SAVE THE DATE!

Saturday, March 19, 2016 (9 a.m. to 4 p.m.)

The next quilt-a-thon sponsored by the UUAC, First Parish in Sherborn, and the Rhododendron Needlers Quilt Guild is set for Saturday, March 19th.

Volunteers usually arrive around 9 a.m., enjoy coffee, water, refreshments and a lunch hosted by the church, work hard on the projects at hand, enjoy one another's company, catch up with friends and make new acquaintances, and wrap up activities around 4 p.m. 

There will be tasks needing the talents of those who like to hand stitch, measure and cut fabric squares, pin quilts to backings, machine stitch or hand tie quilt tops, and add labels by hand. If you don't know how ... we'll teach you!

The efforts of the 22 volunteers who gathered at the Jan. 18 event resulted in work on more than 20 quilts. 12 beautiful quilts were completed. Those were either finished that day or had been dropped off by volunteers who finished a quilt or two at home. Several volunteers took quilts home to put on bindings and the like.

Our youngest quilter that day was young Sage Lafleur who would be celebrating her 11th birthday in a few days. What a great experience to kick-start what might become a lifelong passion!

Sage learns how to lay out the
side pieces to her quilt top.
Cris had her select the light and
dark fabric squares for her first
quilt project. Nice job!

Here's young Sage at her mom's
machine. Sage turned 11 this month!
She'd been to sewing camp, but this was the first time
she tried her hand at learning the art of quilting, with
guidance from coordinator Cris Crawford.

Whatever your skill or talent, please be sure to join in on the fun. It's all for a wonderful cause.


SPECIAL NOTE: There may be one more quilt-a-thon for this church year which will be held in Easton, Mass., so keep checking back here for updates about that event.

The Sunday After ...

In the image below you'll see five of the latest comfort quilts - completed by devoted volunteers from The Power of the Quilt Project - which are hung from the church's balcony in time for today's service at the UUAC First Parish in Sherborn.

Colorful quilt patterns warm up the UUAC's
sanctuary on a cold winter morning.

Some quilts were completed at the Quilt-a-thon (sponsored by the UUAC and the Rhododendron Needlers Quilt Guild) on the MLK, Jr. holiday, Jan. 18, and others were completed by volunteers in their homes and dropped off at the church during the day-long quilt-making event.

Thanks to coordinator, Cris Crawford, for hanging the quilts and taking such a great picture for use in this blog.

These quilts will most likely bring wonderful smiles and happy hearts to those who receive them.

Post MLK Day Quilt-a-thon News

Fun Fact: The 22 volunteers who participated in the recent quilt-a-thon held in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., came from 11 surrounding towns! 

That, in itself, is a lovely demonstration of the power of unity, coupled with a commitment to service.

At the end of the quilt-a-thon, Cris Crawford, coordinator of The Power of the Quilt Project, tallied up all the efforts of our 22 volunteers, and more than 20 quilts were worked on! Congratulations to all!

As mentioned in the previous blog, a dozen comfort quilts were completed that day and are now ready for distribution to those in need.

These finished quilts will bring joy and comfort
to those who receive them.

Vickie Karian, longtime volunteer, finished two quilts with machine stitching during the quilt-a-thon. She kindly took several quilts home that will need her finishing touch -- either by machine stitching or hand-tying the quilts. 

Then, she'll bring those completed quilts to the church where other volunteers will sew on a special label by hand. It is at this point that the quilts are truly "finished" and ready for distribution.

Vickie's 30 years' experience quilting came in handy
to complete two comfort quilts during the Jan. 18 quilt-a-thon.

Barbie Breer, a UUAC newcomer,
enjoys affixing the final label by hand.

MLK Jr Community Service Project

Today, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and a commitment to serving others, 22 volunteers came together at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Sherborn, MA, blending their talents of hand sewing, machine stitching, cutting and piecing fabric squares, pinning, backing and quilting comfort quilts. 

A dozen beautiful quilts were worked on and finished. These will be given to women and men undergoing chemotherapy and for the Linus Project which provides comforting quilts and blankets for children facing hardship.

Many thanks to Cris Crawford, member of the UUAC, First Parish in Sherborn, and part of the Rhododendron Needlers Quilt Guild in Walpole, who has coordinated the Power of the Quilt Project for the past three years.

Some participants experienced their very first quilt-a-thon today, and others have been quilting for 20 or more years!

You can see the love being put into these incredible creations, as witnessed in the faces of those involved.

The label lovingly hand sewn to each completed quilt.

Margaret May
A part of The Power of the Quilt Project
for 10 years.

Tobi Hoffman at work on a "Jelly Roll" quilt.

11-year-old Sage LaFleur is making her first-ever quilt today!

Sally, Sue, Jeanne and Sandy pitch in 

to pin Margaret's quilt to "batting" and a fabric backing. 

See one of the quilt squares close up, below.

Margaret and Cris display the finished quilt.