In stitches

Story, photo, Alison Brownlee

Walking into Chalmers United Church in South River some Wednesday nights can feel a lot like walking into a high-profile board meeting.

But instead of high-flying executives clutching BlackBerrys and flipping through agendas, these meetings have women of varying ages sitting around a long table cutting quilting squares and searching through sewing kits.

The Almaguin Quilt Guild meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month. With about 24 active members, the group never tires of sharing ideas – nor does it run out of projects.

For example, at one meeting the group displayed five large and colourful rag quilts it had pieced together for charitable causes. At the same meeting, stacks of uncut fabric sat at the centre of the long table waiting to be claimed, cut and quilted by guild members for the next round of charitable giveaways.

The guild has had a humanitarian agenda since its humble beginnings over 20 years ago. Joyce Lang and Lorraine Yandon founded the group in 1989, but back then it was called the Almaguin Needlework Guild and it met in Sundridge.

Five members – Sharon Tipper, Andrea Percival, Joan Pinkerton, Pat Smith and Phyllis Robins – have been with the group for nearly, if not all, of the 21 years.

Robins, who has been with the group since the very beginning, says each member had an interest in fabric crafts and they got together to share creative ideas with each other. Quilting eventually became the dominant art form the group members focused on and the name change followed shortly thereafter.

Of the charity aspect, longtime member Tipper says, “It’s always been a part of what we do.”

They gave the example of making cuddle quilts, which they say are given to children after accidents, so the children can feel safe and warm. Donating quilts has also been a large part of the group’s mandate. But it seems to be the sentimental and nostalgic aspect of quilting that draws some people to the craft.

“We always had quilts on our beds growing up so I guess that’s why I got involved,” says longtime member Percival.

When asked why they joined the group, each gave a different answer.

“To share knowledge,” says Tipper.

“And also for the friendship,” says Smith.

“We’ve had some good times, too,” says Percival with a smile.

And the good times have happened while making dozens of intricate pieces of practical artwork, many of which are a point of pride for the guild’s members.

For example, during the October meeting, member Mallory Slingerland presented a massive – and gorgeous – quilt that she had spent nine months creating. It’s primarily cream coloured with earth-tone stars and diamonds stitched onto it. The boarder is blue and it is large enough to fit a double bed comfortably.

Slingerland says her quilt took first place at the 2010 Powassan Fall Fair and also landed first place at the Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies’ District 11 regional meeting held in Foley, Ont. this year. Because of its victories, Slingerland’s quilt will be presented at the association’s 2011 convention held in Toronto.

After Slingerland unfurled her quilt and earned much praise from the guild members, she gave them some advice: have your quilts appraised.

Once the quilt was finished, she decided to have it appraised for insurance reasons. She was told the replacement value of the piece she had worked so diligently on was $1,750. Past president Joan Pinkerton also presented a beautiful quilt she made for her daughter’s wedding and her quilt was appraised at $1,500.

“It’s worth the $50 appraisal,” Slingerland calmly told her shocked listeners.

And Slingerland’s blue-ribbon quilt has quilt guild origins. She says it was a product of last year’s mystery quilt project, which was spearheaded by fellow member Deanna Weiler.

At each meeting, Weiler presents a piece of a pattern and instructions to the group. Each member then picks her own fabric colours and starts putting a quilt together piece by piece without knowing what the end product will look like. The result is dozens of unique quilts based on the same basic design.

Guild member Barb Pearce made a quilt with a similar pattern to Slingerland’s but it was a quarter of the size of Weiler’s original pattern. When Pearce unveiled it for the group, her intricate work was met with gasps of surprise and awe.

All of the members, whether they are from Huntsville, North Bay, Sundridge, South River, Powassan, Trout Creek, Callander or elsewhere, support and motivate each other. Several members told the story of when a fellow quilter’s house burnt down last year and the guild did what it could by throwing a party. During the event, the group presented her with a specially made quilt.

Guild members also work together to create most of their cozy coverings. To complete a quilt, the top has to be pieced together using different colours or types of fabric. The second step is to sew, or quilt, the pieced top to a bottom layer, and the quilting stitch can either be purely functional or decorative. Both steps can be very elaborate and intricate, making for a very impressive piece of artwork.

The Almaguin Quilt Guild is somewhat lucky in that it has three quilters, or members who help others by taking their pieced tops and quilting in the final stitches. Some smaller guilds have their tops sent to quilt shops to have them finished off.

Some quilts, however, do not use a pieced top. These are called whole cloth quilts and guild member Louise LaPointe displayed a gorgeous example of what that looks like. What blew members away with the large white fabric quilt with white stitching was that LaPointe did not use a machine to quilt the fabric – she spent 110 hours stitching it by hand.

And the members’ creativity and dedication doesn’t end there. At the same meeting, Kim Boaro presented an in-progress project that had yet to be quilted. She had created slightly larger-than-life pictures of her son and daughter’s eyes out of pieces of fabric, which she had dyed herself.

When asked how long the project took her, she smiles slightly and says, “Everything takes time.”

Boaro also says the first guild she became a part of was the Cactus Patchers chapter of the Arizona Quilters Guild. That guild has 49 chapters and Boaro says during her time with it her chapter had anywhere between 75–90 members.

Of the Almaguin Quilt Guild, she says she likes the smaller group.

“It’s a nice guild. It’s very cozy,” she says. “It’s not politically correct, it’s relaxed and that’s what I want.”

And the informal tone of the group comes through in its meetings. At one point, member Suzette Payne presented a bright, dynamic quilt she had pieced together for her daughter and also mentioned to the group that Slingerland had quilted it for her.

“You’ve had this for how long?” asks Payne of her quilter.

“Since April of ’09 but you said you weren’t in a hurry,” replies Slingerland, which is met by bursts of laughter from those around the table.

That type of camaraderie punctuates every meeting, emphasizing the bond the group has with each other despite meeting only once a month as a large group. It is a bond that it built through helping each other complete projects, providing one another with creative feedback and appreciating the work each person does.