Community Outreach

  • When there is a 5th Wednesday in the month, the Guild holds a SPECIAL SIT-N-SEW.  5th Wednesdays are dedicated to supporting our Community Outreach/Comfort Quilts Program! We provide the project, pattern, fabric, batting, etc – you provide the labor (and the FUN!)
    • 5th Wednesdays are held at the Belknap Mill, 3rd Floor
    • 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
    • Bring your sewing machine and sewing tools, and neutral thread (you might want to throw in some color threads to match fabrics, if top-stitching is involved)
    • Bring lunch and your own beverage container.

    2023 has FOUR 5th Wednesdays:

    Aug 30:  TBA
    Nov 29:  TBA

    Check out the pictures below!

  • Comfort Quilts

    Comfort Quilt KitsIf you've never made a comfort quilt for the guild, please consider doing so!  If it's been a while, I encourage you to make another one!  No need to purchase fabric, or dip into your own stash!  We have KITS! The comfort quilt kits are
    1. BEAUTIFUL!
    2. EASY
    3. CONVENIENT
    4. BEAUTIFUL!  (It's worth repeating.)
    These 3-yard patterns (plus backing and binding) will surprise you with how quickly they go together.  The fabrics are gorgeous - perfectly matched/selected by Ginny Canning, who has a real talent for picking just the right designs/collections. These comfort quilts are truly a JOY to make!  So if you want to RECEIVE some comfort in the process of GIVING some comfort - please consider picking up a comfort quilt kit.  The kits are now at Katie Haddock's home or can be dropped off in a distribution bin close to you - just let Katie know!
    MARCH 2021
    COMFORT QUILTS – We recently donated 12 more quilts to Belknap County Nursing Home.  They were so very grateful!  I know I say that about ALL of our recipients, but it’s true!  Here’s a sample of some of the thank you notes the Guild has recently received.

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    Completed Comfort Quilts ready for delivery!
    COMFORT QUILTS - At Thanksgiving, Ila Mattila, Michele Slock and I made up and logged in 60 new Comfort Quilt kits.  We’ve placed them in the distribution bins, and just like magic, the Guild’s amazing quilting elves have stitched them into beautiful quilts!  We have fewer than 20 left, and will be scheduling another kit-making day soon.            

    THANK YOU to everyone who has taken on a comfort quilt!  I know this is a busy time of year, when we all have a bunch of personal projects to finish, gifts for family and friends.  Still the Belknap Mill Quilters Guild continues to pay it forward!!  Thank you!!! 

    A special thank you to Lynn Poulin, who has stepped up as an “unofficial” member of the Comfort Quilt committee.  She’s (officially) a Comfort Quilt piecing MACHINE!  We appreciate all the hard work behind the scenes!

    Thanks to our dedicated members, the Guild has been able to donate Comfort Quilts to the following organizations: 
    • Belknap County Nursing Home – 25 quilts
    •  Meals on Wheels – 20 quilts
    • Lakes Region Community Services – 12 quilts
    • CORE—Corrections Opportunity for Recovery and Education—2 quilts
    • New Beginnings – 10 quilts (and there’s more on the way!!!)
  • SEPTEMBER 2021​
    Picture
    "A Spaulding quilt for Casey.  Pieced by Katie Haddock, quilted by Diane Orlowski, and bound by Carol Jerry.  What a great team effort!"
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    "A little shy, but Casey loves the quilt!"
    MAY 
    THE SPAULDING CONNECTION CONTINUES – April was Autism Awareness Month, and our friends at The Spaulding Academy used this special time to reach out, pay it forward, and honor local supporting organizations.  The residents of the Wednesday House at Spaulding chose to honor the Belknap Mill Quilters Guild for providing their wonderful quilts!  The kids made a banner, painted a large “Thank You” canvas, and made treats to share with the Guild (cookies are in the freezer, and will be available at the Mill during the May 12 Membership meeting.) What a great way to show their appreciation!

    ​THANK YOU to everyone who completed a Spaulding quilt –to include some special Guild angels (Kim Gregoire, Diane Malcolm, and Diane Orlowski)  who quilted Spaulding quilts that were pieced by others.  Many hands make BEAUTIFUL results!  The recipients dearly LOVE them!  Some of the children do not have photo release authorization, so we can’t publish photos of ALL the smiles, but please know there is joy aplenty when a new quilt is delivered to Spaulding!  And the residents now know that we’re sending photos of the quiltmakers holding “their” quilts – and they beg to see them, again and again.  The connection to THEIR quilt and THEIR quiltmaker is very real! 
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    MARCH
    SPAULDING QUILTS – THANK YOU to everyone who “adopted” a Spaulding quilt request – they are all covered! (See what I did there – “covered”??)  While we can’t meet in person and present the finished quilts as we would like, we’ve tried to keep the personal connection between the Spaulding Academy resident and his/her quilt maker!  Four quilts have been delivered – and we’ve got several more that are ALMOST ready for the next delivery!  There are more photos coming!  Beautiful quilts, beautiful smiles!!

  •  PLACEMATS - June was a special Sit-N-Sew, dedicated to supporting our Comfort Quilt program.
    Thanks to all who brought their machines and all their gear to the Belknap Mill for a FUN day of making Placemats for the local Meals on Wheels program.  We ended up with more than 20 placemats from the day’s activities!  We also helped quite a few members register their quilts for the upcoming Harvest of Quilts Show!
    ​
    A placemat - sounds kind of like a little thing, really – what difference can one placemat make?  We’ve heard over and over again from Meals on Wheels drivers that this small act often brings the recipients to tears.  It’s NOT a little thing to them!  The Guild recently received this note that helps illustrate the impact:
    “Dear Quilters Guild:
    What a nice surprise when Sandy brought my meals on wheels:  a lovely placemat.
    I just LOVE it!
    So kind of you to think of us!
    I use it every day.
    Thank you all so much, and, I do appreciate the workmanship.
    Sincerely,
     Peg C”
    MAY 
    5th WEDNESDAY - Jelly Roll Racing in March; Placements in June!  When there’s a 5th Wednesday, we have an additional Sit-N-Sew dedicated to supporting the Comfort Quilts program.  Some sewed at the Mill, and a few joined up via Zoom from their homes.  The “Jelly Roll Race” was a lot of fun, and resulted in some really beautiful quilt tops!   We’ve got plenty of fabric scraps/strips/orphan blocks, and more than enough scraps of batting – so all you have to bring is your sewing machine!  Stay tuned for more details, the Zoom link, etc.  
    MARCH 
    PLACEMATS – When I dropped off some masks with the Meals On Wheels program coordinator at the Senior Citizen Center, I asked if they could use more placemats, and the response was a resounding YES!!!  Several of the recipients called the Senior Citizen Center to express their gratitude for the bright and beautiful placemats they received over the holidays.  Some shared that the placemat was the only gift they received for Christmas.  So if you have batting and fabric scraps, please consider making someone’s day by making a PLACEMAT for the Guild!

    JANUARY 
    PLACEMATS!!! -  The local Meals on Wheels program LOVES distributing our colorful placemats along with meals!  The drivers tell us the recipients’ faces light up with the gift of a placemat.  Most placemats are rectangular, 12”x18” or 14” x 20” – but we’ve donated square ones and rounds ones and all kinds of placemats!  We can make batting scraps available - if you need some, just holler.