Quilting by hand, stitch by stitch has become a lost trade. Larger, more efficient machines have taken over what careful hands had previously took the time to do. Not many people still quilt regularly but six Calhoun County ladies do.
Ready to go with their thimbles and sewing needles in hand, the women of the Pieces and Patches Club meet every other Monday to work together on a quilting project.
The club has been around for about a decade now and has made countless quilts of all different patterns and designs. The members said every quilt is unique.
The current members include: Millie Goforth, Eva Covington, Peggy Ramsey, Judy Starks, Audrey Cook, and Holly Thompson.
Most everyone knew how to quilt before joining Pieces and Patches. They had learned the trade from their grandmothers, moms, or sisters.
I’ve been quilting since 1980,” Covington said. “I’ve been sewing all of my life. That’s where I learned to use a needle and thimble.”
For others, this is their first time quilting and they’re learning as they go.
“When I started coming over here, I didn’t even know how to quilt,” Starks said. “My mother always did. When I started I wasn’t too good but I was learning something.”
No matter the quilt, it’s always a team effort. The club is mostly a hobby for the members. Right now, it’s girl time to catch up every couple of weeks and just relax and quilt.
They don’t follow a strict time line of what quilts need to be finished when and they design with what resources they have.
“These were donated to us and we just said, ‘Okay, we’ll put it together,’” Goforth said pointing to the current project, a quilt with green apples.
Their last quilt was a butterfly design, where someone had donated the material with the butterflies already cut out. Their next project will be one of random pieces and cuts that they had.
Ramsey said once the club finishes a project, they’re already excited and thinking about what else to get started on.
“It’s like ‘what’s the next one?” she said with a smile.
The group donates a quilt to the Calhoun County Nursing Home in Calhoun City and the Bruce Community Living center every year. They’ve also donated quilts to quilt shows in the past or make them for each other.
Anyone is welcome to join Pieces and Patches.
Goforth said since the quilting machines have pushed out the traditional way of quilting by hand with a large wooden frame, the club is a unique opportunity for the community to get involved in and she encourages them to do so.
The club meets at 1 p.m. every other Monday at the Multi-Purpose Building in Pittsboro. Their next meeting is June 27.