Celebrating Quilters in the Prescott, Arizona Area
Community Service
handmade hugs
November 2024
This article appeared in the November 19, 2024 Daily Courier about a TBQ Handmade Hugs community service project. Jamie Davis, Chair
Prescott High School National Honor Society President Karlee Molster is not a seamstress or quilter.
She is impassioned about engaging her peers in community service projects that embrace those who are most in need, particularly homeless seniors, families, women and young children.
With that purpose in mind, the NHS senior leader and student representative to the Prescott Unified School District Governing Board swallowed her trepidation about reaching out to the Thumb Butte Quilters’ Guild for an intriguing sewing lesson. Karlee wanted to find out if the guild might be willing to help them make cozy blankets in early November for distribution to three local nonprofit organizations in Prescott and Prescott Valley serving those vulnerable populations as part of their gift-giving during the holiday season.
After an initial text message from Karlee, and some back-and-forth email messages, the guild’s communication representative, Jamie Davis, said she would approach fellow officers for what would be ra first-time endeavor. Without hesitation, she said about a dozen members agreed to support Karlee, one of a dozen NHS members and two advisors, eager to tackle their first blanket-making venture.
Karlee said the blanket idea evolved when in August she called every nonprofit agency in the area. Agape House suggested blankets, she said.
The students limited sewing or quilting experience prompted guild members to propose crafting no-sew fleece blankets for donation to House of Hope 316 in Prescott Valley, a program for homeless seniors; Agape House, a program to benefit homeless families, and Prescott Area Shelter Services that provides shelter and transitional housing for homeless women and their children.
NHS donated $1,000 to purchase all of the fleece and other related sewing supplies.
“And they picked out such beautiful fabrics,” Davis enthused of the fleece printed with dinosaurs, flowers, superheroes, stripes, mountain scenes and in colors reminiscent of a large Crayola Crayon box.
On Saturday, November 2, the guild members and students gathered from 9 a.m. to noon at the Stoneridge Community Center where two adults worked with each student to cut and individually tie the fabrics into blankets for babies to adults. All in all, the crew crafted just over 30 blankets.
“They were so impressive” guild member Olivia Turnham said of the NHS students who while crafting the blankets shared a penchant for community service and educational plans for the future.
“We loved working with them,” Davis noted. “They did a great j0b, and it was so much fun.”
For Karlee, the project proved to be even more special than she initially anticipated because of the connections and bonds they were able to make while endeavoring to make a difference in the community. NHS also donates time and money to other civic projects, but few that were quite as labor-intensive as this one, she noted.
A week ago Wednesday, Nov. 13, Karlee and fellow NHS member Caiden Rubio, and guild members dropped off to Agape House several garbage bags filled to the brim with blankets.
Agape House Director of Operations Deanna Webb said these blankets represent a community-instilled warmth that goes far beyond physical comfort. She said they are a symbol to their clients of the community’s applause for their willingness to transform their lives and those of their children. Agape House just celebrated the expansion of its three-month residential shelter program housed in a 19-apartment complex in Prescott to six, two-year transitional living homes for graduating families in Prescott Valley.
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Webb said these are tangible encouragement to these families as they rebuild and refocus on the future “that their stories matter and they are not alone.”
Whenever the community is willing to come together for the sake of those endeavoring to improve their lives “it’s a big deal,” declared Agape House Executive Director Mike Kimmel, who said the greater-Prescott community is beyond generous when it comes to its outreach to the less fortunate.
Like Webb, Kimmel said these hand-crafted blankets spell LOVE to these families.
“You’re helping make a great Thanksgiving and Christmas to these families as they are preparing for their next step,” Kimmel concluded.
February 2024
Below are two quilts for Handmade Hugs shown at our February 2024 meeting.
Sue Parks with her quilt for Handmade Hugs
Shelli Leffert with her quilt for Handmade Hugs
Here are some photos from the October 2023 sewing day.
Jamie Davis and Olivia Turnham,Community Service Co-Chairs
After the April Meeting we held a Handmade Hugs Workshop. Thank you for your help.
We always have a community service project going on. We take pride in the projects we have taken on in the past, and are always looking for ways to better serve our community.
Our community service project for this year is receiving blankets for the Birthing Center and blankets for teens, especially boys, in foster care. Please contact Faith Chaney or Phyl Byrnes if you would like a kit for a receiving blanket or a teen blanket.
Nan De Chant’s flannel blanket for Community Service
Our most recent efforts were coordinated at our “Handmade Hugs“ workshops. Quilts were cut and bagged as kits, sewn, backed, quilted and bound. Receiving blankets and burp cloths were made and distributed to YRMC. When coronavirus broke out, guild members along with community members made thousands of face masks which were distributed to community organizations.
Additionally, some of the many projects in which we have participated include:
Children’s quilts for local foster children
Pillowcases for the local men’s shelter
Small pillows and pillow cases for women & children’s shelter
Patriotic lap quilts for local veterans
Christmas stockings for needy families
Quilts of Valor
Quilts for local schools
Pillows, sensory quilts, and walker bags for the elderly
Bed quilts for the victims of the 2013 Yarnell fire
Sewing lessons for a local middle school “life skills” classes
Quilts for Hospice patients
Receiving blankets and burp cloths for newborns
PRESCOTT ADULT CENTER QUILT DISPLAYS
December 2024 Quilts
“Everything Christmas” by Susan Sweet
Susan and her Featherweights friendship group made blocks for this quilt. The colors were limited to red and
green and ended up a perfect Christmas quilt.
“Tis the Season” by Susan Sweet
Susan made this Mystery Quilt venue quilt around 2000 with a friendship group.
“Kansas City Star Blocks” by Barbara Merkel
Barbara made this quilt in 2018 with her Featherweights friendship group. The middle block was inspired by a Christmas card she had received.
“Home for the Holidays” by Jeanie Braheme
Jeanie pieced this wonderful quilt. Each block is such a delightful celebration of Christmas!
“Old St. Nick” by Maryann Conner
As soon as she saw this Betty Alderman pattern, she knew it had to added to her Christmas quilt collection.
“Christmas Log Cabin” by Nan DeChant
Nan’s quilt has a wonderful combination of log cabin quilt blocks and machine appliqué. It just feels like Christmas!
“Anniversary Waltz” by Barbara Merkel
This quilt is the result of a block exchange with a friendship group featuring block-of-the month patterns.
A Christmas Forest” by Olivia Turnham
Such a wonderful quilt using a simple tree block pattern and Christmas fabrics!
“Merry Christmas Quilt” by Sandy Mitchell
This quilt was inspired by a block-of-the-month challenge using Marti Michell templates. It was completed in 2007.
“Santa’s List” by Terry Grenier Terry used a Santa Claus panel to make this special quilt
August 2024 Quilts
“Cactus in a Pot” by Anne Marston
This darling quilt was made from a workshop with Emily Taylor.
“Cowboy Scrapbook” by Lorraine Owen
This quilt was inspired by the Amy Bradley face designs, but Lorraine added her own cowgirl flare to it. This quilt
was 1 of 100 quilts that traveled to Tucson, Sedona and the Sharlot Hall Museum for the Arizona Centennial
Celebration.
“Live Oak Cactus” by Cheryl Giovenco
This is from a pattern called Mod Cactus. The side blocks are from a Thumb Butte Quilt Guild block exchange
challenge in 2022.
“Arizona Highways” by Jeanne Corrigan
This quilt was made from a J. Michelle Watts pattern inspired by the beauty of the southwest. It’s a bold
collection of geometric designs assembled in rows.
“Scrappy Coyote Lune” by Karen Varela
When she moved to Prescott, the first thing she wanted to do was a Southwest-style quilt. The coyote howling at
the moon is very iconic and so that’s why she chose this. She loves doing scrappy-type quilts.
“Petroglyph Quilt” by Martha Ferreira
Martha has always been fascinated by petroglyphs. Their ability to tell a story in just a few pictures and the fact
they’ve survived all these years. This quilt is in honor of the cultures that created them. The middle four are the
moon signs for my husband, each of my daughters, and Martha. Hand embroidered and hand quilted by Martha.
“Desert Spiral” by Suzy Davidson
Suzy participated in a Block of the Month challenge in 2023 and this is spectacular result!
“Indian Women” by Pat Noel
Pat acquired a group of Indian Women panels and didn’t want to make them into pillows so she played around with
color and the sashing to make them into a quilt.
“Route 66” by Sue Weisshaupt
This wonderful quilt brings to mind the beautiful landscape offered on Route 66. This was a birthday gift for Sue’s
husband.
“A Few of My Favorite Things in Arizona” by Lorrain Owen
Lorraine spent many wonderful days on trailrides with her horse-loving friends and decided to design a quilt with a
few of the sights she encountered. We are so glad she shared them with this whimsical quilt.
June 2024 Quilts
“Row of Friends” by Lorraine Owen. The blocks were made and shared by Lorraine and her quilting buddies in their Young & Restless friendship group. .It was started in 2017 and completed in 2019.
“God Bless America” by Arleen Morris -This quilt was pieced and quilted by Arleen. It was entered into TBQ’s P.I.G. (Project In Grocery bag) challenge where quilters present two quilts in progress and the members vote on which one they should complete. They are given a year to do so. Arleen’s quilt was completed in 2023.
“The Marines” by Jeanie Braheme.
Jeanie made this quilt for her husband who spent 21 years in the Marine Corps and served several tours in Vietnam.
“America the Beautiful” by Sharon Harris. Sharon made this quilt for her late husband, a 50-year plus career aerospace engineer in the defense industry. 50 prairie points are pieced into the quilt. Using Susan Cleveland’s technique, the quilt is framed with piping and a
border. It was quilted in 2014 on her then new longarm.
“Happy Birthday” by Cheryl Peterman. Cheryl made this quilt for her very patriotic son for his 39th birthday. She designed it herself around a panel that
she fell in love with. It is pieced. Her son has since passed away and she wanted to display it in his memory.
“In Honor of 9/11” by Jamie Davis.
Jamie made this quilt in honor of 9/11 – New York City, NY – Pentagon, VA – Shanksville, PA
“Sailing Flags” by Barbara Merkel -Barbara is very patriotic as was her late husband. His “man cave” was decorated with a patriotic theme so this quilt is part of that decor. It was machine pieced by Barbara and machine quilted by Cindy Phare.
“Quilt of Valor – Tom Sawyer” by Vickie Sawyer. This is a Patrick Lose pattern called “Patriotic Waves.” Machine pieced and quilted by Vickie.
“AccuQuilt Sampler” by Jamie Davis. Jamie made this quilt for her sister but she loved it so much, she made one for herself
– “Spangled Stars” by Maryann Conner. This quilt was made from a Larene Smith pattern called “America Lives On.” It is dedicated to the veterans who have sacrificed so much to make our country the land of the free because of the brave. Machine pieced, appliqued and quilted Maryann.
March 2024 Quilts
“A One Woman Show” by Shirlee Smith
“Definitely Delft”
An original design inspired by the machine embroidered Peacocks. A combination of traditional blocks reduced to
miniatures were used and then small quilt designs were created to fit the blocks.
“Aloha Red”
This quilt was the result of a “red & white” challenge in a friendship group. She chose an origami-style Hawaiian
shirt pattern having moved to Prescott from Hawaii. Each member of the group made a shirt in red for the quilt.
The design is original and finished with a sawtooth border.
“Friendship Garden”
Another original design using only 2-1/2″ squares of many different floral fabrics, 6″ Friendship Star blocks, 2″ pinwheels, and 3″ Friendship Star blocks made from scraps of the 6″ blocks.
“Chain Gang”
This is a traditional Irish Chain quilt that she combined with a Horney Toad appliqué pattern to create a fun
collection of a cute creature “gang” spread over the chain pattern.
“Mommy and Me”
Shirlee had 7 fabric panels created from a photo she took in California. One panel is the focus of the quilt. The
remaining panels were cut and sewn into hexagons that surround the center photo.
“Dahlia”
This is a printed panel by Hoffman Fabrics and is a wonderful piece for quilters to practice and develop their
quilting techniques. Once quilted it becomes a beautiful three-dimensional flower holding the eye of the viewer.
“Spring Garden”
After being given a bundle of 1930Õs fabrics, she knew a quilt with a feel of that era was calling. She found the
pattern in one of her books and knew it was a perfect match for the design she had in mind.
“Big Kahuna and the Menehunes”
While living in Hawaii, she found this laptop pattern. She adjusted the pattern to fit a King-size bed. The pattern designer copied actual Hawaiian petroglyphs for this quilt.
“Snow Bunnies”
This quilt is a combination of two patterns she used to create this “snow bunny” pattern.
“Good Morning”
Shirlee redesigned some of the elements of a Jason Yenter pattern to create her own design as she saw in her mind’s eye.
January 2024 Quilts
“Desert Sun” by Kathleen Semrau. Kathleen used strips of 2 fabrics and made them appear to be a Bargello quilt pattern.
“Deep Blue Sea” by Kathleen Semerau. Kathleen’s first “One Block Wonder” quilt.
“Fisherman Fred” by Kathleen Semerau. This pattern is from Sunbonnet Sue’s Neighborhood. Hand appliqued.
“Floating Palette” by Kathleen Semerau. Kathleen sent a picture of this quilt to Quiltmaker Magazine where she found the pattern. They published it in the Dec/Jan 2019 issue.
“A Tisket A Tasket” by Linda Craig. Linda’s quilt is a wonderful display of hand embroidery.
“Around the Town” by Linda Craig. Linda did a fantastic job with her hand applique and piecing on this quilt
“Lazy Summer Blues” by Kathleen Semerau. Kathleen used various colors to make up these log cabin squares.
“Scrappy Sunbonnet Sue” by Kathleen Semerau. Kathleen combined several patterns for a scrappy look.
“Scrap Roundup” by Kathleen Semerau. This a pattern from Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine.
“Picture Perfect” by Kathleen Semerau. This pattern was in McCall’s Quick Quilts magazine. Kathleen sent a picture of her quilt for the magazine’s Show & Tell. It appeared in the Dec/Jan 2019 issue.
The theme for the new Adult Center Quilt Display is “Flowers.” Our members’ talents are showcased and, once again, the visitors to the adult center are in total amazement.
The talented members whose quilts are on display are Suzy Davidson, Molly Haney-Burleigh, Barbara Merkel, Sandy Mitchell, Dawnell Muecke, Shirlee Smith, Susan Sweet and Charlotte York.
The quilts will be on display for a few months; so, be sure to stop by the Prescott Adult Center on Rosser St. where you will be showered with flowers!
An announcement will be made at an upcoming meeting when it’s time to collect quilts for the next exhibit.
Dawnell Muecke
Suzy Davidson
Shirlee Smith
Susan Sweet
Shirlee Smith
Sandy Mitchell
Barbara Merkel
Shirlee Smith
Molly Haney-Burleigh
Charlotte York
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If you have the opportunity to visit the Prescott Adult Center at 1280 Rosser Street, you will be surprised at the quilt exhibit in the main lobby. It’s like a mini quilt show!
We have another wonderful display of quilts hanging at the Adult Center. Lorraine Owen is our featured quilter and the visitors at the Adult Center were so excited to see her beautiful array of quilts. Her wide ranging talent is on display. Lorraine is often inspired by a quilt she sees and adds her own designs to it. She frequently attends our TBQ workshops to enhance her creativity. Her talents also include machine quilting and hand quilting. Some of the quilts on display are paper-pieced, a technique she loves because of the accuracy it delivers. She may find a block she loves and will use it to design a quilt, as seen in the basket quilt. One of the quilts, Cowboy Scrapbook, was inspired by the Amy Bradley face designs, but Lorraine added her own cowgirl flare to it. It was 1 of 100 quilts that traveled to Tucson, Sedona and Sharlot Hall for the Arizona Centennial Celebration.
Be sure to stop by the Prescott Adult Center on Rosser St. where you will surely get some inspiration from Lorraine’s remarkable quilts.
Every few months, our team of volunteers takes another set of ten quilts to be shown off to the community. Sometimes the quilts are themed: i.e., seasonal, stars, colors, etc., and sometimes it’s a one-person show. An announcement will be made at the meeting when new quilts are needed. Visitors to the Adult Center enjoy the exhibit and always look forward to seeing our wonderful display.
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We always have a community service project going on. We take pride in the projects we have taken on in the past, and are always looking for ways to better serve our community.
