Clawson Quilting Sisters Losses

The Clawson Quilting Sisters have been meeting in the local park this last month. Before that we had Zoom meetings and before that no meetings since the lockdown in early March.

Over these months we have not lost anyone to COVID-19, but there have been losses.

Shirley Williams, a founding member of the group 20 years ago, died June 16 after a stroke. She was 94 years old.

And Lucy Lesperance had a stroke on April 1, which was discovered to be related to brain cancer. She passed away on July 9 at age 85.

Here are some photos of these women and their quilts.

Lucy's quilt Lucy in the Sky with Sapphires appeared in a number of local quilt shows and was juried into the American Quilt Society show at Paducah.

Lucy with her quilt
Lucy in the Sky with Sapphires

Every year Lucy made a quilt to be raffled off at her family Christmas gathering. They were always stunning.

Lucy organized the making of the teapot quilt for the Downtown Abbey Tea Party, which you can read about here.

Lucy at the Downton Abbey tea party with the raffle
quilt she organized

 

Lucy's Cardinal quilt won the CAMEO Guild challenge contest

Lucy in center front with a pie potholder

Shirley Williams was unable to continue her crafting at the level she once did but she found new ways to express her creativity by scanning photos on fabric and making mug rugs.

Shirley Williams and a mug rug, complete with tea bag pocket

In the photo below Shirley holds her quilt of miniature quilts which shows off her high skill level.

The photo above was taken at Shirley's 91st birthday party held by the quilters.

Shirley with blue icing!

Shirley in a vest she made

Shirley with one of her quilts

Shirley often told me the story of falling for a young WWII pilot. She took one look at him, removed her engagement ring, and announced that was the man she was going to marry!

A young Shirley with her husband

He taught her how to fly.

Shirley as a young woman

We don't know when the community center will reopen or when groups will be safe to meet indoors again. But when we do, things will not be the same.

A Fabric Challenge!

My weekly quilt group held a fabric challenge. Two of us choose a challenging fabric at a local quilt shop. People had to use the fabric in any kind of project. The variety of projects will amaze you!

Bev O saw rock houses in the design and embroidered faces and doors on the fabric

When our member Joanne proposed the fabric challenge the group was willing to give it a try. Joanne and I went to a local quilt shop to select a fabric. We worked with the shop owner to find a fabric with lots of color and something most would not have chosen. When the group saw the fabric many were perplexed about what to do with it! But as you will see, they figured it out!

Shirley W. made multiple projects including a purse, a candle mat, a rug mug

Shirley W. used every bit of her fabric in these projects!

Lucy L. made a placemat 

Shirley L. made a color wheel

Linda W. made a pillow case

Linda P. made notebook covers

Karen C. made a baby quilt

Joanne B. made an original applique design. Note the use of the doily!

Sue S. made a sewing machine organizer; it goes under the machine and had pockets for tools

Theresa N. made a small quilt

Theresa N. also made a table runner

Verna's table runner

Madeline made a steering wheel cover for her car!

Cheryl's purse

Betty C. saw gumdrops in the fabric and found this Gumdrop quilt pattern

Sharon made a mug rug to match her favorite mug

Jan used the fabric in a Christmas ornament

Lucy made several projects including this fabric pin

Shirley K's wreath shows how the fabric against white becomes light and airy

Shirley K. transformed a Christmas wreath pattern into a spring-like wreath

Ladies saw turtles, houses,or gumdrops in the print; I saw mushrooms. I searched for vintage illustrations of wee folk painting mushrooms for my design.

I made an applique based on the illustration. I used fusible and hand applique, machine quilting, and also used colored pencil.

Quilt by Nancy Bekofske

The ladies look forward to doing this again! What will be next year's fabric challenge?

Almost everyone in the group participated!

More From My Sit and Stitch Group

So many people came to see what my weekly quilt group is doing that I am sharing more photos!

We contribute to the monthly quilt display in our library. Here are some hanging now.

Betty's maritime inspired quilt makes me think of summer travels to Michigan's lakes.

Theresa contributed this quilted panel.

I started this quilt in a workshop with Jeanna Kimball where we learned to make our own applique patterns with folded paper.

Fashions from the Roaring 20s to the power suits of the 1980s was a fun project. I adapted a pattern of 1930s dresses. I used a vintage 30s pink for the 1930s dress and a vintage1960s floral print dress.

Here are some more quilts made by the group.

Bev made three quilts for the three doctors who discovered a health issue when under treatment for another condition. Here she is presenting a quilt to one of the doctors.

Kay shared a doll and doll quilt she made many years ago.

And here is a new quilt top Kay just finished.

Shirley is one of the founding members of our group. Here is a stack 'n wack quilt she made.

Madeline love hexies and hand work. She is making Dresden Plates.

Linda's quilt top looks summery and fresh as a Lake Michigan breeze!

Betty is making more Modern style quilts to suit her children's tastes.

Shirley made this X Marks the Spot quilt.

When Theresa found these Thicket prints of animals I had to buy some. She made stuffed animals with the large prints and now this small quilt.