Quilting for a cause

0

RUSSIA — What started out as an idea quickly became a project, and now a group of ladies in Russia are raffling off a quilt for a good cause.

“I was a little worried, with the different reds and the different blues, that it wouldn’t look good, but they all look good together. We tried to swap them out and sew them together,” Marilyn Monnin said.

Monnin, along with a couple of friends, met up a few years ago at The Gathering Place in Russia to learn how to tat from a man in Sidney. While they never learned how to tat, it inspired them to start what would become a sewing and crafting club. The group has grown over the years and members include Marilyn Monnin, Carolyn Francis, Diane Grilliot, Rosie Pierron, Wanda Monnin, Marilyn Sherman, Ellen Heffner, Elizabeth York, Trudy York, Deb Philpot, Judy Monnin, Cindy Goubeaux, Janice Armstrong, Connie Monnin and Mary Ann Bohman.

While they used to meet only in the winter months, they now meet monthly to share projects they’re working on, swap ideas, and help each other out of creative ruts.

“If you’re working on a project and you’re having trouble, you bring it along and somebody’s always got an idea. Or if you don’t know what colors to put together, somebody has a nice idea of like, okay, should I put this or this, what do you guys think? You bounce it off of everybody, you borrow patterns, that sort of thing,” Wanda Monnin said.

The group had come up with the idea to sew a quilt last year, but held off on constructing it because they couldn’t make the deadline for the St. Remy annual church picnic. With COVID-19 restrictions this year, there was no church picnic to showcase the quilt at, but that hasn’t stopped them. They have since decided to raffle off the quilt, with all proceeds from the raffle being donated to the Shelby County Right to Life and Rustic Hope in Russia.

“It all helps other people in need, which is why we picked those (organizations). They help a lot of young people who need help. This is our first time, so we’re hoping it works out good and makes a lot of money for them. Hopefully next year, we’ll do another one and make money for another organization that needs help,” Marilyn said.

Putting the quilt together took some time, but working as a team helped move the process along. According to the group, everyone contributed whatever red, white and blue scraps of fabric they had on hand, and would bring in examples of what they were working on to inspire each other. Some are experienced quilters, and some have never made a quilt before now; but everyone is satisfied with the end result.

“I think what was so nice about that is that, we had a couple people that did this quilt, that didn’t normally quilt, but they did simple squares, and they look great! They fit right in, so it wasn’t just, you know, the quilter that’s done it for years,” Ellen Heffner said. “A quilt is such a personal thing. When you give a gift of a quilt, you’re giving a gift of yourself, which is really important.”

Anyone interested in purchasing tickets for the raffle can contact anyone member of the sewing group through Facebook. Tickets are $1 per ticket or five tickets for $6. The winner of the quilt raffle will be announced Tuesday, Oct. 13.

Marilyn Monnin, left, and her twin sister Wanda Monnin, hold up a hand-made quilt they and their friends made for a raffle. All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the Shelby County Right to Life as well as Rustic Hope.
https://www.sidneydailynews.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/47/2020/09/web1_QUILT-1.jpgMarilyn Monnin, left, and her twin sister Wanda Monnin, hold up a hand-made quilt they and their friends made for a raffle. All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to the Shelby County Right to Life as well as Rustic Hope.
Raffle benefits Right to Life, Rustic Hope.

By Blythe Alspaugh

[email protected]

Reach the writer at 937-538-4825.

No posts to display