There is more to life than Quilting, Part 3

Remember when I wrote about my friend telling me I couldn’t spend all my time just quilting when I retired? Actually, it sounds like fun, but all the quilters I know–well, in our group at Quilters at First, have a variety of interests. Today I will introduce you to the Prairie Quilt Guild(PQG) Charity Team . The team is comprised of seven women; two of the team are also members of Quilters at First! The Team and members of PQG were responsible for 500 children’s quilts being donated last year. That took a lot of cutting, piecing, quilting and binding!

How does work? Team members use donated fabric–usually from other Guild members, to cut out pieces that are “kitted”–put in a zip lock with instructions. Any member can select a kit at a monthly meeting to assemble at home and return the top at a monthly meeting. Another member may select the top to machine quilt using batting and backing provided by the Prairie Quilt Guild . That person may bind the quilt to finish it or bring it back to another meeting where yet another member would take the quilt home to bind. Some quilts are completed entirely by one member while others may have had five or six persons contributing to the finished quilt.

Members and friends of members contribute fabric to the Charity Team. Some of the fabric is resold to other members. The monies collected will used to buy batting and thread.

This beautiful appliquéd quilt is being raffled to raise money for the Charity team to buy supplies.

Shirley, a quilter with the Quilters at First and a team , makes a couple of trips north to the Kansas City area to buy a SUV full of batting on huge rolls which she hand cuts into the required sizes in her sewing studio.

Elaine, another member of Quilters at First, was recruited by Shirley to join the group after she had donated several completed quilts to the team. Both Elaine and Shirley machine quilt many of the quilts on their own machines, as well as coordinate the other steps in the process.

Like any charity, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. The tables with the kits, the supplies for quilting and fabric donation site must be in place before the first members arrive for the meeting.

See the stuffed animals wrapped in a quilt ready for distribution!

Donated materials must be taken home to be made into kits. Also, Team members are responsible for distribution of the quilts.

Shirley often meets a Wichita City Policeman in the parking lot of the Church to deliver quilts. The police departments of Wichita and surrounding towns carry quilts in their patrol cars that are wrapped around a teddy bear to be given to children in crisis–a car wreck or domestic violence situation.

The Pediatric Cancer Groups and domestic violence shelters have also received quilts from the group.

I ask Shirley and Elaine independently why they were part of the PQG Charity Team. Why do they spent many hours each month on quilts that are given away. Both women answered simply “the satisfaction”. They may not be solving the crises that resulted in childhood traumas, but they are providing comfort to a child, one quilt at a time.

If you are interested in buying tickets for this lovely keepsake, they are $5 for 5. You do not need to be present to win when the winner is selected at the September meeting. Contact me or a member of the Prairie Quilt Guild; I can give you contact information.

New this week–

Blue on blue–A table runner made from various blue and white prints using the versatile half square block. It is machine quilted and bound. The backing is the blue and white polka dot fabric used for the binding. It is approximately 15″ x 30″ and is $40.

An another quilted bag with nifty mesh pockets on the inside. The zipper allows the bag to opened completely so that larger items may be placed inside. $40

I can’t stop embroidering tea towels–keeps my hands busy while watching “Clarkson’s Farm” or “Friends and Neighbors”

Lovely in lavender–this 50″ x 50″ quilt is the perfect lap or nap quilt. The background is my favorite pattern–polka dots! The quilt is machine quilted, machine washable and hand bound. $50

We received an assortment of pieced quilts that would make great play mats, sofa protectors, mats—I am sure you could fine many uses for these sturdy pieced pieces made from flannel odds and ends.