Many Hands and Hearts Support This Charity Quilt Project

Thirteen volunteers gathered together on Saturday, November 11th (Veterans Day) for the fall quilt-a-thon and nearly 30 comfort quilts were completed with The Power of the Quilt Project label!

As participant Cathie Healy (pictured below) said, "It's amazing to see how many hands touch these quilts before they even reach their intended recipients." 

Although not a sewer, Healy has found numerous ways to lend a supportive hand to the project, since its inception in 2003. Cutting, measuring and color coordinating fabrics, making up "take-home" quilt-top kits, pinning, sandwiching and hand tying quilts, and managing the "ironing" station, to name a few. She is the "perfect" volunteer - someone who is willing to learn new things and help out in any way needed.

A SPECIAL TOUCH

We'd like to thank Joe Olinto, owner of Sewfisticated Discount Fabrics in Framingham, Mass. (303 Worcester Rd., Route 9 West), who donated nearly 40 pounds of cotton fabrics to support the event.

Fabric artist and quilter Tobi Hoffman (below) was excited to create a unique, geometric lap robe design onsite using strips from each bolt donated by Sewfisticated.

Seven of the colorful lap robes I created were Longarm stitched by the husband-wife team at Creative Longarm Partners in Marlborough as an in-kind donation - more hands and hearts willing to support this important program. Check out the "Meandering Circle," "Damask," and "Cinnamon Swirl stitch designs in those quilts pictured here.

These comfort quilts and others will be distributed soon to a medical facility in the Boston area for men and women undergoing chemotherapy treatments and children facing hardship who are living in shelters.

Finally, a special word of appreciation to Kathleen "Kace" Wilson of Milton who trekked all the way to Sherborn for the quilt-a-thon. Kace coordinates the donation of teddy bears, pillowcases, toddler blankets and quilts of all sizes created by The Proper Bostonian Quilters Guild to men, women and children in need. She donated four of her own quilt creations this day to support The Power of the Quilt Project. Kace is pictured here "free motion" stitching one of her quilts during the eight-hour event.

If you're interested in participating at an upcoming quilt-a-thon, contact PQP Coordinator Diane McNamara at dimcnamara@verizon.net.

Volunteers of all ages and skill levels are welcome. There are plenty of tasks that don't require sewing or quilting!

If you are a quilter, please bring your sewing machine. Our day usually begins at 9 a.m. and runs to 4 p.m., and light refreshments are always served. Come for as long as you are able, even an hour commitment will help!

The next quilt-a-thon community service event is tentatively planned for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Monday, January 15, 2018.

Happy Sewing!

FALL UUAC QUILT-A-THON DATE: SAT., NOV. 11

MARK YOUR CALENDARS ...

If you love being part of a group working in unity for a wonderful cause, enjoy sewing and love fabrics, please join The Power of the Quilt Project fall quilt-a-thon on Saturday, November 11, 2017, at the Unitarian Universalist Area Church in Sherborn. We will meet in Alliance Hall on the lower level, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Join us for all or part of the day. There is plenty of free parking.

All ages and skill levels are welcome!

We welcome volunteers who enjoy sorting, color coordinating, measuring and cutting fabrics, making up take-home quilt kits, sewing and sandwiching quilt tops, hand-sewing project labels and more.

Light refreshments are provided, from breakfast coffee and muffins to luncheon treats.

Elizabeth Simpson assists in hand-tying a quilt.

A MOMENT OF THANKS AND AN INTRODUCTION ...

Special thanks to Cris Crawford who has devoted the past several years to coordinating The Power of the Quilt Project program. She has now passed the baton on. Diane McNamara, also an active UUAC member who has served the Justice Ministries well and a quilter, has now taken on the coordinator role.

If you have questions about the upcoming event, email Diane at dimcnamara@verizon.net.

On behalf of Diane and Cris, we look forward to seeing you then!

Our Spring Fling Quilt-a-thon

Today, a dozen volunteer sewers and quilters enjoyed gathering at The Power of the Quilt Project Spring Quilt-a-thon to machine sew quilt tops, hand sew labels on finished comfort quilts and sort, measure and cut colorful, coordinated fabrics to make nearly 40 quilt top kits.

Susan and Catherine spent the day making kits.

At day's end, four comfort quilts were finalized, 16 more were readied for the finishing touch which will be adding a PQP label and five quilt tops were sandwiched and readied for Longarm quilting by Creative Longarm Partners of Marlborough who are generously donating their services to this good cause.

As folks know who read this blog regularly, all completed quilts are delivered to the infusion unit of a Boston-based medical center to be enjoyed by individuals who are undergoing chemotherapy treatments. These colorful, creative works of art, sewn with love and caring, are greatly appreciated by the recipients.

SAVE THE DATE!

Our next quilt-a-thon is scheduled for Saturday, October 28, 2017. We welcome volunteers of all abilities and ages. If you enjoy making charity quilts and fellowship with some wonderful people, please join us!

Fun, laughter, food and refreshments are always part of our 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. day.

For more information about the Project or the next quilt-a-thon, contact Cris Crawford, coordinator of The Power of the Quilt Project at cris@theworld.com.

Longarm, Big Heart

Kate and Tom Wellen opened Creative Longarm Partners as a home-based studio in Marlborough, Mass. in 2015, and as a two-person team, they can provide fast turnaround and professional design services.

Kate has been sewing and quilting for more than 50 years. Her passion for sewing shows in the quality and creativity of every item she touches. Her husband and co-owner, Tom, is a retired financial officer who now enjoys being a professional Gammill Statler Stitcher quilter.

"We offer hundreds of stitch designs," Tom said, "and each pattern can result in 30,000 to nearly 70,000 stitches per quilt. These designs add a kind of 3-D quality to any piece that makes the final product even more special."

Kate and Tom Wellen of Creative Longarm Partners are happy to help.

Together, they will customize designs and tweak stitch patterns to get just the right finishing touch for your special project.

A close-up of Tom's handiwork (Ocean Waves) on one comfort quilt.

Kate and Tom also believe in giving back to the community when they can. Recently, the couple learned about The Power of the Quilt Project, sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Area Church, First Parish in Sherborn and offered to Longarm two to three quilts each month at no charge.

"If quilters are donating their time and talent to such a good cause, we're happy to help with that," Kate added, after learning that the Project donates handmade comfort quilts yearlong to individuals undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

"We are grateful for the support of Creative Longarm Partners and the generosity of co-owners Kate and Tom Wellen," Cris Crawford, The Power of the Quilt Project coordinator remarked. "This partnership is very meaningful and we welcome it."

To learn more about the many services of Creative Longarm Partners, visit the company's website at www.creativelongarmpartners.com. To schedule an appointment for their professional quilting services, call 508-451-0749.

With Joyful Hearts

Many thanks to the 15 volunteers who joined us yesterday at the annual MLK Day community service quilt-a-thon from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Area Church, First Parish of Sherborn.

• 7 colorful quilt tops were created
• 14 comfort quilts were finished and PQP labels hand sewn on each
• Quilts will be delivered to the infusion unit at a Boston-based medical center in the weeks ahead by project member Sally Demler.
• Some quilts will go to Project Linus for young children facing hardship who are staying in hospitals and shelters.
• Our youngest volunteer, (almost 10-year-old) Hadley Cohen (see below) learned some quilting how to tips from mentor Helen Sicotte who has been with the project since its inception.

Young Hadley, an accomplished sewer in her own right, was excited to learn so many new things and thoroughly enjoyed color coordinating bright materials with her kitten-themed fabric squares. She plans to finish her first quilt top at the April 8 spring quilt-a-thon.

Many of our MLK Day volunteers.

Helen Sicotte at left in the yellow fleece has been a member of

The Power of the Quilt Project since its inception in 2003.

She teaches quilting at a nearly senior center and enjoys helping mentor beginners of all ages.

Hadley and her mom, Sarah. 

Beginning the fun process of piecing colorful squares together.

Talented fabric artist, Tobi Hoffman, shows off this amazing

"10-minute block" quilt top created during the quilt-a-thon.

Elizabeth Simpson, also a longtime PQP volunteer works

at hand tying a quilt top.

NOTE:

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

APRIL 8, 2017

NEXT QUILT-A-THON

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (lunch provided!)

AT THE UUAC IN SHERBORN, MASS.

To RSVP, contact PQP Coordinator Cris Crawford at

cris@theworld.com