Postponed to a later date because of the snowstorm: Upcoming workshop: Saturday, February 25
A Learn to Quilt and Make New Friends Workshop
12:00noon to 3 pm
Working with the support of the Episcopal Church Women of Grace, the Guild of St. Mary gathers most Saturdays each month to sew, quilt, crochet and knit projects for outreach. The group also gathers to work on individual projects or to learn new skills. Anyone interested in learning how to make a quilt is most welcome to come and visit or attend one of our learning workshops.
There are several components to the Guild that make it integral to the life of our parish and an example of the many different and creative ways we do ministry and outreach at Grace.
We make quilts and blankets to give to those who need them.
Since 2003, we have been making quilts and blankets to give to Bradley Angle House, a program that provides shelter and related services for women and children escaping domestic violence. After a special blessing during the 10:00 am service on December 6, 2015, about 40 new and unique quilts and blankets were presented to Bradley Angle just in time for Christmas.
We sponsor the quilt project for Grace’s annual Grace Art Faire & Holiday Bazaar.
This quilt project is a multi-faceted work of art involving collaboration and creative challenge. It is raffled off at the December Grace Art Faire & Bazaar.
In 2015, the annual quilt “This Fragile Earth – Our Island Home” featured traditional Pacific Island paper cutout designs in batik in contemporary purples and greens with light stars in the sashing. The inspiration comes from Eucharistic Prayer C in the Book of Common Prayer. The long-arm quilting was completed by master quilter Pat Roche in a Celtic lattice design to support overall concept.
In 2015, the group also made smaller rose-themed quilt for the Grace Community Auction.
We treasure our relationships with one another.
Having just completed our nineteenth year, we find that getting together to work on outreach quilts, joint projects or on our own tasks in the company of others who represent a wide range of age groups is a great blessing and joy! We meet most Saturdays in the Mason Burnham Room at Grace, and we have had the pleasure of welcoming several new and returning quilters this past year for a total of about 15 members. St. Mary’s welcomes women of all ages and skill levels to join us, and, if you are a beginner, we will teach you what you need to know! It is also a very welcoming place for mothers and daughters.
In January and February of 2015 we offered our first “Pray. Learn to Quilt. Laugh. Eat. Repeat Workshops” to help us jump start our 2015 project. Both events were great fun, well attended and even attracted some new members! We will definitely be hosting similar events again in 2016!
In 2015, our work was greatly assisted by donated materials. (We do welcome donations of 100% quilt weight cotton fabric or 100% cotton flannel, and it is important to note that we believe there is almost no such thing as ugly fabric.) Cash donations, including a generous $500 grant from ECW, were used to purchase additional supplies such as thread, and quilt batting as well as backing and finishing fabrics.
For more information, contact Mariann Koop-McMahon.