Unbreakable threads

Two years ago, Kay Lynch shuffled into the Bahia Vista Mennonite Church expecting to find 36 little-grandma types arm deep in fabric, quilting away. She was shocked when greeted by the 300 quirky women who make up the Friendship Knot Quilters’ Guild of Sarasota.

It all began back in 1982.

“There were two groups trying to start a guild, and we wanted to be the ‘Calico Clowns,’” said Joan Hatt.
“We met in Skip (Mahaffey’s) kitchen and became the Friendship Knot Guild because Skip had already made a block of friendship knots. She even draped it over the mailbox so we knew which house was hers.”

Within the guild exist several cottage groups, small groups of members who meet regularly to share friendship and the love of quilting — and maybe just as important, yummy desserts.

In 1987, six quilters met at Timmie Stewart’s house for the first time to form their cottage group name: SQUAT Team.

“We started with ‘Six Quilters United at Timmie’s,’” Stewart said. “We added one more, and then it was seven. Then we opened it up to more, so it was ‘several’ or ‘some.’”

On Monday, nine members of the SQUAT Team selected a few of their most beloved quilts and brought them to Jane Schultz’ house. Within a few moments, most of them were seated. Lynch pulled out a book on quilting and began flipping through it. Frances Hillier proudly held up an oversized yellow quilt her mother made on the sewing machine in the 1930s.

One by one, the ladies bring out their patched works of art and play show-and-tell. On the backside of each quilt is a label that informs future generations of the quilt’s name, its designer, where it was made, the date and anything else pertinent to its history.

“This is my comfort quilt,” says Carol Brown, as she holds up a purple-and-green quilt with a funky, zig-zag pattern. “I made this one out of flannel so I can lay down and take a nap. And here’s my problem quilt. This one was sandwiched with safety pins for over two years. I asked everyone, and Timmie finally said, ‘Carol, if that were my quilt, I’d quilt the hell out of it.’”

Quilting Calamities
“One of our members was sitting by a window quilting and couldn’t see the fine stitches, so she had a magnifying mirror. It was time to make dinner, and the sun was coming in and hit the mirror, burning a hole through the center of the quilt. She put it in a show like that and two years later, fixed it and won a ribbon.” — Doris Moran

“I sewed a piece of my quilt to my shirt.” — Karen Brennan

“My daughter was expecting a little girl and put ‘Molly Catherine’ on top of the quilt, and ‘she’ turned out to be a boy. Every quilt someone makes, we say are you going to put ‘Molly Catherine’ on it?” — Joan Hatt

“Finding a quilt and following the directions and they’re wrong. Many times the pattern you purchase doesn’t work, and you spend hours redrafting the pattern to make it work or abandon it. I made a quilt twice!” — Kay Lynch

“My daughter-in-law was making a mystery quilt for American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. In each edition, the magazine gives directions on how to do something, and you can only do that much. The magazine was wrong, and they sent her a year’s supply of fabric.” — Carroll Jenkins

If You Go
What: Friendship Knot Quilters’ Guild 13th Biennial Quilt Show features a boutique, consignment booth and block auction
When: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, March 11 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 12
Where: Robarts Arena, 3000 Ringling Blvd.
Cost: $7 donation
Info: www.friendshipknotquiltersguild.com

Contact Loren Mayo at [email protected]