Calling all quilters: Wednesday group welcomes new recruits

By Kristine Thomas

If you are a quilter, a piecer or sewer, don’t mention it around Adelene Hammelman or Margaret Gersch.

If they get even an inkling you are good with a needle and thread, they’ll likely convince you to do a running stitch. And if you don’t know how, they’ll be happy to teach you.

Need evidence?

Just ask Joanne Sowa, Betty Konen, Thelma Bournbonnais, Ann Maurer and Patricia Maurer.

They merely mentioned they either sew, piece or quilt and were recruited by Adelene or Margaret to join the Wednesday quilting group at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Mount Angel. The group meets from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Wednesday, where they recently worked on a 1930s log cabin quilt.

“I’ve always been a piecer but never a quilter,” Joanne said. “I learned how to hand quilt from them. They have been very patient with me.”

Adelene explains piecing is putting together the fabric into a pattern – such as a log cabin, wedding chain or a vintage quartered star patch. Quilting is the binding of three layers together to create the blanket, she added.

“A lot of people say they are a quilter but they haven’t ever quilted,” Adelene said.

Quilting takes practice, Adelene, 88, said.

“I have calluses on my fingers from all the needle pricks. My doctor asked if I had diabetes because of all the needle pricks. I told him “No, I am a quilter,” she said.

To help beginners learn the technique of quilting, Adelene said they are given a quilt block to take home to practice on.

“I am a poke and pull quilter but they don’t care. They are very supportive,” Joanne said.

People bring the women blankets that needed to be quilted – they have four photo albums of their work.

“Women have been meeting here to quilt long before we started,” Margaret, 86, said.

Adelene said they get paid an agreed fee for the work – ranging from $100 to $500. They donate their earnings to nonprofit organizations including North Willamette Valley Habitat for Humanity, St. Joseph’s Shelter, Mission Benedict, St. Mary’s Catholic Church and the Father Bernard Youth Center.

“I like the fact that we contribute to charitable organizations. By giving my time to work on the quilts is a double reward for me. I get to do something I enjoy – quilting – and I get to do something good for my community,” Margaret said.

Last year, they made about $1,900 and donated $1,700 to local charities. They quilted eight quilts.

“We take an hour to go to lunch so we figure we make about $1.25 an hour for our work,” Patricia said, laughing.

“Twice a year, we treat ourselves to a really nice lunch,” Adelene said.

After receiving a book on Hobo quilts from a friend, Margaret recently pieced together a pattern called “Ridin’ the Rails” that she plans to show at The Oregon Garden’s Stitches in Bloom Quilt Show.

“When I was a girl, I attended the Mount Angel Academy in the late 1930s and I remember leaving plates of food on the steps for the hobos who were walking down the railroad

tracks,” Margaret said.

Look carefully at the stitches in the quilt. Each one belongs to one of Margaret’s fellow quilters.

“It’s rewarding to see what you have done and to see how beautiful it is,” Thelma said.

As they quilt, they discuss everything from the people they know to politics and local history to quilting and applique techniques.

“We once went 20 minutes without any chatter because we were so intense being busy with our work,” Betty said.

As they reflect on the numerous quilts they have worked on, they said each has a story – some being found by great-granddaughters who wanted the blanket finished to what they describe pieces of art.

“I like looking at the color, design and work on a quilt that all evokes a story,” Joanne, 61, said.

“A quilt is like a painting but put together with cloth,” Patricia, 57, said.

They enjoy looking at how the quilt was pieced together, studying the fabric and admiring the colors. They can quickly tell if the quilt was hand sewn or done on a machine.

“There are four generations of quilters in my family,” Margaret said. “I have a red and indigo blue quilt my grandma had quilted in Germany before she came to this country in 1883,” she said.

As Ann drew patterns on a quilt, Adelene began counting how many quilts they have to do this year – already five waiting for their hand running stitch. “We have room to set up a second quilting frame if we get more people who want to help out,” Adelene said. “Our group is open to everyone.”