Serving the community truly takes a village. The Jersey Shore Modern Quilt Guild has been quietly serving our community for 13 years. I, myself, (Eileen D) have held the position of Community Outreach for the better part of 12 of those years. It is the most humbling/gratifying job and has forever changed me as a person. In times of need we have come to the aid of many in our community. Sometimes I actively look for the need, other times it finds me but at the end of the day it is our collective membership who fulfill that need. The dynamic of our membership has changed through the years as people move away and sadly pass away, as pandemics have had us sheltering in place and a prolific shift in who’s sewing and making quilts has seen us welcoming a whole group of young sewists. But what has not changed is the fact that quilters and those who make art through textiles remain constant in their generosity. Yes, we are quilters and while we’d love nothing more than to sit in our sewing spaces and make art all day every day, we have jobs, we have spouses and we have familial obligations. We have lives! We find time, we make time; however, to do good in our community because sewing/quilting is synonymous with community outreach and it always has been.
The cost of quilting cotton and quilting supplies have risen substantially post pandemic, not unlike any other goods and supplies. It’s no secret that we love buying and collecting fabric, but we love sharing it too. We use our own fabric and batting without hesitation for our neighbors in need. I have been successful at seeking out fabric manufacturers who are willing to donate to the cause and that’s been super helpful to jumpstart our process. There are times when we’ve received donations of fabric and supplies from the community as well i.e. a quilter is downsizing or a family member will contact me about an estate of a quilter. Also helpful. At the time of our first exhibit at the Belmar Arts Center they allowed us to use their raffle license (not easy to get one of those) and we successfully raised money for our endeavors in community outreach by raffling off a gorgeous “shore” themed quilt. That was a rare opportunity! But in the end we figure it out and continue to serve.
On May 18th, I, along with four other members met at Mary’s Place by the Sea in Ocean Grove to present them with 41, yes 41 quilts to hand out to their guests. If you’re unfamiliar with Mary’s Place, it is a unique retreat space for women undergoing cancer treatment and up to two years post treatment. They provide, at no cost, to approximately 1,000 women a year a space to put everything on pause and be relaxed and taken care of through specialized massage, counseling, spiritual guidance, and a chef preparing a plant based menu of delicious food. All of this made possible by fundraising, donations, and a tremendous community of volunteers in a beautiful, serene setting just one block from the magnificent ocean. This is not the first time we have donated quilts to Mary’s Place; however, it was our largest single donation to date. It all started with me seeing a call for guilds who might be interested in receiving fabric for community outreach by a New Jersey based manufacturer of quilting cotton, Cloud 9 Fabrics in Cranford NJ. I applied, they vetted us, and next thing I knew there was a giant carton of fabric on my doorstep! The timing was right as we’ve seen a phenomenal increase in membership, so I proceeded to cut the fabric into enticing bundles, brought them in to a meeting, pitched the idea and as a surprise to no one, they answered the call. We set the timing to be done for mid May so we could deliver before Memorial Day, if you live here, you know why! I cut and handed out 40 plus yards of 90” wide batting to our makers (batting we were able to purchase with the proceeds of our raffle, your girl shopped around and that bolt still cost $300 and we’ve just purchased a second). The owners of Old Spool Sewing Studio where we meet, Julia Passafume and Patrick Underhill, not only generously donate their space to us, but also provided us with all of the fabric for the backs of these quilts and some shop sample quilts. In addition, some members donated quilts were completely made using the their own fabrics, batting and supplies.
In the months we were working on our donations, it was incredibly fun to see the designs emerge.
Here are some more of the quilts that were made and some their makers.
So when I say it takes a village, it truly does, but the credit goes largely to the members of the Jersey Shore MQG, their kindness and generosity knows no bounds, they do work, the good work.
I would like to acknowledge those in our village that also helped us along the way to continue our work in this community
If you have the opportunity please join us in supporting these businesses and especially Mary’s Place by the Sea so they may continue to do the most amazing work that they do
https://www.marysplacebythesea.org/
We will be back there sometime in the Fall because our work never ends!
Thanks for reading and being a part of our village as well. Happy Summer!
JERSEY SHORE MODERN QUILT GUILD 