Giving & Rehoming
Where to Donate Quilting Supplies
Every stash eventually needs a next home — downsizing, moving on from the hobby, or settling the sewing room of someone loved. Here is where fabric, machines, and whole collections do the most good, what's worth selling instead, and how to do right by a quilter's estate.
Quilting fabriccan be donated nationally to Quilts for Kids (100% cotton), and through local chapters of Days for Girls and Ryan's Case for Smiles — or locally to quilt guild charity committees, church sewing groups, schools, and senior centers, which use fabric continuously. Working sewing machines go to The Sewing Machine Project or local sewing programs. Valuable items — designer fabric, kits, machines, finished quilts — are better sold through quilter-to-quilter channels, and finished quilts deserve a value check before anything is priced.
National Organizations That Accept Donations
Check each organization's current guidelines before shipping — needs and specs change.
A national nonprofit that turns donated fabric into patchwork quilts for children facing serious illness and trauma — one of the few charities set up specifically to receive quilting fabric.
Donation info →Sews washable hygiene kits; local chapters use donated cotton prints and flannel. Check the chapter map for a team near you and their current fabric specs.
Donation info →Volunteers sew whimsical pillowcases for hospitalized children; local coordinators accept suitable fabric and finished pillowcases.
Donation info →Collects donated machines and places them with people and communities who need them — the standard answer to "who wants a good machine I've outgrown?"
Donation info →Awards quilts to service members and veterans touched by war. Local QOV groups welcome piecers, longarmers, and sometimes fabric — connect through a group rather than shipping supplies cold.
Donation info →Delivers handmade blankets to children in crisis through local chapters. Chapters primarily want finished quilts; many also accept fabric and batting — ask your chapter coordinator.
Donation info →The Local Homes (Often Better Than Shipping)
Start with the guild: find quilt guilds near you — over a thousand are listed, most with contact info.
What to Sell Instead (and Where)
Quilters pay real money for designer and out-of-print fabric, complete kits, quality machines, and unopened specialty tools. The quilter-to-quilter channels: destash marketplaces like FeelGood Fibers, eBay and Etsy (search sold listings to price), Facebook destash groups, and guild stash sales — the fastest way to move a lot of fabric to people who will actually sew it.
Finished quilts are the exception to every casual-sale rule: understand what a quilt is worth before one leaves the family for $20 at an estate sale. And if you're hunting a specific retired fabric rather than rehoming one, that's our discontinued fabric guide.
Settling a Quilter's Sewing Room
If you've inherited a stash and don't sew, three steps in order:
- Set aside the finished quilts and anything obviously special — and value the quilts before any sale prices them like bedding.
- Call her guild. Guild friends know what the stash holds, run estate stash sales, and will treat her fabric the way she would have wanted.
- Donate the restusing the homes above — sewn up by her community beats stored in anyone's attic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I donate quilting fabric?
Nationally: Quilts for Kids accepts 100% cotton quilting fabric directly, and Days for Girls and Ryan's Case for Smiles accept cotton through local chapters. Locally — often the better home — quilt guild charity committees, church sewing groups, school sewing programs, 4-H clubs, and senior center craft groups all use donated fabric continuously. For non-quilting fabric and true scraps, think theater costume shops and animal shelters.
Where can I donate a sewing machine?
The Sewing Machine Project accepts working machines and places them where they're needed. Locally: school sewing programs, guild members teaching beginners, community sewing centers, and vocational programs. Include the foot pedal, cords, bobbins, and manual — a machine without its pedal is a paperweight, and the manual doubles its odds of being used.
What quilting items should I sell instead of donate?
Anything a quilter would genuinely pay for: designer and out-of-print fabric by the yard, complete kits, longarm machines and quality sewing machines, unopened rulers and specialty tools, and finished quilts (which deserve a value check before any garage sale). Destash marketplaces like FeelGood Fibers, plus eBay, Etsy, and Facebook destash groups, are where quilters actually shop for secondhand fabric.
What should a family do with a quilter's stash after she passes?
Three steps, in order. First, set aside the finished quilts and anything clearly special — have finished quilts valued before any estate sale prices them at $20. Second, contact her guild: guild friends know what the stash contains, often run estate stash sales, and will treat it with the respect it deserves. Third, donate the remainder using the homes on this page. Don't feel obligated to keep everything — a stash sewn up by her community honors a quilter more than boxes in an attic.
Will Goodwill take fabric and quilting supplies?
Usually yes — but thrift stores sell fabric by the pound to whoever wanders in, and specialty items like rulers and templates rarely find quilters there. Fabric does more good routed to people who sew: a guild, a school program, or a fabric-specific charity. Save the thrift store for what the quilting community can't use.
Are quilting supply donations tax-deductible?
Donations to registered 501(c)(3) organizations (including most guilds, Quilts for Kids, Project Linus, and The Sewing Machine Project) are generally deductible at fair market value — keep an itemized list and ask for a receipt. For large or valuable donations (a longarm, a major stash), talk to a tax professional about documentation first.