Crafting for a Cause : Siblings Together

Have you ever been told a story about a group of people doing good for others and were so moved that you were inspired to get out there and make a difference too? For Lynne Goldsworthy, this was the case when she learned about Siblings Together, a UK based charity that promotes positive contact between brothers and sisters separated in foster care, kinship care, residential care, or adoption. When Spoonflower learns about organizations or groups of people who are donating their sewing and crafting skills for a greater cause, we always want to know more! So we sat down with Lynne to find out her story and how Spoonflower could contribute. 

Siblings Together provide opportunities for planned, enjoyable, creative and high quality sibling contact, for children living in different care arrangements.


Lynne : “It all started for me in 2012 when I took the kids down to stay at my sister’s house in London and a friend ( a member of Siblings Together)  of hers was there having a cup of tea.  My sister told Sian I made quilts and Sian started to tell me about a charity called Siblings Together which worked to bring together siblings separated by the care system.  She told me that they run summer camps where these children can just be together and have fun together as siblings and that Delma, who set up the charity, was trying to find out whether it would be possible to get people to make each one of these children on the summer camps a quilt to keep, their very own home-made quilt.  Which got me to thinking.  Maybe if I rallied around a few quilters, between us we might be able to make a few quilts. And so I published this post, started this Flickr group, and thought ‘here goes nothing’.”

A finished quilt is ready to be donated to a child at Siblings TogetherA finished quilt, bold with color and style, is ready for camp!

Quilts are donated from all over the world, making each quilt one of a kind!Quilts are donated from all over the world, making each quilt one of a kind!

On Tuesday, March 27th, 2012, Lynne reached out to her quilting community through a simple blog post requesting friends to join her quilting efforts. More than 4 years later, her group has grown faster than she could have even dreamed! With over 900 photos shared in the group, quilts are donated regularly to siblings attending summer camp together. 

Each Siblings Together quilt is complete when a custom printed label is added to the blanket!Custom quilt labels printed on Spoonflower’s Kona Cotton are the finishing touch to these one-of-a-kind quilts.

When Spoonflower learns about organizations or groups of people who are donating their sewing and crafting skills for a greater cause, we always want to know more! With the use of our custom printing process, we are grateful to have the opportunity to donate custom labels for the quilts donated to Siblings Together. “Each label sends the love of the maker to the recipient, so these labels are an important part of the quilt,” said Catherine Chisholm

Animal quilt squares are ready to be added to a Siblings Together quilt!With so many quilt makers contributing to the Siblings Together Quilt Group, you never know what type of quilt you’ll get!

Inspired to make your own quilt to donate to the Siblings Together Quilt Group? Click here to learn more about supporting this growing community and learn how easy it is to make your own quilt label here