Community Activities
The Quilters by the Sea
guild participates
in several
activities for the
benefit of our
community,
including:
Shelter Quilt Project
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The Quilters by the Sea Guild made and delivered over 70 quilts to the Good
Shepherd Homeless Shelter. Katrina Knight, Executive Director, Verna Mansfield, Administrative Director and Connie Foster, Office Manager accepted the quilts. The quilts were made from fabrics in our collections, to sizes determined by the Good Shepherd staff. More than 25 QBTS members contributed to the Shelter Quilt Project.
It was the genesis of Good Shepherd Ministries when the Church of the Good Shepherd opened its parish hall to serve the homeless a lunch of soup and a sandwich in 1983. From those small beginnings the soup
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Some of the Quilters By the Sea guild members who
contributed to the Shelter Quilt Project. |
Good Shepherd staff (left to right): Katrina Knight, Executive Director; Verna Mansfield, Administrative Director; Connie Foster, Office Manager |
kitchen eventually grew to serve an average of more than 150 per day. Because of this growth, the soup kitchen moved from its original site in to the new, overnight facility at 811 Martin Street.
The Good Shepherd House provides a safe, clean place for those without a home. The Day Shelter guests may use the shelter as their home Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. Showers and toiletries are available as well as clean clothes. A phone is available for our guests to find work, make appointments, or to contact friends and relatives. The shelter is also the address where one may receive mail. Donated books in the library provide a source of relaxation and learning for guests. A computer is also available to
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| write letters or job resumes. The shelter director is on call to answer questions and to refer guests to health and human services agencies. Counselors from Southeastern Mental Health Center are co-located with the day shelter. They provide services such as mental health support and drug and alcohol counseling.
The Soup Kitchen is co-located with the day shelter at 811 Martin Street. Meals are served at regular hours daily, beginning with breakfast from 7 to 8 a.m. and a nourishing hot meal from 11 a.m. until noon.
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Storybook Quilt Project
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Quiltermakers display some of the completed storybook quilts
a Quilters
By The Sea guild meeting.
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As part of their Community Outreach project, Quilters By The Sea Guild in Wilmington, NC, presented the New Hanover County Library system with a cornucopia of storybooks and matching quilts. Funded by a grant from North Carolina Quilt Symposium, Inc. (NCQSI), the group purchased about 30 children’s storybooks featuring quilts in the stories. They then created small quilts to match the books’ illustrations, which were donated to the Library.
The collection is aimed at elementary school students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade and covers a wide variety of topics and reading levels. The subject matter in the collection covers all walks of life, through various historical periods in this country, including the Civil War and present day. Included are topics covering race and gender discrimination, loneliness, the illness or death of a grandparent, problem solving skills, cooperation, family issues when mom and dad are employed outside the home, and the sustaining value of a loving relationship.
The books will be circulated through area schools and enjoyed by hundreds of children and teachers alike. The goal of the project is to provide a means of sharing quilts and the art of quiltmaking with our youngest generation.
Neo-Natal Quilt Project
Since 1996, members of Quilters By The Sea have made and donated over 1,000 baby quilts to the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit at New Hanover Regional Hospital. These quilts are placed over the isolets of the babies in crisis, not only to block out the light and noise of the unit, but also to lift the spirits of the parents and staff. The quilts go home with the babies when they are released.
This is the
criteria:
The size of the
neo-natal quilts
should be a minimum
of 40" x 40", there
is no maximum,
bigger is okay.
The hospital
prefers a dark
backing, but it
doesn't have to be
black, brown, dark
green, etc., just
not a real light
color. If it's a
print that's okay,
just so it doesn't
have a really light
background.
(Actually, they are
so happy to get the
quilts, that they
won't turn anything
down.)
They should be
quilted close enough
to withstand a good
washing.
No embellishments
or ties should be
used.
Kisses and Hugs for
Soldiers
Quilters By The Sea members
are now working to
make our soldiers
more comfortable by
joining the Hugs
project.
The Hugs Project
is committed to
improving life for
our dedicated U.S.
Military. It's
"mission" is to give
a "hug" (handmade
items for warmth or
cooling depending on
season) to every
American serving in
the Middle East. We
want every deployed
troop American
civilian to know we
support their
mission to protect
our freedoms & to
provide freedom to
the people of the
Middle East. This is
our way of saying
"Thank you, we
appreciate you for
the difficult job
you do". If
you would like to
read more go to
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheHugsProject/
You can just read
the summary or you
can join the group
to get access to all
the files that show
up at the left of
the screen. Those
files contain a lot
of the info,
instructions and
needs for our
soldiers.
To find
instructions
for the
Hugs, which are the
cooling neckties the
solders wear around
their necks and the
Kisses, which are
round beanies that
fit inside their
helmet to cool the
top of their head
click here.
Women helping Women
Women Helping Women
NCQSI has provided
funds in the amount
of $1000.00 for a
community based
project. This
came to our guild as
part of hosting last
year’s symposium.
After reviewing
potential projects
we decided to work
in conjunction with
Wilmington’s
Domestic Violence
Shelter. Last year
1100 women and
children passed
through their doors
in search of
immediate
assistance. About
eighty women most
with children called
the shelter home
until they were able
to find their way to
independent living.
This is the group we
hope to help.
Diane Lomax,
Executive Director
thinks providing a
quilt to each family
as they leave the
shelter would
provide a feeling of
support and warmth.
It would be
unrealistic to ask
our member to make
full, queen, king or
even twin size
quilts so we’ve
settled on lap size
quilts. They can be
used to cover a
small child for
extra warmth, to
cuddle with on the
couch or even as a
wall hanging.
Here’s how the
program works, any
member willing to
make a lap size
quilt, approximately
60 x 60” will
receive $25.00.
Larger quilts are
also welcome. This
is not like the cot
quilt program where
anything was
acceptable. While
there were many
exceptionally
beautiful quilts,
most were made with
the goal to provide
warmth. All we ask
is for quilts made
with love using
perhaps your
favorite blocks and
good quality
materials. We are
not asking for
receipts as many of
us already have a
good stash of
fabric. If you have
a suitable “like
new” quilt of any
size to donate,
we’ll be happy to
accept it.
Our
NCQSI grant will
cover the first 40
quilts. At the May
meeting members will
be asked to vote on
matching the grant
with funds from our
symposium earnings
account. If we vote
in favor of matching
funds, there will be
enough money for a
second batch of 40
quilts, which means
for one year every
family that leaves
the center on their
journey to
independent living,
will receive a large
hug in the form a
quilt from our
guild.
Shelter quilts will
be collected at
every meeting
starting in July. I
will record your
name and the
treasurer, Marie
Anne Coadic will
send you a check for
$25 shortly
afterward. It would
be too confusing to
not provide payment
to every donor, so
every one will get a
check. If you don’t
want or need the
money donate it to
the Domestic
Violence Shelter or
charity of your
choice and take the
tax deduction.
To
be fair we will
limit the $25 payout
to one per member,
however if after six
months there aren’t
many quilts coming
in we may provide
previous donors a
second opportunity.
As
an incentive to get
us started we have
received enough
batting from The
Warm Company for the
first 28 lap size
quilts. I will also
have 8 packages of
queen size Fairfield
polyester batting if
you care to make a
larger quilt. If you
need/want one of
these, there will be
a sign in sheet at
the May meeting. It
is expected these
quilts would be made
within 6 months or
by the November
meeting.
Ideas for making the
quilts:
1.
Use fabrics to
appeal to children
or women
2.
10 inch blocks – six
across by six down.
No borders or
sashing.
3.
10 inch quilt as you
go blocks would work
nicely especially if
you selected the
color palette rather
than just
randomly add strips.
4.
10 inch blocks –
five across by five
down, with 5” outer
border(s)
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