Passport
The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show community has given more than 500 quilts to refugee children since 2022
July 29, 2024 Leave a Comment
Co-presented by PBS Wisconsin and Nancy Zieman Productions, this year marks the 20th annual Great Wisconsin Quilt Show, Sept. 5-7, 2024, in Madison, Wisconsin.
Founded by the partnership of the late Nancy Zieman and PBS Wisconsin, the event is designed to be a hub of camaraderie and education for quilters.
Quilt to Give
For two decades, The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show has been proud to offer quilters hundreds of educational opportunities, an extensive vendor mall, beautiful quilt exhibits and a community service opportunity where quilters can use their unique skills to give back.
Since the first Great Wisconsin Quilt Show, Zieman created opportunities for quilters to volunteer their time to help others at the event. Quilt to Give was formally founded as an annual community service project at The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show in 2011.
Quilt to Give volunteers cut fabric during the 2023 Great Wisconsin Quilt Show. Photo credit Peg Thompson.
Throughout the three-day event, Nancy Zieman Productions leads Quilt to Give on-site. Participants are encouraged to donate their time, fabric or completed bed-size quilts to the project, which gives quilts to someone in need.
On-site participants do not need quilting experience to donate their time. Giving 30 minutes to cut and iron fabric can make a huge difference. Volunteers are stationed at the Quilt to Give area each day of The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show to guide participants through the process.
Completed quilts and donated fabrics, battings and supplies may also be dropped off or mailed in throughout the year to Nancy Zieman Productions. Easy-to-follow instructions to make a bed-size quilt can be found on the Nancy Zieman Productions blog. At the end of The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show, quilts that were mailed in and created throughout the event are distributed to those in need.
A volunteer irons fabric for Quilt to Give. Photo credit Ingrid Laas.
Quilt to Give and the Welcome Neighbor project
PBS Wisconsin Education launched their Welcome Neighbor project in 2022. They collaborate with resettlement agencies and other community organizations in Wisconsin to find meaningful ways to welcome refugees to our state. This includes giving recently resettled children a backpack filled with learning items from PBS KIDS and a handmade quilt.
Refugee children who receive these backpacks are adjusting to life in a new country as they recover from distressing situations and upheaval. Community partners quickly identified quilts as particularly in-demand comfort items. It’s a small thing that can make a child’s transition easier.
PBS Wisconsin Education Associate Director of Education Engagement Jen Kobylecky kneels among the 2023 Welcome Neighbor backpacks.
To help fill the backpacks with quilts, PBS Wisconsin Education approached their colleagues who organize The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show. Quilt show organizers pivoted their annual Quilt to Give project to support the Welcome Neighbor project in 2022, and the collaboration has been a great success.
More than 300 quilts were donated to other causes in the project’s inaugural years, and since 2022, Quilt to Give has contributed more than 500 quilts to the Welcome Neighbor project thanks to our wonderful volunteers, quilt show attendees and those who mailed in quilts.
This overwhelming sense of generosity and direct impact towards our local community, especially to help improve the lives of children, would make Zieman proud of the community service project she established. Thank you to everyone who has contributed!
A Welcome Neighbor recipient at the International Institute of Wisconsin.
You can help Quilt to Give
You can Quilt to Give each day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. during The Great Wisconsin Quilt Show, Sept. 5-7, 2024. Donating 30 minutes of your time and talents to help create a quilt goes a long way! Volunteers will be at the Quilt to Give station to offer instructions.
We also accept quilt donations all year! There are easy-to-follow instructions on the Nancy Zieman Productions blog to make a bed-size quilt. Colorful colors are encouraged, but all quilts in good condition are accepted. Please mail them to:
The Nancy Zieman Sewing Studio
120 Front Street
Beaver Dam WI 53916
Featured image by Peg Thompson.
