Sue Bart

Members are making lots of quilts for different charity organizations in the area. Many quilts have been completed during these months of staying safe at home. Several local charities will benefit from these. Desert Threads has given many quilts to the U.S. Vets in Phoenix in the past and will continue to provide lap-size quilts to them. We will make quilted placemats for Neighbors Who Care to distribute with hot meals during the holidays. We have quilts ready to distribute to Sunshine Acres Children’s Home and to shelters run by UMOM (United Methodist Outreach Ministries). These non-profit organizations tell us they desire and have needs to receive more quilts from us.

Members can obtain kits of fabric and patterns from our stash of donated materials to make a quilt, or make quilts using their own supplies. Quilters love making warm, cozy quilts for others. Often, our list of friends and family to receive one of our handmade quilts has been exhausted, so having local charities that need our pretty, comfortable, quilts is a great outlet for our creations.

Desert Threads is having virtual meetings via Zoom on the Internet on the second Wednesday each month. In November, we heard a virtual lecture from Diane Pitchford, a certified quilt judge. Diane explained how judging works at a Quilt Show and the difference between a juried and a judged show. She also gave us lots of tips about how to improve our quilting skills, even if we never plan to enter a quilt contest. Dec. 9 we will have a holiday-themed quilt block exchange and other activities to celebrate the season with each other.

The board of Desert Threads has made extra efforts to keep our members learning and sharing our interests in quilting, despite the pandemic. If you would like to know more about our group, a chapter of the Arizona Quilters Guild, and how to participate in our virtual quilting meetings, send an email with contact information to [email protected]. Someone will email or call you.