Local groups keeps quilting tradition alive

by MATT HUGHES

J-E News Editor

The art of quilting has faded from everyday life, but one group of ladies in the community of Onton is keeping that art alive with a weekly quilting session. They’ve also used their passion for quilting to raise over $30,000 for charity.

The Onton Quilters, as they call themselves, got their start in the fall of 1989. They meet in the basement of the Onton United Methodist Church on Wednesday mornings and usually work through the day.

“We have a good time,” said Freda Carver. “Sometimes we have a pot luck lunch, and other  times we just brown bag it.”

“It its a birthday we have a really big celebration,” added Lana Nance.

The quilting group is made up primarily of seven full-time members. Francis Horner of Sebree (98) and Mary Lee Jackson (93) of Onton have the honor of being the oldest members - and the only ones who were willing to tell their age! Other members include Lana Nance, Cathy Jones, Freda Carver, Mary Ellen Wagner and Linda Shedd.

“This was really the idea of one woman,” Carver said. “Anna Hardesty, who died in 2000, was quilting in her home and decided that we should start doing it at the church. I bet she thought when she died that would be the end of it!”

Generally the quilters, working only one day a week, can take tops that are provided and turn them into a completed quilt in about a month, although on one occasion it took them as long as six weeks. Their quilts have gone as far away as California, Texas and Florida.

“We maintain a list of people who want is to do a quilt,” said Nance.

For those not familiar with quilting, the tops are the individual squares that will make up the top of the quilt. Most are hand sewn, although some the group has received recently have been machine sewn. The group will then take the tops, stretch them and eventually turn them into a lined quilt.

On Wednesday, the group was working on their 374th quilt. Not all of them have been from the public. They have made some quilts for charity, saying they’ve raised over $30,000 since their inception in 1989.

Some places that have received donations from the Onton Quilters include: Methodist Childrens’ Home, St. Anthony’s Hospice, Upper Room, Habitat for Humanity and the Wesley House for Women. They’ve also donated to local families that were in need.