Bus Quilts

My oldest daughter lives in Montana, where she is the Executive Director of Head Start (a program that helps 3 and 4 year-olds, primarily from lower income families, prepare for kindergarten). It's a fantastic program and I'm super proud of the work she does there.

Montana winters can be very cold. Head Start buses many of the kids to school, but unlike the public school buses, they stop at each child's house. Therefore, the doors are constantly opening and closing, allowing the often sub-zero degree wind to blow snow and cold air into the bus, making it virtually impossible to keep the buses warm.

So I'm making a bunch of very small lap quilts that these little kiddos can grab as they board the bus to snuggle under on their way to school! I'm using lots of scraps and stash and even working in some orphan blocks from quilt-alongs that I didn't finish. They are typically in the 36" X 36" range, give or take a few inches.

I've shipped the first box of quilts to her and I'm cranking out more as quickly as I can! Even after she has enough, I'll continue to send a few here and there to replace worn out quilts. Some quilts may be needed for other purposes or might even make their way home with a cold kiddo (which is fine with me), so I think this could be a long-term project!

Here are a few pictures from the first batch:

I draw a lot of inspiration from Pinterest, so some of these may look kind of familiar. And some may look more like I just winged it (which I probably did)!