When Liz Coyle of Quiltlove enlisted a group of parents at her son’s preschool to make a quilt for a classmate who had been diagnosed with Leukemia, she didn’t imagine that it would eventually become part of her life’s work.
“We were all reeling over the diagnosis, of course – we were baking lasagnas and walking their dogs. We were just kind of panicking,” says Liz. “We were looking for any avenue to help.”
Liz got the idea to sew a patchwork quilt for the child – we’ll call her “Cate” for privacy’s sake – using fabric squares that had been colored and signed by Cate’s classmates. The quilt was like a “Get Well Soon” card that she could wrap herself in as she went through treatment.
For the preschool participants, being part of the quilt creation gave them a chance to express themselves and process their emotions during a confusing time.
When Cate began to feel well enough to leave the house, she took her quilt with her everywhere. In early 2020, Cate reached the “no evidence of disease” milestone, meaning cancer was no longer detectable in her body.
A few months after that first quilt was made, another opportunity presented itself: the preschool teacher was pregnant! The same group that had been part of making the first quilt for Cate asked Liz if she would be up for making another.
“We had a gathering at a coffee shop and a bunch of the kids came and they made their squares,” explains Liz. “I was sitting with my mom friends and they were talking about all the different occasions these personalized quilts would be good for. I had always wanted to do something creative and the ideas just kept coming. Thinking about how to make a business model work quickly became my obsession and after ten years of working in management consulting, I knew I had to find a way to go for it.”
How a Passion Project Became a Sustainable Business Model
As Liz notes, creative endeavors are often a labor of love.
“As a maker, it can be an obstacle to charge a reasonable rate and feel good about that price but still compensate yourself fairly,” Liz said. “My first job as a teenager was doing calligraphy for wedding invitations – it was stressful and time-consuming and if you looked at my hourly rate, I was probably making $3/hour.”
Liz spent some time thinking about how to turn her one-of-a-kind quilts into a sustainable business. She realized that if people paid their own way – meaning each person purchased their own individual square – rather than asking an individual to pay for a full quilt outright, that she would be able to build a business model that worked.
Liz Launches Quiltlove
“The first thing I did was start Googling how I could allow people to pay their own way. In the beginning, I didn’t even know what to search for,” Liz explains with a little chuckle.
She eventually landed on the right combination of words. Something like “white label crowdfunding platform” led her to GiveWP, which had the necessary capabilities to allow folks to essentially crowdfund a bespoke quilt for their loved ones.
“That was the first step to launching,” Liz says. “The business model for Quiltlove was wholly dependent on having this group purchase functionality.”
It was important to Liz to ensure the product was affordable while still being compensated for her time and effort. Without the crowdfunding aspect, the quilts would be expensive and she didn’t feel comfortable charging folks that amount, but she did feel comfortable charging $25 per square.
She knew that she had a feasible business model and that her quilts served a purpose – to wrap loved ones in love through the good times and the bad so, in November of 2020, Liz launched Quiltlove.
Quiltlove and GiveWP: A “Patch” Made in Heaven
In her own words, Liz figured out how to “frankenstein” her GiveWP forms to fit her needs.
Making small tweaks with code snippets, Liz updated the form to say “Purchase a Square” with buttons that reflect the ability to purchase multiple squares instead of suggesting a donation amount in dollar increments. She added a link to a PDF used for creating the patchwork square to the automated receipt.
“There’s a 15-square minimum for each quilt, so it was also really important to display a progress bar that showed participants how close they are to fully funding the quilt,” explains Liz. “I wanted to emphasize total squares purchased, rather than the traditional dollars raised metric”
At this point in our conversation, Ben Meredith, Director of Customer Service and Support at GiveWP, chimes in. He is positively giddy over what Liz was able to accomplish but, moreso, because of what GiveWP is doing to make it even easier for users like Liz to continue to customize forms to fit their needs.
“We’re going to be introducing designs after we release 3.0 that are inspired by websites like Quiltlove and asking ourselves, ‘If we were Liz and I were making a form that allows people to purchase individual components of a project, how would I do it,’” explains Ben. “Modifying a design is just going to be so, so much easier for folks than it was for you.”
How Quiltlove Crowdfunds Each Quilt
Quiltlove quilts are heirloom quality quilts that are made to order. These one-of-a-kind gifts have been lovingly created by friends and family who share a loved one and want to celebrate an occasion, like a new baby, or provide comfort during a particularly difficult time.
- The organizer identifies a group and selects a quilt option, choosing from pre-determined color options or choosing their own colors. The organizer then goes through the purchase process, making a $35 deposit, and opts to allow members of their group to purchase their own squares.
- Quiltlove creates a personal page for the group based on the information shared by the organizer. This page is private and is shared only with group participants and even allows participants to leave comments for the quilt recipient.
- Members of the group individually purchase the squares that will become part of the patchwork quilt. There is a 15-square minimum – however, there is no maximum.
- Participants design their squares on paper and email the photos of their artwork to Quiltlove.
- Quiltlove closes the form on the personalized page after the deadline has passed. Then they get to work creating the one-of-a-kind quilt.
- Submitted artwork gets touched up in Photoshop, printed on fabric squares and Liz lays out each quilt design herself.
- The quilt then gets sewn together and is shipped to the recipient (for free). Included with each quilt is a card that lists the names of everyone who participated and a link to the quilt project page where the recipient can view comments.
And then Liz does something extra special.
Leaving participant comments, but stripping the form from the page, the personalized page remains accessible to the group. She adds the images of the artwork that was submitted and, once the quilt is done, she adds photos of the finished product.
For some, the page becomes something like a memorial.
One quilt that Quiltlove made for a school principal had more than 90 squares from friends, family, and students. Though the recipient passed away, the page continues to be one of the most visited Quiltlove pages. Loved ones consistently return to the page as a way to comfort themselves, revisiting the messages of love and support sent by the people who loved the recipient most.
Quiltlove’s Commitment to Giving Back
For every ten quilts sold, Quiltlove donates a unique and one-of-a-kind quilt to a child at George Mark Children’s House. GMCH is a nonprofit, pediatric palliative care center in San Leandro, California.
“My oldest son, who is nine now, was born three months premature. He spent the first two months of his life in the hospital and during that time, hospital staff gave us a blanket that had been made by a volunteer,” explains Liz.
“That gift impacted my desire to want to give back – it touched me and my husband at a time when we were at our most vulnerable.”
It was very important to Liz to give back through Quiltlove in a genuine way so partnering with GMCH felt like the right fit.
“George Mark Children’s House excels at wrapping its families in love. They are committed to making the end-of-life time as colorful and as comfortable as possible for the child, their siblings, and their family,” said Liz. “It’s such a special place.”
The quilts are made from fabric remnants that Liz has accumulated. Looking at the pieces, Liz is able to envision a color story, picking out pieces that she lays out into unique and cool patterns.
When Liz drops the quilts off, the child life specialist at GMCH has a plan for each one. In these final moments of life, when families are making the best out of their circumstances, they’re given a quilt that was lovingly and thoughtfully sewn together with these last moments in mind.
Not unlike the blanket Liz received when her son was born, every quilt made by Quiltlove serves a unique purpose. Every quilt lets you know that you’re not alone – that several someone’s are in your corner – celebrating with you, rooting for you, and grieving with you.
A new baby quilt becomes the blanket that a child won’t leave the house with, being carted everywhere like Linus of Charlie Brown. And, perhaps, in the future, the quilt is given to a new baby.
They go on – after the wedding is over, after you’re declared cancer-free, and – in some cases – after a loss.
Get Patched In: Join Liz from Quiltove and GiveWP for GiveLIVE in March
Join us on March 15th at 11 a.m. PST/ 2 p.m. EST as we chat with Liz from Quiltlove.
We’ll talk about launching a business, dig into the process of crowdfunding a quilt, corporate social responsibility, and how it’s going to get even easier for Liz (and you!) to create and customize forms that fit your specific needs with the release of GiveWP 3.0.
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