2 minute read
Stitched Together With Love
Stitched Together With Love
Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser
For the past 22 years members of the Kalyna Country Quilters Guild have been donating handcrafted creations to people in need and this year is no exception as they recently donated 200 quilts and 111 pillow cases for displaced residents of Jasper who lost their homes to wildfire.
On Sept. 9, several guild members, including Val Retzlaff, who owns the Chicken Coop quilt shop in Mundare dropped off their donations to the Sugar Pine Quilt Shop in Canmore. Retzlaff explained that she knows the owner of the quilt shop there who will be delivering the donations in due course.
One of the guild members even made a cloth bear named Jasper to send along with the donated quilts and pillow cases.
Retzlaff estimates that they’ve donated between 4,000 and 5,000 quilts since the guild came into existence. They also make placemats, duffle bags, burp cloths, receiving blankets, teddy bears, gift bags, small pillows, dog beds, etc. They donated 150 quilts to local Ukrainian evacuees and 150 quilts to the Ukrainian Patriot organization which aids volunteers in Ukraine.
“We just made 230 cloth gift bags for the Fort Saskatchewan Food Bank,” notes Retzlaff. The guild also donates a quilt to the Haying in the 30’s auction which is held in St. Michael every spring. Women’s and Men’s Shelters, Meals on Wheels Edmonton, Mustard Seed, Terra Centre, Stollery Hospital and many more organizations have been recipients of their generosity since 2002.
Even though the guild only has 12 members, they’ve been able to accomplish a great deal through their charitable works. Retzlaff says they’ve become very proficient over the years. Although they primarily work separately out of their homes, members do get together at the Barn Loft Inn five times year, for eight days at a time, for some power sewing sessions.
All of the members have a passion for quilting, sewing and crafts, lending their time and talents to go above and beyond to help others; and merging them together.
