Wrap A Smile Quilts

Our quilt ministry began in 2004 when I read an article in Family Circle magazine about babies being wrapped in paper and plastic during cleft palate surgeries because of a shortage of blankets.  Wrap-A-Smile was asking for baby quilts and I felt called to help.  While I knew how to sew, I had never made a quilt before.  I enlisted the help of my friend Linda Saxton who had made two quilts.  We had enthusiastic members of church join us who learned to quilt along with us. Over the last 14 years many community members have joined us as well:  friends, people we met while selling items, etc.  We have taught teenagers how to use a sewing machine, and many adults have made their first quilts as part of our ministry.  A Girl Scout even used our group to inspire her Gold Project where she and her friends made baby quilts for Wrap-A-Smile. For our first year, we received donations from local businesses.  Since then, to raise funds, we have sold tabl...

As someone who was raised to not waste, and as a committed recycler today, I have a particular fondness for scrappy quilts. My friend Rebecca from Edgecomb, Maine, made this tumbler quilt for Wrap-A-Smile using a variety of fabrics that might otherwise have been tossed. She claimed it didn’t take long as she used an Accuquilt cutter, but I see many hours of generous labor to create a gift of love for a child she will never meet. And yes, she has made multiples of these! Thank you Rebecca for being part of our Wrap-A-Smile community. And string quilts can be endlessly creative. Here is one gifted to Wrap-A-Smile from Calico Quilt Guild in Yarmouth, Maine. Another bright and cheerful creation that will wrap a child in comfort both before and after their surgery. I’m so glad all these little “leftovers” found their way into a quilt. 

Last Saturday an enthusiastic group of quilters from three local guilds joined Rotarians at the Rotary Clubhouse in Boothbay Harbor to produce hand made quilts for Wrap-A-Smile.  It was a day of shared purpose, friendship and community collaboration to create quilts for children undergoing cleft lip and cleft palate repair.  Many of the quilters also brought finished quilts to donate to Wrap-A-Smile. With the number of quilts produced from the Quiltathon, and another 15 quilts donated by quilters from the Boothbay Community Center, Wrap-A-Smile has now shared over 25,000 (yes, twenty five thousand!) quilts worldwide.  As a visual, 25,000 quilts would cover 7 football fields, quite an amazing statement by the many generous quilters from all over the country who donate to Wrap-A-Smile. 

These additional pictures from the Bangladesh Rotaplast mission were just shared by team member Aileen.  A few images may be repeats, but we can never get enough of seeing our quilts in action, can we??  Thank you again to the makers of these quilts.  If you haven't seen one of your quilts yet, please trust that all quilts sent to Wrap-A-Smile will be hugging someone....somewhere!  Enjoy~