September 2020's Speaker: Maggie Lloyd-Jones: Quilts for Care Leavers (Q4CL)
As LQ’s first virtual speaker, Maggie Lloyd-Jones spoke to us about a group which she started and has been running since 2018, Quilts for Care Leavers (Q4CL). Q4CL gives quilts to young care leavers who come to The Christmas Dinners. This is an annual project founded by the poet Lemn Sissay MBE for communities around the country to provide a Christmas Day for care leavers aged between 16 and 25. Sissay is himself a care leaver, and remembers the pain of having no one to spend Christmas with.
Anita O’Brien introduced the charity briefly earlier this summer and has encouraged us to make blocks which she is putting together into quilts for the charity. Since the project started LQ members have continued to send in blocks, so it is hoped that the project will continue into 2021.
Anita O’Brien introduced the charity briefly earlier this summer and has encouraged us to make blocks which she is putting together into quilts for the charity. Since the project started LQ members have continued to send in blocks, so it is hoped that the project will continue into 2021.
Who is a Care Leaver? Over 10,000 young people leave care every year. They range in age from 16 to 25 and have been in some form of care since at least the age of 14. Maggie formed Q4CL in 2018 after having worked with many care leavers in her role as a solicitor. She had been involved in helping with the dinners in Leeds for several years. Then in 2018 she remembers watching a programme about Sissay and his experience in care. ‘He said that when he was 12 and was placed in a children’s home, all he wanted was a hug. I had a Eureka moment.’ Maggie thought that perhaps a quilt could serve the purpose and set up two Facebook pages, Quilts for Christmas Dinners and Quilts for Care Leaver Makers.
Young people are able to make very few choices; care leavers are able to make even fewer, having fewer options. So Maggie ensures that young people get to choose their quilt from an array. She arranges for a selection of quilts to be taken to every annual Christmas Dinner and the young people are able to ‘try on’ the quilt ‘hugs’. They aren’t obliged to take one – a few don’t, but they have the choice. The quilts are long and thin and are designed to wrap around sideways to provide a comforting ‘quilty hug’. They may be used as bed quilts, but that is not their primary purpose.
Young people are able to make very few choices; care leavers are able to make even fewer, having fewer options. So Maggie ensures that young people get to choose their quilt from an array. She arranges for a selection of quilts to be taken to every annual Christmas Dinner and the young people are able to ‘try on’ the quilt ‘hugs’. They aren’t obliged to take one – a few don’t, but they have the choice. The quilts are long and thin and are designed to wrap around sideways to provide a comforting ‘quilty hug’. They may be used as bed quilts, but that is not their primary purpose.
In 2018, Maggie had almost 120 quilts to deliver; in 2019, that number swelled to nearly 1000. The quilts were given at dinners at centres as far north as Glasgow and as far south as Jersey. Quilts for Care Leavers is national, with Scotland having its own chapter (Who Cares Scotland). Q4CL works closely with Project Linus UK to also provide quilts for the children of care leavers.
The dinners are planned in September and this year it is hoped to have dinners in several London boroughs including Hackney and Richmond. In light of Covid-19 restrictions it may be that dinners have to be delivered to the young people at home and they may have to select their quilt from images on a tablet rather than in person, but the show will go on.
The dinners are planned in September and this year it is hoped to have dinners in several London boroughs including Hackney and Richmond. In light of Covid-19 restrictions it may be that dinners have to be delivered to the young people at home and they may have to select their quilt from images on a tablet rather than in person, but the show will go on.
Maggie talked about the impact the quilts have had on people’s lives, not only on the care leavers but also on quilters themselves. The project has inspired some sewers to pick up their needles again and given many quilters an outlet for their talents.
As mentioned above, Anita of our LQ group is collecting quilt blocks (see below for details) made traditionally or from scraps to be put into quilts which will ultimately be distributed to centres around the country. The blocks should be 8½” (8” finished) square. There are more boys than girls leaving care, so although colours and designs traditionally for girls are appreciated, more traditionally ‘masculine’ colours are needed as well. If you are feeling more adventurous, Maggie is also collecting Morsbags so that the young people can take their quilt away in something other than a plastic carrier bag.
As mentioned above, Anita of our LQ group is collecting quilt blocks (see below for details) made traditionally or from scraps to be put into quilts which will ultimately be distributed to centres around the country. The blocks should be 8½” (8” finished) square. There are more boys than girls leaving care, so although colours and designs traditionally for girls are appreciated, more traditionally ‘masculine’ colours are needed as well. If you are feeling more adventurous, Maggie is also collecting Morsbags so that the young people can take their quilt away in something other than a plastic carrier bag.
There is also the opportunity to clear out your stash by sending it to a sub-group, Fabric Friends. They undertake to distribute the fabric to a Q4CL community who are making blocks and quilts. The recipient pays only for the cost of the postage.
For those who are interested in supporting Q4CL but are no longer sewing, they gratefully take donations to buy wadding and backing.
If you’d like more information, you can read about Q4CL on their Facebook page with this link:
www.facebook.com/QuiltsforCareLeavers
A website is under construction.
Hopefully you will have been inspired by Maggie’s talk or this short review to make some blocks. Anita O’Brien is coordinating the project; her email address is anita.obrien@sky.com . It is never too late to send blocks as they can be included in quilts for the 2021 dinner.
All images above are the quilts which have been made so far from blocks made by London Quilters.
Key information for quilters planning to contribute to Quilts for Care Leavers:
Maximum - 50 inches wide x 72 inches long
Patricia Herbig and Anita O’Brien
For those who are interested in supporting Q4CL but are no longer sewing, they gratefully take donations to buy wadding and backing.
If you’d like more information, you can read about Q4CL on their Facebook page with this link:
www.facebook.com/QuiltsforCareLeavers
A website is under construction.
Hopefully you will have been inspired by Maggie’s talk or this short review to make some blocks. Anita O’Brien is coordinating the project; her email address is anita.obrien@sky.com . It is never too late to send blocks as they can be included in quilts for the 2021 dinner.
All images above are the quilts which have been made so far from blocks made by London Quilters.
Key information for quilters planning to contribute to Quilts for Care Leavers:
- Block size for London Quilters' blocks: 8½ inches (8 inches finished block)
- Fabric: No restriction on colour or pattern, but please remember that more male than female care leavers attend the dinners. It is best to avoid the use of licensed fabrics.
- Quilt sizes:
Maximum - 50 inches wide x 72 inches long
- Wadding: Quilters are free to use any type of wadding they wish. They may also use fleece instead of wadding if they wish.
- Deadline: Finished quilts are required by early November.
- Label and tag: Every quilt must have a special Q4CL label attached. When you finish a quilt, please send an image to Anita O’Brien who will order the label/s and star tag on which you can write a short message and sign with your first name only.
- Bags: Q4CL aims to avoid plastic and ensure that every quilt will be given in a fabric Morsbag. Bags need to be big enough to contain a quilt and should ideally have boxed bottoms. Morsbag labels are also available from Anita. Details of how to make the bag can be found here.
- morsbags.com/get-involved/pattern-download-links/video
Patricia Herbig and Anita O’Brien
Quilts for Care Leavers
Lemn Sissay is a poet and writer who experienced the care system between the ages of 12 and 18. His experiences have found expression in many of his poems. In 2019 he published his memoir, My Name Is Why, which tells the story of his childhood through his own words and through the actual documents which record how he was viewed and processed by the care system. The book is widely available in local libraries. In 2020 he was the subject of the BBC programme Imagine, which can still be viewed on the BBC iPlayer with this link: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/imagine-2020-lemn-sissay-the-memory-of-me. He recalls being the only black child in a northern town in the 1970s.
Sissay's experience shows how traumatic being in care can be, and the lasting effects it has on people.
His personal experience led him to start Christmas Dinners for Care Leavers in 2015, which is run by volunteers around the country. Out of the dinners came Quilts for Care Leavers (Q4CL), which was the brainchild of Maggie Lloyd-Jones. Maggie will be speaking to us at our Zoom meeting on 21 September and we hope you will join us for what should be an inspiring talk.
In the meantime, do see this post from Lemn Sissay's blog to understand more about the quilt project.
Quilts for Care Leavers. - Lemn Sissay
We hope knowing more about how much the quilts mean to the young people may inspire more of you to contribute blocks to the London Quilters' initiative. So far we hope to make at least four quilts, but with your help perhaps even more.
Lemn Sissay is a poet and writer who experienced the care system between the ages of 12 and 18. His experiences have found expression in many of his poems. In 2019 he published his memoir, My Name Is Why, which tells the story of his childhood through his own words and through the actual documents which record how he was viewed and processed by the care system. The book is widely available in local libraries. In 2020 he was the subject of the BBC programme Imagine, which can still be viewed on the BBC iPlayer with this link: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/imagine-2020-lemn-sissay-the-memory-of-me. He recalls being the only black child in a northern town in the 1970s.
Sissay's experience shows how traumatic being in care can be, and the lasting effects it has on people.
His personal experience led him to start Christmas Dinners for Care Leavers in 2015, which is run by volunteers around the country. Out of the dinners came Quilts for Care Leavers (Q4CL), which was the brainchild of Maggie Lloyd-Jones. Maggie will be speaking to us at our Zoom meeting on 21 September and we hope you will join us for what should be an inspiring talk.
In the meantime, do see this post from Lemn Sissay's blog to understand more about the quilt project.
Quilts for Care Leavers. - Lemn Sissay
We hope knowing more about how much the quilts mean to the young people may inspire more of you to contribute blocks to the London Quilters' initiative. So far we hope to make at least four quilts, but with your help perhaps even more.
You can see from the image above that the virtual quilt is growing almost daily so the time has come for individual quilts to be assembled from the blocks. Our member, Anita O'Brien is doing sterling work with this project and has created the first quilt top so that you can see the progress being made.