2025 Charity Sewing Days
Sewing Days will be on Westminster Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, 2155 University Ave, Dubuque, IA from 10:30 am - 4:00 pm.
Upcoming Dates:
January -Cancelled
February -Cancelled
March 18
April 22
May 20
June 17
July 22
August 19
September 16
October 21
November 18
December 16
The Dubuque Stitches of Love project, which began in 2004, is proud to have completed its 21th year of service to the Tri-State community. The mission of Stitches of Love is to make adult-sized headwear, free of charge, for local cancer patients and to distribute them through two treatment centers:
Grand River Medical Group, Oncology Department
350 N Grandview Ave, Dubuque IA 52001
MercyOne Dubuque Cancer Center
150 Mercy Drive
Dubuque IA 52001
From 2004 through 2024, we’ve made and donated a total of 5647 hats. In 2024, we donated 520 hats with the time and talent of 10 volunteers. These 520 items were lovingly made with over 1515 hours of volunteer time. The total hats donated include: 8 hand knit, 387 hand crochet, 30 pillbox hats (knit, T-shirt, fleece, sweatshirt, slouch hats), and 95 kerchiefs/scrub hats. We used the following volunteer number of hours to make the hats: hand knit (3), hand crochet (3), pillbox (1.5), and kerchief (3). These times include any laundering, ironing, transportation, etc.
Our donated hats were made by individuals that worked in the comfort of their own homes and/or as part of a group. Groups that participated in 2024 included the Cable Car Quilters Guild (Dubuque). Five of our 2024 volunteers are members of CCQG and they made 146 of the 520 hats that included 393 volunteer hours.
We accept finished adult-sized hats and donated supplies such as yarn and fabric that meet comfort criteria. Sometimes crochet scarves and neckwear are donated to us and these items are passed on to the oncology treatment centers. We received several preemie/baby/child-size hats and baby afghans and they were donated to Mercy’s neonatal & pediatric units (Dubuque) and local elementary schools. Also, several donated crochet afghans found homes at Shalom, MercyOne Dubuque Cancer Center, and the Tri-State Dialysis (Dubuque).
Stitches of Love revenue primarily comes from personal donations. In the past, the American Cancer Society has donated leftover Relay for Life t-shirts. These t-shirts continue to be recycled into kerchiefs, slouch hats, and pillbox hats. We received no monetary donations in 2024, but did receive several miscellaneous individual donations of fabric, yarn, and batting from current and former CCQG members and community volunteers. Dubuque Sewing & Vacuum donated a used serger in 2022 and helps keep it in working order.
Finally, a big THANK YOU goes out to everyone that supports Stitches of Love in some way.
Stitches of Love
