Lincoln Quilt Guild Celebrates 40th Anniversary

 

[August 22, 2023] 

The Quilters at Heart Quilt Guild marked 40 years at their July meeting this summer, but don’t confuse Lincoln’s Quilt Guild with your great-grandma’s quilting bee. This dynamic group contributes a great wealth of community service, sponsors community events, hosts educational presentations, plans trips, makes handicrafts, and, of course, quilts exquisite quilts and quilted pieces of all kinds: art pieces, lap quilts, wall hangings, baby quilts, table runners, shoulder bags, pillows, Christmas stockings, as well as the traditional bedspreads. Let’s just say, if it is made of fabric, a quilter has quilted it.

And if these quilters have quilted it, they also have likely given a good portion of it to a worthy charity. At the opening of their July meeting, Leslie Keller, representing Head Start, brought thanks from the preschool teachers of the Head Start program. This summer the Quilt Guild made and donated 79 cot sheets for use during the children’s nap time. With daily use and washing, these mattress coverings can wear out quickly. Keller reported that the Quilt Guild’s donation saved Head Start $1,300. This amount does not include children’s quilts also made and donated by the Quilt Guild earlier this year for the same purpose. Head Start teachers had already relayed to Quilt Guild Co-president Andrea Tibbs how much they appreciated these child-size quilts featuring dinosaurs and choo-choo trains and that they are often used as rewards for good behavior. The best behaved earns first choice of quilts for nap time!

Some of the quilts donated to Head Start

Keller further went on to explain that the donation of cot sheets not only saved Head Start money, but also helped fulfill the government requirement of “In Kind.” Keller explained that because Head Start receives $1 million from the government, the program is required to find $1 million from other sources. The Quilt Guild’s donation also helps in that way, she said.

Following Keller’s update, Co-President Tibbs introduced Quilt Guild charter member Grace Wibben who told the story of the Quilt Guild’s formation in 1983.

Charter member Grace Wibben

Wibben reminded the group of what many long-time residents of Lincoln will also remember– the current Lincoln Amtrak train station served as the site of The Depot restaurant for many years. Along with the restaurant, she explained, the building also contained several shops, including a quilt shop run by Judy Katz.

Katz’s shop sold fabric, patterns, and Amish quilts and hosted a quilting class taught by Georgia Green in the fall of 1982. The Quilters at Heart Guild grew out of this class. Wibben took her mother-in-law to the quilting class and first meetings of the Quilt Guild, knowing her mother-in-law would enjoy it. Wibben’s sister, Roberta Ingram, also joined the new Quilt Guild as one of about ten charter members.

Wibben herself had little interest in quilting at the time because all individual pieces of fabric were cut and sewn by hand. Wibben had no interest in the tedium (not to mention hand-cramping) of that amount of cutting by hand. Then the new Quilt Guild went to a demonstration in Gibson City where they were introduced to the rotary cutter and everything changed.

Invented by Yoshio Okada in 1979, the rotary cutter looks like a small pizza cutter. This invention was nearly as revolutionary to quilting as the introduction of the modern sewing machine 140 years earlier. Suddenly quilters had a razor-sharp circular blade that could slice through multiple layers of fabric with a single swipe of your arm! Wibben became a quilter.

Co-President Tibbs picked up the narrative after Wibben’s account of the beginnings and offered a retrospective of the many charities they have supported, their community participation, and a reflection on what has changed and what has stayed the same in the decades since sewing their first stitch together. The quilters are rightfully proud of their history and community.

Tibbs presented an extensive list of charities Quilters at Heart have supported. They have sewn baby quilts for St. Jude’s, Project Linus, and the Pregnancy Resource Center, in addition to Head Start. They have made patriotic lap quilts for veterans at St. Clara’s Manor, Christmas stockings for active military, and Quilts of Valor for wounded service members. They have quilted lap quilts and birthday quilts for nursing home residents.

Crocheted caps made by Donna Becke
for donation to hospice

They have made quilts and afghans for hospice. They created a giant Christmas tree skirt and ornaments for the rotunda Christmas tree at the Logan County Courthouse. They have donated quilts for fundraising raffles to Mt. Pulaski Courthouse Foundation and Toys for Tots, as well as items to the Oasis Senior Center. It is worth noting that all fabric for these projects is donated by members as well as their time, and the batting (the layer between the quilt top and the backing) is purchased with members’ annual dues.

Further participation in the community over the past 40 years has included hand quilting demonstrations at the Railsplitter and Balloon Festivals, hosting craft shows, and offering classes on machine sewing and various quilting and sewing techniques. The Guild has also organized quilt shows at Castle Manor, Railsplitter Festival, and Postville Courthouse. They have taken bus trips to Davenport, Iowa and Indianapolis, Indiana for quilt shows and to Rosemont for the International Quilt Festival.

After sharing the history of the Guild, the July meeting continued with the Challenge Raffle. The Challenge Raffle has existed almost since the Quilt Guild’s inception. At each meeting, those interested will donate one dollar in exchange for some of the pieces to a quilt block and a pattern to follow.

July’s Challenge Raffle quilt block

Before the next meeting, each member who enters the raffle will sew her Challenge quilt block following the same pattern as all the others who entered the raffle that month and then bring the completed block to the next meeting. Each raffle participant’s name is entered into a drawing, and the winner receives all the completed quilt blocks ready to be sewn together into a new quilt top, plus any extra Challenge quilt block pieces.

After members collected their Challenge Raffle quilt block of the month, the meeting continued with a review of upcoming quilt shows in the Midwest by Co-President Helen Knecht, a brief Treasurer’s Report and Committee Reports, and then the activity of the night: the Make and Take.

With a theme of “Christmas in July,” the quilters made adorable Christmas ornaments demonstrated by Margie Sheley.

Margie Sheley leads the “Christmas in July”
craft project

Learning new techniques and crafts, discovering new items on the market, and other educational presentations has also been part of Quilt Guild meetings since the beginning. Other presentations over the past year have included the history of thimbles, crocheted rag rugs, wool applique, and a guest quilt appraiser.

Toward the end of each meeting is Show and Tell, in which members bring in recently finished projects for the group to enjoy and admire. Members also brought previous projects and works-in-progress to the July meeting as part of the 40th anniversary observance.

Jennifer Helm brought a quilted wall hanging she made for the 30th anniversary of the Quilt Guild in 2013. It features 30 fabrics, 30 hearts, 1930’s fabric, and is 30 inches in diagonal.

Other quilters brought items intended for entry into the Logan County Fair and Illinois State Fair Textile Division.

“Windy Hill Farm” by Sandy Wilkerson
won First Prize and Best of Class
at the Logan County Fair

Several quilters brought pieces made for family or friends, or a vintage quilt, and several brought in quilts-in-progress started and donated by beloved charter member Virginia Kendrick, who has been unable to attend recently. Kendrick’s passion for quilting as well as her creative and whimsical designs and prolific production has been an inspiration to the Guild for many years.

Photos from 2018 and 2022 Virginia Kendrick displaying some of her work

This active organization boasts members of all ages, and many members attend with their sisters, mothers, or other family members.

Quilters at Heart Quilt Guild meets the last Thursday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Oasis Senior Center. The next meeting will be August 24. The Quilt Guild warmly welcomes visitors and new members all year. Anyone interested not only in quilting, but any sewing, needlecraft, textile or fiber arts would enjoy the Quilt Guild. More information and photos of an array of member-made quilts can be found on the Quilters at Heart Guild social media page.

[Stephanie Hall]