Lyn Spencer, 65, with the help of family, friends and a sewing group, is making 100 quilts to send to the island nation this year to help with relief efforts.

Mrs Spencer, who has lived in Dandenong North for more than 40 years, was inspired to do her part for the victims after seeing them on the television.

"I was just devastated," she said. "I was sitting around watching all that happen thinking, what can I do?"

Although she could not donate financially, in the past she had made quilts for orphanages and saw it as the perfect opportunity to do something for the Japanese people affected.

Using her own quilting frame, Mrs Spencer has made about 58 quilts so far by using material donated to her or that she she has collected over the years.

She also gets woollen blankets from an op-shop to serve as the middle layer in her quilts.

As she has rheumatoid arthritis, Mrs Spencer is unable to do the fingerwork around the edges of the quilts herself, so she entrusts the job to family and friends or the ladies from the Dandenong Baptist Church's Patch, Stitch and Chat sewing group.

It takes her a few days to make the quilts and she is on track for her goal of 100.

Mrs Spencer is hoping to send the quilts next month with the help of the Rotary Club of Belgrave which will distribute them to the Japanese families that need them the most.

"I'm just hoping that somebody will feel warm because of something I've done," she said.