quilt too! One pastor from the Christian School brought the quilt his son received and pictures of his baby in the NICU. He told the students how they take that quilt everywhere with them and how much it means to his family. His speech had a real impact on the class.
The one student who stood out from the rest was 17 year old Keegan who has deaf blindness. Although he worked with a learning assistant, Keegan took the strip set scraps and made a split rail fence quilt which he sewed mostly by himself. With his quilt was the following inscription:
“This quilt was made by a grade 11 student at Rutland Senior. Keegan is a student with deaf blindness. He spent the first 3 years of his life in hospital and has had many surgeries and medical interventions over his school years. This young man has overcome many obstacles in his life and has many achievements to be proud of. May this quilt symbolize hope and encouragement to whomever is the recipient.”
A display of these quilts, with pictures of the process, was given a place of honour during our Flirty Thirties Quilt and Fibre Art Show in 2012.
The program was such a success that it has continued every year since. To date, several hundred preemie quilts, made by local high school students, have been donated to the NICU at Kelowna General Hospital. Parents of babies admitted to this unit are given a choice of quilts. That quilt serves to identify their baby's incubator at a glance and travels home with the family when the baby is discharged, becoming a special memory for the family.
The Orchard Valley Quilters Guild is pleased sponsor this Outreach Program and we encourage other guilds to teach the students in their communities about the timeless art of quilting. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and our guild can be proud of its work.
-- Article by Joan Lailey.
In 2012, the organizing committee of our 30th Anniversary Quilt Show decided to do something daring and launched an Outreach Project to several local high schools. Not only did we want to look to our past of thirty years but we wanted to look to our future: the next generation of sewers. Our goal was to inspire young people to discover the joys of quilting while giving to the community.
Each year the OVQG gives hundreds of quilts to various organizations and groups within our city of Kelowna, BC. We felt the preemie quilts which we donate to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of our local regional hospital would be a perfect match for the students as the quilts are small and adaptable to simple patterns. We also believed that quilts for premature babies would appeal to the students.
The project required a lot of advance planning and preparation. Four months before the beginning of the first classes in the fall semester of 2011, contact was made with our school board to get permission to email the teachers in the high school about our idea. Eight schools were approached and five responded to our offer to provide all the materials and instruction to make a small quilt. Originally it was estimated that a total of 282 students would participate during two semesters of the 2011-2012 school year. We then decided that they would work in pairs to keep the supply list reasonable.
Letters were sent to all the quilt stores in the area for donations of fabric and they generously gave enough fabric for 150 quilts! Without the help of Cottage Quilting, Fabricland, Linda’s Quilt Shoppe and Tyjo’s , it would have been very difficult to meet this need. As it was, we decided to have a Christmas raffle to fund the cost of the batting. Usually the guild provides batting for donation quilts, but this year we also needed to give over 100 larger quilts to the Rotoplast Mission which provides pediatric plastic surgery to correct cleft palates in children from Central America.
Upon consultation with the school teachers, simple patterns were picked that required no matching of seams for the beginners, and more advanced patterns for the seniors. Lesson plans, instructions and quilt assembly diagrams were emailed for photocopying by the school. Then the guild formed quilt cutting bees where our members cut and packaged the kits into Ziploc bags. Although the students were paired for the quilts, each one of them also received a strip set to practise their quarter inch seams.
The teachers were very excited about the program and looked forward to the help and expertise of our guild members. There was a good mix of girls and boys in the classes with the boys surprising everyone with their work. Two guild volunteers were required for each course for a proposed 8 hours of classroom instruction. Although a few classes required more time, this proved to be a reasonable expectation in spite of some schools having a one-hour class and others having a two-hour class.
Learning outcomes were set as: able to sew a quarter inch seam, able to complete quilt within class time, basic understanding of importance of colour value, basic understanding of layout designs, and basic understanding of labelling. We also gave two small trunk shows: one at the beginning to whet their appetites and one at the end to inspire them to greater things.
Feedback from the students, the school teachers and our guild teachers indicate that the program was a success. Kudos go to the students and the teachers for supporting this project and a standing ovation goes to our members who taught them. We heard stories from the teachers about how some students have now chosen a quilt as their senior project for the year while others from different classes were heard saying they want to do a baby quilt too! One pastor from the Christian School brought the quilt his son received and pictures of his baby in the NICU. He told the students how they take that quilt everywhere with them and how much it means to his family. His speech had a real impact on the class.
The one student who stood out from the rest was 17 year old Keegan who has deaf blindness. Although he worked with a learning assistant, Keegan took the strip set scraps and made a split rail fence quilt which he sewed mostly by himself. With his quilt was the following inscription:
“This quilt was made by a grade 11 student at Rutland Senior. Keegan is a student with deaf blindness. He spent the first 3 years of his life in hospital and has had many surgeries and medical interventions over his school years. This young man has overcome many obstacles in his life and has many achievements to be proud of. May this quilt symbolize hope and encouragement to whomever is the recipient.”
A display of these quilts, with pictures of the process, was given a place of honour during our Flirty Thirties Quilt and Fibre Art Show in 2012.
The program was such a success that it has continued every year since. To date, several hundred preemie quilts, made by local high school students, have been donated to the NICU at Kelowna General Hospital. Parents of babies admitted to this unit are given a choice of quilts. That quilt serves to identify their baby's incubator at a glance and travels home with the family when the baby is discharged, becoming a special memory for the family.
The Orchard Valley Quilters Guild is pleased sponsor this Outreach Program and we encourage other guilds to teach the students in their communities about the timeless art of quilting. They say it takes a village to raise a child, and our guild can be proud of its work.
-- Article by Joan Lailey.