Archive: Around Town

That's when woman of a certain maturity start gathering about 7 o'clock in the evening. They walk carefully, some using canes and others leaning on the arm of their long time friends. They don't even glance toward the big double doors or intricate stained glass windows at the front of the building. They barely take note of flowerbeds overflowing with hosta and impatiens in the lushness of fall bloom. These women are in a hurry to reach their destination - the fellowship hall at the back of the buildings where one of their number has already arrived, turned on the lights and spread out the work of the evening.

So begins another session of the "Sew n Sews” a group formed in February of 2002 to quilt and sew for others. They started out as The West Groton-East Lansing Church Quilting Circle, but soon shorted that to The West Groton Church "Sew n Sews".

The task at their most recent gathering was to sandwich and tie two baby quilts. The padded boards of the quilt frame were placed across the tops of tall chairs, clamped together at the four corners and white muslin stretched taut over the created space. After securely pinning the muslin onto the padding, the batting was patted into place, and then the colorful red and green floral baby quilt was stretched over pinned on top the other two layers. After discussing whether the red or green embroidery thread was most suitable, needles were threaded with the red and a woman on each of the four sides proceeded to carefully fasten the sandwich together with stitches in, then out and tied together on top. When the threads were all clipped to an even length all over the top, their appreciative hands "petted" their work.

While this was happening, another Sew n Sew member at a nearby sewing machine was putting the final rows on a blue baby quilt. She finished stitching on the blue one just as the red and green floral came out of the frame. The tying crew immediately turned their attention to the blue top. It took a little longer to tie, because they decided to space the ties closer together.

Plus, they had to take time off to get out their scrapbook for me to examine. Made by church member and professional scrape booker Becky Bailey, it is truly as beautiful as the projects undertaken by the Sew n Sews. Each project had been carefully photographed, sometimes in stages of completion, and often with the recipient. Thanks you notes were plentiful, tucked here, there and everywhere in the scrapbook.

It's the photographs that capture the eye, though. For instances, babies had been photographed on top of their quilts. Nursing home residents were shown with their lap robes draped over their knees as they sat in wheelchairs. One picture showed an adolescent cancer patient lying full length under her quilt, the quilt tucked up under her chin and her face displaying an ear splitting grin.

Many other of the items they've made are pictured: Christmas stockings, party favors, potholders, table runners, and place mats. They are proud of "ALWAYS" making the themed decorations for the Father/Son and Mother/Daughter banquets the church holds annually as an Outreach Project to the community.

The most ambitious project undertaken to date by the Sew n Sews also had the shortest deadline. The group made 17 lap sized quilts in less than a months time to "Honor our Heroes" on July 6, 2003. In a ceremony at the nearby Peruville New Testament Church, the Sew n Sews presented the patriotic themed red, white and blue quilts to firemen, sheriffs, policeman and other civil servants.

Yet they say they are always looking for more ways to contribute their skills to the community in the way of "Maybe we could make lap robes and walker bags for patients in VA Hospitals?" or "provide hospitals with burial clothing for abandoned, deceased babies?" Good ideas, all, and ones they will probably find themselves stitching soon.

The next major project is to hand piece and hand quilt "a real special raffle quilt" to raise funds to repair the church's smaller stained glass windows. Church records reveal the windows cost about $100.00 each in 1904 and the names of members who paid for them are etched into each. The church has received an estimate that it will require $2,000. for each window needing repair. The search is on for a very special pattern and fabric, as the Sew n Sews feel the need to produce an extra special quilt to raise that kind of money.

Members of this busy group usually piece the quilt tops at home, working individually at their own pace. The finished tops are brought to the meetings to be tied. Fully half the members do not actually sew, but "We tie real good!" explained a retired teacher, now a missionary who will be leaving next week for a stint in Puerto Rico.

The fabrics and supplies used by the Sew n Sews come from a variety of sources. They sometimes take commissions to earn money to buy what they need, plus they happily accept donations of money and materials. They were recently paid for hand quilting a top and bought themselves a freestanding quilt frame with that income. They buy the batting when it is on sale, or they have percent off coupons for it.

Or they "use up" what they have on hand. Even the non-sewers admit to collecting fabrics or owning large stashes of it. They laughingly agreed "trying to clean up all the scrapes" by piecing them into just one top is not a workable theory, but "After all," said one "we could all have worse addictions than fabric!"

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