Outreach
The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild has a strong history in supporting the greater Orlando community through outreach programs.
2026 Featured Program: Winnie Palmer
The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild is providing quilts to be gifted to long-term patients and those transitioning to hospice care.
2026 Featured Program: House Next Door in DeLand
The Orlando Modern Quilt Guild also is providing quilts to the House Next Door to be used in their counseling or therapy with children and adolescents who are victims of abuse.
Quilt kits containing quilt tops, batting and backing will be available at monthly guild meetings. Binding is optional as several members have volunteered to bind quilted tops. Feel free to pick a kit up and complete it.
Ongoing Community Outreach Projects
We have several projects that carry from year to year - there is no shortage of ways to get involved!
Placemats for Meals on Wheels
Orlando MQG is continuing to make placemats that are donated to Seniors First and distributed to its Meals on Wheels clients on their birthdays. Batting rectangles for making placemats are available at meetings for members to take home and make placemats. Members can also bring usable size batting scraps to meetings, and a member will sew them together into placemat size pieces for future pick-up. Approximately 12 X 18, as close as pattern allows.
Charity Quilt Take-Home Kits
Orlando MQG members are encouraged to donate both quilt tops as well as finished quilts for our outreach partners. The recommended size is lap size, and a minimum 40”x 50” is strongly suggested. Quilt kits containing quilt tops, batting and backing will be available at monthly guild meetings. Binding is optional as several members have
volunteered to bind quilted tops. Feel free to pick a kit up and
complete it.
Pillowcases
Orlando MQG is currently accepting pillowcases that will be donated to the Orlando Union Rescue Mission which offers services to help the homeless get back on their feet. Instructions for making “burrito-style pillowcases” and other methods are available online, and any sewing method is acceptable.
Taggies
Taggies help the babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Winnie Palmer Hospital bond with their parents by familiarizing them with the parents’ scent. Taggies go home with the babies when they leave the hospital. Kits containing flannel and ribbon, as well as sewing instructions, are available for members to pick up at guild meetings. Should you wish to provide your own flannel and ribbons instead of the kits which are provided, please follow the link below for instructions.
Fabric Drawstring Bags
Guild members also should feel free to continue to sew fabric drawstring bags. These are donated to Legal Aid and then provided to adolescents aging out of foster care to allow them to keep their possessions in something nicer than a plastic garbage bag. Should you wish to sew these, a variety of instructions for bags can be found on the internet.
Special Community Outreach Quilts
Groups of Orlando MQG members work together to make two additional quilts
each year that are donated to local non-profit organizations to assist them in their fundraising efforts as part of an auction or a raffle. Guild members are invited to nominate charities to be considered for this, and then the guild board makes the final decision about what organizations are selected.
One of these special quilts is our QuiltCon quilt. Our national organization, the
Modern Quilt Guild (MQG), has a very large and popular yearly convention called QuiltCon which typically is held in February. Our guild, as well as other local guilds across the country, make quilts which are exhibited there. The MQG establishes very detailed guidelines for the QuiltCon quilts, for example, theme, size, and fabric colors; these are usually posted on their website in May or June. A specific timeline of due dates for each guild’s QuiltCon quilt also is posted; critical dates are when the quilt must be registered with the MQG (October), when a photo of the completed quilt top must be submitted (December), and when the completed quilt must be mailed (January). The committee co-chairs for our 2026-27 QuiltCon quilt are guild members Karol Evans and Love Sullivan, and they will coordinate volunteers and update information about it at future guild meetings and in the monthly Orlando MQG newsletter.
A second special quilt which Orlando MQG members make is the Festival of Trees (FOT) quilt. The annual FOT at the Orlando Museum of Art, presented by the Council of 101, runs from November 14-22, 2026, showcasing designer-decorated trees, gingerbread houses, wreaths and a variety of other holiday activities. Orlando MQG has been donating a holiday-themed quilt to the annual FOT raffle for more than 10 years; traditionally this quilt raises significant funds for the museum. This year Orlando MQG member Ashley Gottshalk is chairing the project and will provide additional information at future general meetings and in the monthly Orlando MQG newsletter. Based on previous Orlando MQG FOT quilt donations, the quilt has to be ready by the beginning of November. The steps in producing it are design selection, piecing the blocks, assembling the quilt top, quilting and binding.