Ann Finnochiaro and Carla Faust sew utility bags for refugees while Teresa Roberts, Community Service chair (standing), teaches the fine points of making utility bags.
During group Sew Days, members make quilts and other items for the needs of a variety of nonprofits supported by Desert Threads Quilters. Members make simple utility bags for carrying various items handed out at the refugee center in Phoenix. Immigrants waiting for their sponsors to pick them up attend the center and obtain necessities they did not bring with them. Many immigrants come with only the clothes on their back and have no way to carry items such as personal care things, some clean clothes, snacks, and water. Our members also make various sizes of quilts for children and adults and for veterans. Recently, we gave 15 quilts to AZBlankets4Kids, two quilts to Silverwood Post Acute facility, and 39 bags to the refugee center. Thank you to all who have donated fabric, supplies, and time to our community service efforts.
Sew Days are held at the IronOaks Sewing Room in the craft complex on scheduled days of each month. Members can find a calendar in the newsletter. The calendar in the window of the Sewing Room also identifies the dates. Feel free to drop by to help cut fabric or sew projects.
At our March 13 meeting we celebrated our fifth anniversary at a party with games and prizes. During March, many members participated or volunteered to work at the Quilt Show hosted by our parent organization, Arizona Quilters Guild. The show, “It’s Hip to Be Square,” was at the Mesa Convention Center. We hope you got to attend this terrific event. At our April 10 meeting, our program features a Trunk Show by Loretta Moyer. Loretta is a very talented quilter whose vast array of quilts demonstrates a variety of quilting techniques.
Arizona Quilters Guild, parent organization for Desert Threads, has an annual spring meeting via Zoom on Saturday, April 20. All members are invited to attend. More information about the meeting and joining can be found at the website, www.arizonaquiltersguild.org. The newsletter, The Patchwork Chatter, can be found on the website and often contains information from the various local chapters, including Desert Threads. You can join as a member-at-large or through Desert Threads, which meets in the Sun Lakes Cottonwood Computer Learning Center on the second Wednesday morning of every month, except June, July, and August. We’d love to have you come see what we do and to join us. More information is available by sending an email with your interest to [email protected] (note the two “T”s).