Two fellow Ashland residents, Tobi Hoffman and Dorothy Nail, joined me for the The Power of the Quilt Project’s Spring Quilt-a-thon held early last month at the Unitarian Universalist Area Church (UUAC), First Parish, Sherborn.
About a dozen volunteers from five surrounding towns enjoyed a day of creating comfort quilt tops, sandwiching tops with batting and flannel backing, hand-sewing labels on completed quilts and sorting, measuring and cutting colorful fabric squares, borders and binding strips into take-home quilt top kits.
The Power of the Quilt Project, founded in 2003, is one of many service and justice ministries of the UUAC. Since its inception, volunteers have provided more than 2,200 quilts to individuals undergoing chemotherapy treatments at a Boston-based medical center. Smaller quilts are donated to Project Linus for young children staying in hospital or at shelters.
Folks at the quilt-a-thon have varying reasons as to why they give back.
As a cancer survivor, myself, I enjoy this opportunity to combine a passion for sewing, creating and sharing with others, and it gives me great joy to think that each quilt I make brings a little comfort to a person facing difficult times.
Tobi Hoffman is a talented fabric artist and long-time art quilter who is associated with the Framingham Artists Guild. She has an amazing eye for combining bright, bold colors in unique patterns that are very pleasing to the eye and always bring a smile to one’s face.
Previously residing in Illinois, Dorothy Nail made quilts for years to benefit the Lutheran World Relief and now enjoys making charity comfort quilts for men and women here.
At day’s end, 16 comfort quilts were completed; four received the finishing touch of a project label; and nearly 40 quilt top kits were created. Additionally, five sandwiched quilts were readied for Longarm quilting by Creative Longarm Partners of Marlborough, a husband-wife team who have generously offered to machine quilt these lap robes at no fee.
Volunteers of all ages and abilities are welcome at each of the three quilt-a-thons hosted by the UUAC during the year. The next day-long event will be Saturday, Oct. 28. Food and refreshments are available, and folks are welcome to join for a few hours or all day. For more information, contact Coordinator Cris Crawford at cris@theworld.com or visit powerofthequilt.blogspot.com.
Issue Date:
May, 2017
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