Wherever we've lived I joined a quilt guild. Finding a guild meant I would find others interested in doing things I love to do while sharing ideas and techniques. It also gave me the opportunity to hear some award-winning quilters who attended our guild meetings for lectures, demonstrations and classes. Friends from my Oak Creek guild joined me on my first trip to the huge quilt show in Paducah a few years ago. Quilters are the friendliest of people….sorry - I know I'm a bit prejudiced in this opinion!
Every guild chooses some kind of community or charity effort and members of The North Shore Quilters Guild make colorful quilts for babies at area hospitals. The quilts go to the neonatal intensive care units to provide color and warmth for the littlest of babies. The small quilts actually partially "drape" over the incubators to help control the amount of light that reaches the baby….but they are also small enough to allow medical staff and parents to reach inside to care for the little ones.
Every year we have a two day work-shop where we crank out the quilts. This year we completed about 125 quilts! Members also make quilts during the year and turn them in at the monthly meetings, but this two day event is a group effort. The room fills with the hum of sewing machines, conversations, laughter….and happy work.
When you walk across the room with a finished quilt and add it to the growing pile you get to ring a bell and everyone claps. The pile grows throughout the day.
Over the years the guild has been able to deliver more than one thousand quilts. And they are much appreciated.
How much love and comfort does this small quilt really provide? Maybe just enough for the baby in the incubator and the loving family standing by…..one more day spent in the NICU….one day closer to going home.
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