A community sewing space like you’ve never seen
I’m just back from teaching in Midland, Texas where the quilt guild is thriving.
We had some time between the StarQuar Scrap Quilts workshop and the evening program of One Hundred Small Quilts, so I got to see the quilting studio the guild has put together for making donation quilts.
The studio is located in the Thompson Annex, aka “Thompson House,” which is owned by St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Midland. It’s a house that’s been converted for ministry use by the church, which lets the quilt guild use the space because of its tremendous community outreach.
Guild members meet every Tuesday to sew together. A recent addition was this cutting table which is about 40″ x 8′ and was built by a member’s husband. It is amazing!
Underneath are shelves for storage.
This place is powered by donations of all kinds: fabric, batting, other supplies, labor and cash.
A number of families have donated the collections of a quilter after a death. That’s when entire fat quarter bundles, rolls of strips, precuts and other treasures arrive.
Yardage is set aside, above, for use as backing. Smaller pieces are sorted by color, below.
There’s an Accuquilt workstation, too.
And there are sewing machines, of course.
Several pressing stations ensure there’s room for everyone to work efficiently.
In case you need ideas or patterns or color inspiration, there’s a library.
The whole thing is mind boggling. But it’s really impressive that a group of people are so committed to sewing for those in need.
Around 200 quilts go to a variety of groups in the community each year. And at one guild meeting annually, someone speaks about lives the quilts—and the quilters—have touched.
Every donation quilt gets a hand sewn label:
Midland Quilters Guild
Midland, Texas
I was so inspired by this group, and I hope you are, too.
Quilt on,
Tags: donation quilts, make extraordinary scrap quilts, quilt guild, quilt studio, quilts for a cause, scrap quilts, sewing space
Judy Vincent
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That is an amazing set up. Congratulations to that sewing group and church combining their resources.
Marsha
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Thanks for the great newsletter! So wonderful to read about the dedication of the community of women.
Julia Scheffelin Graves
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So cool! My community has something like this, called Station Stitchers in Purcellville Virginia and they do amazing work. I love to see people come together making quilts for the community.
Jacque Riese
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Very impressive.
Nancy Mouw
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Our group is called Threadbearers. We sew 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month in at the New Life Reformed church in Sioux Center, Iowa. In the 2.5 years we have been in existence our group has sewn over 400 quilts, the majority of which are donated to the foster care system iin the 3 counties are member come from. Our storage room looks very similar to the Midland, TX group however the church janitor puts up and takes down the tables for the room we use (wiithout Gary we wouldn’t exist). And our group is nothing compared to the group in TLC quilt group out of Algona, IA. Last year they donated over 1500 (!!) quilts to 30 ministries in their area.
Nancy Mouw
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Our group is called Threadbearers. We sew 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of every month at the New Life Reformed church in Sioux Center, Iowa. In the 2.5 years we have been in existence our group has sewn over 400 quilts, the majority of which are donated to the foster care system in the 3 counties our members come from. Our storage room looks very similar to the Midland, TX group however the church janitor puts up and takes down the tables for the room we use (wiithout Gary we couldn’t exist).
But our group is nothing compared to the group in Algona, IA. Last year TLC donated over 1500 (!!) quilts to 30 ministries in their area.
Linda Steele
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Boy had I known you were there,Midland Tx, I would have driven the 5 hours to see you! These ladies are a great group!
Diane Harris
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Oh I wish that could have happened! That would have been so much fun! I will be with Lakeview QG in Houston on September 16, but I don’t suppose that is close to you? If it is, you are welcome to come. I apologize that my knowledge of Texas geography is lacking!
Dorothy Alexander
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Blessings to all those ladies who give of themselves to the community. To rap each person in love and warmth of a quilt means so much to both.❤️