Handmade Gift Ideas for Quilters

Looking for some handmade gift ideas for your favorite quilter? Look no further. Sure you could go with the standard gift certificate to their favorite quilt shop. After all, I have yet to meet a quilter who did not have fabricholic tendencies. If you want to give something else, however, and you are willing to put in the time, look below.

1. Labor

You could create handmade gift certificates for various quilting duties such as cutting. I hate cutting fabric and if (after a quick tutorial on how to use a rotary cutter, ruler and mat) I could hand over the cutting of fabric for my next log cabin quilt, I would gladly do so.

Another idea is to host a retreat for your quilter and their friends. Offer your home, snacks, electric plugs and plenty of flat surfaces for cutting.

2. Quilt Calendar

Make a calendar from your computer for next year. Include birthdays, quilt guild meetings, dates of the International Quilt Festival in Houston and anything else quilt-related that you can think of. You can use pictures of the quilter's quilts in the calendar for each month. This will take some research, though. It helps if you know someone of your favorite quilter's quilting buddies. They should be able to help you out with dates.

3. Signature Blocks

Now, this is a very big project if you choose to undertake it. It would be very hard for a non-quilter to know what type of blocks or fabric their favorite quilter would like. You could, however, promise to do all the legwork for a memory quilt . Meaning, you would put together the kits to gather signatures and be responsible for gathering all the signatures and deliver them to the quilter by a certain date. This project is not for the faint hearted, but it definitely be appreciated.

4. Crayon Blocks

Need some handmade gift ideas for any grandmother or mother? This is a guaranteed hit. Press the kids into service to make crayon quilt blocks. I'd suggest making the blocks 12.5 inch square, using muslin and Crayola crayons. Using washable crayons would, uh, defeat the purpose. This works best when kids make their own design and then color it in. If you have one that is too little to draw, take a hand print, color it in and then print their name underneath. For a 4 by 4 foot quilt, you'll need 16 blocks.

5. Chauffeur

I saved the best for last. You could offer to drive around your favorite quilter and their best friends for your area's next Shop Hop. Be advised, you would be signing yourself up for one-to-two days of quilting frenzy. You would be in charge of driving, planning the attack and snacks. The specifics would be detailed on the gift certificate you would give the recipient.

I have to admit that I got this idea from a happy husband I saw at my first year shop hopping. When other customers openly admired that he would take his wife and her three best friends to all the shops in the area, he commented, "It's cheaper than jewelry."

So, there you have five great handmade gift ideas for your favorite quilter. They certainly aren't easy or simple, but any of those would be greatly appreciated by the recipient.

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