Thread lightly – quilting retreat comes to town
The Tollgate Quilters guild falls under the regional umbrella guild, the KZN Quilters Guild.
LOCAL quilting guilds have been sewing up a storm in preparation for the upcoming Quilting Retreat to be held on November 12 to 14 in Izotsha on the south coast.
The retreat will be held to raise funds for the 2024 Quilting Festival in KwaZulu-Natal.
Chairlady for the festival, Leanne Stewart said the retreat will feature a massive quilt display.
“There will be classes to attend and a sewing competition for charity. Quilters are very generous people and are continuously making beautiful quilts for charity. We have a drive to have 600 quilts made before the festival to give to various charities throughout KZN. There is also a sew-a-thon competition at the retreat where we will make bags for breast cancer patients at Greys Hospital in Pietermaritzburg, who have had a mastectomy. These bags contain all sorts of items to help the patient through their pain, including a pair of Knitted Knockers,” she said.
This week, the Berea Mail visited Glenwood resident, Annette Lee, to see what she has been working on for the festival.
Lee, who began quilting in 1996, now belongs to two quilting guilds: Tollgate Quilters and Queensburgh Quilters, which she chairs. The Tollgate Quilters are currently making love quilts for the upcoming festival.
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“We want to have a quilt on every bed for delegates attending the festival and guilds have been asked to contribute. After the festival, the quilts will be donated to homes for the elderly,” said Lee.
While she has plenty of her own projects on the go, Lee said she enjoys collaborating on the festival quilting project.
“It gives me a great sense of achievement, because we are making something that someone will benefit from,” she said.
The chairperson of the Tollgate Quilters’ Guild, Twig Hartwig said, “Belonging to a guild and attending meetings is a balm to the soul. We gain inspiration from those around us. We learn and pick up new skills, techniques and inspiration, we interact with people with a similar interest. Most of the time, the only common link is that of quilting, yet we learn so much more.”
Lee said the Tollgate Quilters have kept their meetings going via Zoom during the Covid-19 pandemic. They are in need of new members.
“We run demos. We are always willing to help. If anyone wants to join, they can call me. We are inviting young people to get involved in quilting. If you go to quilting shops, the fabric is expensive. Quilts are supposed to be made with 100 % cotton, which is pricey with the dollar/Rand exchange. I’d advise beginners not to start with a king-size quilt, but to start small and build up to something bigger. Crazy patch is a nice way to get started. You make small pieces and decorate it,” she said.
Quilt trivia
Hartwig said the art of quilting started in America during the time of the wagon trail, when every scrap of fabric was recycled due to necessity.
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“There is no shop from which to buy a new blanket when you are opening up a new frontier, so worn and damaged shirts were used to patch or create a new article. The women, a long way from home comforts, developed patterns and shapes to make things pretty and more decorative. They also used lots of stitches to ensure that items would last longer – and to add a decorative aspect. So patchwork quilting was born. Obviously, we do not need to overcome the same kind of hardships and can buy beautiful fabrics and notions from a variety of stores,” said Hartwig.
“People who made pockets of flour saw that quilt makers were using that fabric, so they started printing designs on the flour bags. People would use that to make quilts,” added Lee, who noted that there was a similar practice in Japan.
Get connected
The Tollgate meetings are held on the last Saturday afternoon of every month at The Baden Powell Scout Camp in Burman Bush, from 14:00 to 16:00. To join the guild, contact Lee on 082 213 8955.
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