The Wednesday Quilters
- claccdig
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 5 hours ago
By Muriel Nelson
The Wednesday Quilters group is perhaps one of Clear Lake’s lesser-known social organizations and one that you may enjoy learning about. This group has been in existence for many years and continues to thrive, thanks to its enthusiastic members. About 12-15 women meet most Wednesday mornings around 9 or so at the Clear Lake Area Community Center (CLACC). They set out some snacks, brew a pot or two of coffee and pull out their current handwork project. But there is much more to know about this group….
The quilters are a group of women from Clear Lake and the surrounding area who enjoy getting together to share their interest in quilting and to also maintain their friendships, enjoy some good laughs and celebrate in each other’s joys of life----and sometimes to provide support for the not-so-good news. However, to a person, they stress that they are a positive-minded and cheerful group, and they are just that! In fact, it seems that their jovial laughter has, upon occasion, caught the attention of the office staff across the hall.
I caught up with the Wednesday Quilters at their semi-annual 3-day “sew-athon”, a.k.a., quilter’s retreat, that was held February 4-6 at the community center. The participants filled the center’s dining room by arranging tables and chairs for some serious quilt-making. Each person had her own working spot with her portable sewing machine and all the necessities for quilting…..fabrics, quilting patterns, scissors, pins (and more pins), needles & threads, etc., etc. They set up a shared station for cutting fabric and another spot for ironing fabric pieces and sewn seams. These people meant business and it was amazing how much they accomplished in 3 days.
Perhaps it wasn’t all business because they had the food situation well-covered for each day of the retreat with 3-course brunches followed by appetizing snacks throughout the day. Plus, they planned early dinners for themselves. It has to be said that they’re also talented in the culinary realm as well.
Each of the 12 quilters was working on some aspect of a quilt. Carol was sewing together hundreds of 2-inch squares and joining the resulting fabric strips to larger squares. Beth was working on a complex “Catch Me” quilt pattern that, when finished, will have 21 circles formed from colorful triangles. Pat was creating a Wisconsin-themed quilt for her nephew who lives in the Northwest; you guessed it, she included several Packer emblems!. Brenda had just started a quilt from an impressive deer image-stamped fabric to be framed into a quilt. Colleen had an impressive quilt underway where she appliques material pieces onto a fabric panel with a needle-turn (hidden) stitch. It’s hard to describe her beautiful work. These are just a few examples of what these sewers were doing. It’s also interesting to see how they work together and learn from each other in a very supportive way.
Quilting is not all these ladies do. In fact, they tend to bring their handwork, or smaller projects, for their Wednesday morning get-togethers. Carol has made over 60 dolls most of which have made their way to a missionaries in Africa. Many members have been working on embroidery projects and some of them are incorporated into their quilting. Beth and several other quilters have made holiday placemats that were distributed through Meals on Wheels. Others bring in crocheting or knitting, that is to say, whatever “fancies’ them at the moment (or perhaps, what they happen to pick up while shopping for quilting fabric, or what landed in their yarn basket a few years back). This is a creative and gifted group!
Speaking of shopping, what group doesn’t enjoy a field trip? Some years back these quilters conjured up what they call a “shop-hop”. Six or 7 quilters pile into an SUV and head out, usually towards the northeast and to an equal number of stores that cater to quilters. They closely follow an itinerary in order to get to all the designated shops in one day. After all, they have their “passport” shopping cards to be stamped at each retailer, be it one in Spooner, Hayward, Port Wing and places in-between! I was told they don’t stop for lunch other than to grab something at Kwik-Trip. Some of them proudly declare the prizes they’ve received through the “passport” program. Traveling with this group has got to be wildly memorable!
The quilting group has an impressive history. The seed was germinated decades ago when Irene Dreier started to teach quilting to anyone who was interested. In time, Mary Wolfe took over from Irene. She often welcomed new members with a copy of the book “The Paisley Pickle Club”. Several sewers who joined during Mary’s time remain as members today. Some recall they did so once they retired; others decided to join when they no longer had to sew clothing for their children.
For many years, the quilters met at different members’ homes. Then came the dreaded covid virus in 2020. The group took a hiatus for a brief period but soon realized they missed the support and friendship of their fellow quilters. Creativity prevailed when they decided to bring their chairs and meet together in members’ driveways. This worked relatively well until the weather turned cold. Ingenuity struck again when they decided to meet in the community center dining room; by that time, the covid ‘6-foot distance’ rule was prevalent. Once the covid scare diminished, the quilters felt they had a home at the community center with plenty of tables, chairs, coffee pots and room for meetings and eventually, for their retreats too. They’ve been constant users of the dining room ever since; they even hung up their organization sign, something they got during Mary Wolfe’s days! The community center is proud to support the Wednesday Quilters’ ongoing tradition.
If you are interested in checking out the quilting group, they meet in the community center dining room from 9 to 11 or so on most Wednesdays. Bring along your handwork and be ready for inviting conversation, plenty of laughter and positive vibes. You can always call the center office at 715-263-2233 for additional contact information.
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