Prairie Crocus Quilt Guild holds Retreat
By Joan Janzen
Twenty-four years ago a group of enthusiastic quilters formed a club that is still thriving today. This past weekend, thirteen ladies from the Prairie Crocus Quilt Guild participated in a quilter’s retreat at the Senior’s Hall in Kindersley on March 18th and 19th. It’s the second of three retreats held throughout the year in the months of January, March and November.
Thirteen ladies brought their sewing machines to the Senior’s Hall in Kindersley where they joined together for a quilting retreat. PHOTOS BY JOAN JANZEN
Donna Boyd, chair of the group since 2013, said the hall has the capacity to accommodate thirteen quilters and their machines. The quilters arrive at 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning and continue quilting until 9:00 p.m. in the evening. They begin again at 8:00 a.m. Sunday morning, ending the retreat at 4:00 in the afternoon.
“It’s an endurance test,” Donna chuckled. “Everybody brings their own machines and works on their own projects.”
But they do enjoy eating meals, and having coffee breaks together. “Everyone brings something for the meals. Sometimes we do more eating than quilting,” Donna laughed.
The quilters come from Kindersley, Pinkham, Marengo and Eatonia for the weekend event. “It’s a fun group, and it’s non-stop talking. But after lunch we get serious about quilting,” Donna explained. “You learn so much by being around other quilters.”
Quilters like being around their own kind of people. The Kindersley group meets every second Tuesday of the month from September to May. “Show and tell is a big thing, when everybody shows the quilts they have made,” Donna said. They also share demonstrations of new techniques.
Donna Boyd as chair, is joined by secretary, Julia Ramos-Strankman, and treasurer, Pat Perkins. Every year the group picks a charity, and it’s up to each member if they want to make a donation of a quilt. This year they’re proposing quilts be donated to the firefighters and EMT’s, to be used when accidents occur.
Over the years the group has made quilt donations to Royal University Hospital, Kindersley Hospital, Heritage Manor, Ronald McDonald, Crisis Centre, and the Food Bank. They also make placemats for Meals on Wheels, which are distributed at Christmas time.
Throughout the year, the ladies are busy assembling gifts for weddings, baby showers, graduates, grandchildren, and occasionally for themselves.
The guild has twenty members, but has had up to thirty members in the past. “Hiliary Burke, Anne Moen, Joan McLean, Judy McConnell and Audrey Gordon were the first members,” Donna explained. “They met at KCS where Hiliary was employed. When Hiliary changed schools, the group met at Elizabeth School, then Westberry School. Many weekend classes were taught in the school gyms by Hiliary and Anne.”
At that time the club required more space, so they rented the Legion Hall. After a few years there, they decided they needed a location with no stairs and more plug-ins. “The Pensioners Hall is the perfect place,” Donna concluded.
Every two years the club holds a quilt show at the United Church during Goose Festival, and they’ve enjoyed going on road trips together. “We need to do that again,” Donna suggested.
Donna began quilting after she retired, and now she can’t seem to get enough. Once a week she quilts with a second group of quilters from Laporte. The group includes sixteen ladies from Laporte and the Leader area.
“Quilters just like being with other quilters,” she said. They love to make something with their hands and give it away from their hearts.