For our May meeting, we asked Nancy to teach us the basics of quilting. This was one of the main things that the sisters had said that they wanted to learn how to do when we passed out our “interest” surveys last year. Initially, Nancy was going to have us learn how to quilt by having us work on baby quilts which would then be donated to a local hospital. Then, she got an idea for a project that was a little closer to home.
Last year, one of the sisters in our ward lost her teenaged (still in high school) brother. His death was totally unexpected and had a profound effect on many people in the area. This sister had several of his t-shirts and was going to hire someone to make a quilt from them. Although our quilt might not be as perfect as a professionally made quilt, Nancy thought it might be more meaningful if the sisters in the ward worked together to make a quilt to honor the life of this young man.
Nancy collected the t-shirts and then before the night of the activity she cut out the actual panels from the t-shirts herself (she has been quilting for several years now, and she is VERY proficient). Nancy then used some iron-on interfacing to back each of the t-shirt panels, making them a little sturdier and a little less stretchy for quilting. The young man’s sister found some fabric that she liked for the side panels and the backing.
On the night of our activity, participants were divided into “teams”, led by the more experienced quilters/seamstresses. We got to take turns cutting fabric for the borders (for me, this is one of the scariest parts – I cut about as well as I take pictures – so I just watched). Here is Nancy teaching a couple of the sisters how to use the rotary cutter and mat:
Once the border strips were cut, everyone got to take a turn at the sewing machine and each sister did a little sewing:
Nancy put the pieces on the board to give everyone an idea of what it will look like when it is finished (too bad the photographer can't take a clear photo to save her life):
Of course, even a big group can’t do a quilt in one night, so there are more quilting activities planned for the near future. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and it was so wonderful to have an activity where we were not only introduced to a new skill, but we had the chance to work on something that would have great meaning to someone we care about! Many thanks to Nancy and all of the team leaders for sharing their talents with us!
