QRubini... giving new meaning to getting clothes from charity!

QRubini was founded in 1997 and began as a fund raising project for the National Marrow Foundation when Maureen Quinlan's daughter, Emma Rubini, was undergoing treatment for leukemia.  Maureen designs and oversees the creation of a collection of little girls "feel good" hand smocked dresses.  The project has now become a way for Maureen to partner with the many charities and causes in her life.  Currently, QRubini is supporting Waldorf Schools and a select group of other schools and charities throughout the U.S.  Ms. Quinlan's daughter is an 8th grade student at the Suncoast Waldorf School in Palm Harbor, FL -  (http://www.suncoastwaldorf.org/). 

QRubini's main product, the hand smocked dress, is expensive, and it is truly worthy of its price.  When you touch a QRubini hand smocked dress you know that you have purchased a garment that has been created with loving hands.  We strive to treat all hands that touch our dresses with respect and dignity.    Please  let us know what your hands feel when you touch one of our dresses.  We welcome your comments.

The QRubini Hand Smocked Dress Collection
The majority of the hand smocked dresses in the collection presented online were made by a small group of women in Leon, Nicaragua in the home of Ligia Saborio - click here to see our Nicaraguan sewing shop and our U.S. based quality control room.  We also work with a small sewing shop in Colombia.  In an effort to honor women's handwork, all our collections include hand smocked and hand embroidered designs.   QRubini collections are always tithed to causes and/or charities in our world community.  In Nicaragua the collection supports an orphanage, the St. Vincent de Paul Society Soup Kitchen and a school.  Here in the U.S. the collection supports various charities (click here to see a listing of the company’s partner charities).

QRubini.... it's in the stitch!

Our Mission
Our mission at QRubini is to provide fine handwork jobs throughout the world, to create a "feel good" hand smocked dress for little girls, and to raise funds for the various causes in our lives.  We believe we have accomplished our mission with the collection presented here.

QRubini was started in 1997.  Maureen Rubini Quinlan and her neighbor made matching dresses for their little girls and all the moms on their street loved them.  At the time, Maureen’s daughter, Emma Rubini, was undergoing chemotherapy treatments for a very rare form of leukemia while awaiting a match for a bone marrow transplant.  Maureen and her neighbor decided to make a collection of little girls’ hand smocked dresses that would be sold to raise funds and awareness for the National Marrow Foundation. 

From the Beginning
From the beginning, Maureen wanted the hand smocked dresses to be made with loving hands.  She wanted a hand smocked dress that would sing "handmade".  In 2000, her search for the "right" shop to create the collection led her to Leon, Nicaragua, where she met Ligia Saborio.  Ligia and her seamstresses work in Ligia's home under bright natural sun light among many plants and religious statues.  The women sit in rocking chairs while they hand smock and hand embroider pretty little flowers, ladybugs and hearts on the dresses.  Maureen quickly became comfortable with the working conditions and the creations that Ligia and her fine seamstresses made for her (click here to see photos of the Leon sewing shop).

How it works
Included in the sales price of each dress is a donation to the causes/charities in the country of origin of the garment/product and the cause/charity here in the U.S. 

The donation to the country of origin cause/charity is made at the time of export.  QRubini typically supports orphanages, schools and soup kitchens in countries of origin.

The donation to the U.S. cause/charity is made after the sale of the item. 

At this website, on average, $10 of the sales price of each item sold is donated to U.S. charities/causes.  All donations are made in the name of Maureen Quinlan, Inc.  QRubini.com customers do not receive credit or recognition or any U.S. income tax deduction for donations made by Maureen Quinlan, Inc. to various charities/causes. 

At the time of sale the customer's credit card or Paypal account is charged for the entire sales price of the dress (including the U.S. cause/charity donation amount) plus any applicable taxes.  Depending on the amount collected, QRubini forwards donations to its partner charities on a quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis. 

For questions regarding this procedure please telephone the QRubini office at 727-898-3921 (Tuesday thru Friday 9AM - 5PM expect holidays). 

Our Website

QRubini has worked for a number of years in developing the "right" marketing strategy for the collection.  Given the quasi-charitable aspect of our company, we have had a number of financial challenges.  We want to give great thanks to our web-designer, Teddy Spittal, Founder and Director of BigHeadIS Solutions.  Teddy continued to go the extra mile for us during the development of this site.

Just as we have worked to perfect our sewing operation over the years, we will now work to also perfect our customer's online shopping experience.  Please continue to visit our site, as we will be changing, growing and updating your shopping experience throughout the years.  We welcome your comments.

Here’s to healthy, happy and well-dressed children!

QRubini... creating fine children's clothing since 1997.