Sew Happy
Chatham Parks & Recreation and these cheerful quilters keep each other in stitches!
Sunshine pours through big windows into the large, light-filled room, splashing over a tumble of bright odds and ends that are in the process of becoming vibrant works of art. An upbeat mix of music pours through the open office door in Lake Mayer’s Community Center, “I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day…” and “ABC, easy as 123!” and “Got a black magic woman…” providing an oddly perfect soundtrack for the quiet whirring of sewing machines and the lively chatter and laughter of the women concocting something out of bits of nothing. The real sunshine in the room, though, comes from within each of these women, who gather weekly to sew.
Some of them stitch cheery cottons into pillowcases for children who spend too many nights in hospital beds. The great variety of prints they use allow young hospital patients to pick pillowcases that say something about who they are behind the hospital masks and the tubes and the wires – Batman, Elmo, Baby Yoda or Bluey; pawprints, paisleys, or polkadots; racecars or trucks, daisies or dinosaurs. The pillowcases are a little bit of familiar comfort for them. Children who have recurrent hospital stays pick out a new pillowcase each time, and when those hospital visits are all over, some even have them made into quilts to document that chapter of their lives.
Currently there’s a competition among the sewing ladies, for who can make the most pillowcases by the end of the month. The stacks of pressed cases are tall and getting taller. The prize is a very special notions case from a guild member who has passed away. “It’s a very special case, and we all want it, so that’s what we’re competing for.” Still, they gladly tell each other how many they’ve made so far, hoping to spur each other to make just one more, “and then everybody wins.”
Another passion project that’s sometimes in production in the room is a “Quilt of Valor.” A Quilt of Valor® is a handmade quilt of the best possible workmanship that is awarded to a Service Member or Veteran who has been touched by war. The red, white, and blue Quilt of Valor says unequivocally, “Thank you for your service and sacrifice in serving our nation.” This group’s current Quilt of Valor has been meticulously pieced, and the quilt top is now ready to be handed off to other craftswomen who will back the quilt and cover it with beautiful stitching to finish it as a quilt. It will then be donated to the Quilts Of Valor Foundation to be recorded and awarded to a deserving recipient.
Some of the quilts made by the ladies of this group have won awards of their own! Although they have only been meeting at Chatham County Parks & Recreation facilities for a couple of years, the ladies have developed a mutual admiration society with their hosts. So much so that Parks & Recreation thought
their work deserved to be seen and appreciated by a broader audience – so they provided a bus to take forty of the ladies and their quilts to the Georgia National Fair in Perry, Georgia. “And that’s how we got all these ribbons!” They are rightfully proud of the recognition for their craftsmanship. Some won awards for large, exquisite quilts; some won for charming quarterly projects, like crisp quilted vests or tote bags or handmade angels dressed in gowns made from the remnants of the softest old quilts. These varied works of art are not your grandmother's quilts, but they’re the stuff of heirlooms, for sure.
Some of their quilts are showpieces, and some are very personal pieces, perhaps made from fabric left to them by
a loved one. All of them are made with love, and it’s a love that they’re more than happy to share with others. Anyone who enjoys sewing is encouraged to join them, to work on group projects or on personal projects. Even those who think they might enjoy sewing but who don’t yet have the skills or the equipment are encouraged to come sit in with them – they have lots to teach, and they have spare sewing machines to learn on.
Check out the Lake Mayor Community Center and the Frank G Murray Center calendars for when the quilters and sewers gather, and make a note in your own calendar to drop in – the more the merrier. They’ll be happy to sew with you, chat with you, and laugh with you. They’ll be happy to share their skills, and they’d be very happy for you to share any usable fabric with them. Their unofficial motto is, afterall, “Yes, I need more fabric!” A primary need is new cotton material for the pillowcases, in prints that appeal to children, but other materials and other forms of support are welcomed as well. In fact, one of the quilts that went to the fair was a beauty named “No Scrap Left Behind,” a spiderweb pieced quilt made from all the little bits left from other projects . . . stitched together no doubt with a little bit of sunshine and maybe just a bit of magic.
