Gone to Pieces Quilt Guild together event
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ALPENA – The Gone to Pieces Quilt Guild of Alpena had their Friendship Day Fabric Connects Us Together Event on Sept. 19. There were over one hundred in attendance for a delicious lunch that was catered by the Joy Group of the First Methodist Church of Alpena.
There were four vendors with items for quilters. A quilters delight. Compass Star Quilt Shop in Gaylord, Quilts by Kursten which was Sandy'D in Atlanta, Mark Palmer with his Wood Art and Wagon Wheel Creative in Harrisville. These vendors had so much to choose from that the shoppers kept going back.
A large group of people from Alpena Senior Center helped Caroline Ritze and Ardis Culbert make fat quarter lollypops as thank you gifts for purchasing tickets to our event. On every table were adorable and very useful thread catchers that were made by another group led by Cathy Sterns and Cathy Moore.
Our center pieces were designed and made by Penny Morrison and Judy Cline and given as door prizes which made several people very happy. They were very lovely in red, white and blue.
The tables were decorated with red, white and blue table covers which made it very festive and kept with 250-year celebration of America. Peggy Elgert and Cathy Sterns were in charge of the luncheon and they did a great job displaying the food, beverages and cookies, which were enjoyed by all.
Ardis Culbert was in charge of the baskets and they were beautiful. There were thirty-five baskets of donated items from the guild members for people to purchase. Some were filled with wine, cheese, others had finished quilting items, fat quarters of fabric, Christmas items, knitting bag full, kitchen utensils, sewing items, kits for 5-yard quilts and more. They were all purchased.
The sanctuary was filled with over 160 lovely and breathtaking quilts that were either hand pieced or machine pieced. Most were machine quilted but the most remarkable were the hand quilted. Wow the hours that it takes to hand piece and hand quilt. There was a crazy quilt that was finished in 1906 by a lady that her family had owned a gas station in Ossineke. She had started it in the late 1800rds. There is a lot of embroidery on it and it is well cared for. We are thankful that she dated this lovely quilt. There was one that represented the civil war time where the men carried it with them to use for their bedding from friends and family. The pink tree quilt represented the women fighting for the right to vote and right to own property in the 1920s. It is hard to believe that women could not vote before August 18,1920. Then there were several lovely applique quilts that you find hard to believe the time it takes to sew these little pieces together. There were so many beautiful quilts that were displayed the people were going from one quilt to another and asking Ana' Ziemba about them. Ana' was in charge of collecting, setting up and returning the quilts. It went very smoothly thanks to her attention to everything.
Ardis Culbert donated a very beautiful quilt that she pieced and quilted, which everyone was anxious to win. It was won by a guest veteran. She was very happy hugging it as she received it from Ardis.
Diane LaBell was our guest speaker. She is a mother, grandmother and married to a veteran. Diane has made probably 200 quilts of Valor for veterans and is still making them for the veterans. She explained how the Quilts of Valor was begun by Catherine Roberts, whose son was deployed in Iraq. She had a dream to see that every veteran would receive a quilt for healing and to show our appreciation for their service, dedication, sacrifice and love of America. The veterans provide us with our freedom so this is a small way of showing that we care and appreciate their sacrifice, dedication and service. We are reminded of their separation from family as babies are born, children grow up, graduate, learn to drive, go to college and even sometimes they miss their child's wedding. They do this all to provide us with our freedom. When you see a veteran please Thank them for their service.
Caroline Ritze and Shirley Kowalski were the members that presented the quilts to the veterans
One at a time as directed by Diane LaBell, our speaker.
The quilts of Valor were displayed on the front area of the church along with a display of items from different veterans. Each of the following veterans received a Quilt of Valor from our Guild.
Ian Bush - Air Force, Joanne Gallagher - Air Force and Air Force National Guards,
Liz Smith - Air Force, and Rebecca Witt - Army
This was a very emotional event and we know there are more veterans that deserve a quilt and we are making them. It takes time to put each one together and we want it to show that we care. There has been on record over 500,000 comforting and healing QOVs awarded by the end of 2023 so we are hoping to reach a million this year. We will keep on quilting till every veteran receives a quilt made with love from their fellow Americans.
The Gone to Pieces Quilt group of Alpena has more than a hundred members. They meet the first Thursday of each month at 6pm at the Methodist Church, 167 S. Ripley Blvd, Alpena, MI. Contact Person is Kathryn Hoppe. They also make place mats for Alpena Senior Citizens Center to give to the people when they deliver their meals to them during the holiday. They make quilts for patients of Medilodge on Long Rapids Road in Alpena, and partnering with Kiwanis Kwilting and Preemie Pals donate quilts for Ann Arbor's U of M Brandon New-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) located at Mott Hospital for Children prenatal to 5. Quilts are made for Hospice of Michigan patients and Foster Kids of Michigan all locally donated. Pillow cases for Salvation Army and many other groups.
So many helped with this event that it felt like everyone was thankful to be a part of this celebration for the veterans as well as sharing fabric which connects us together. There were several prizes and donations and we thank everyone for their support of our guild and for attending the Friendship Day Event which only happens every five years. Thank you Caroline Ritze, Chairperson