THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 9, 1995 TAG: 9502080194
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
IN 1988, LOVE OF QUILTING brought together several local residents who wanted to learn new techniques and have fun while doing it.
They decided to meet weekly to stitch together and, occasionally, to have lunch and visit a quilting shop. While they have spent time creating heirlooms for their own homes and their grandchildren, members also are sharing their handiwork with the needy.
The Providence Quilters Guild and Circle 2 of the United Methodist Women of Providence United Methodist Church recently donated 10 small, hand-stitched quilts to the nursery at Obici Hospital.
When Guild member Ann Piland learned of Obici's need for baby blankets, other guild members agreed to add another project to their list. The group also donated 13 lap robes to the Autumn Care nursing home last year.
``Each person was asked to make a lap robe and a baby quilt at the first of last year,'' Piland said. ``If a new mother says she has very little for her baby and doesn't have the means, she may take a quilt home.''
No two quilts are alike, Piland said. Her red and blue one is covered with teddy bears and balloons, while Audrey Kiser's pink and white quilt features nursery animals.
Several years ago, the group made a ``Peanut Quilt'' and donated it to the Suffolk Chapter of the Cancer Society as a fund-raiser.
Guild members' good deeds have reached beyond the local area. Two years ago, 16 quilts were stitched and donated to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk for babies born with AIDS.
Kiser took up quilting after retiring from C&P Telephone Co. in Fairfax and moving to Suffolk with her husband, ``Si,'' to live near her two sons and seven grandchildren.
``I thought quilts were pretty and that I'd like to try quilting, but I never thought I'd be able to make a quilt,'' she said.
Kiser quickly mastered the craft and won a white ribbon at the Tidewater Quilt Show in Virginia Beach. Her goal now is to make a quilt for each one of her grandchildren.
``I've made five and have two more to go,'' she said.
Kiser's 18-year-old grandson, Isaac Kiser, decided to draw the pattern for his burgundy and blue quilt.
``It will be named `Isaac's Compass,' '' Kiser said. ``It's derived from a mariner's compass and will have a sawtooth border.''
Kiser, who says she always has more than one project on hand, plans to applique a quilt that she can work on in the car. In 1984, Piland retired as secretary of the Hillpoint Farm Dairy. She and her husband, Thomas, have three grown children.
When Piland completes two more quilts, she will realize her goal of stitching a quilt for each of her nine grandchildren. An experienced seamstress, she also has made a quilt for every bed in her home and a baby quilt for every child born into her family. She is often invited to give talks to quilting groups in the area.
``I never took a quilting class,'' she said. ``I've been sewing all my life. I was a professional seamstress and worked out of my home.''
The Providence Quilters Guild, with 10 members, is a spinoff of a quilting group that first met in homes, at the Senior Citizens Center, and later, in the evenings at Birdsong Recreation Center.
``We are a very laid-back group,'' Piland said. ``We have 10 members, and we are not just senior citizens. We welcome anybody who would like to sew and quilt. If you don't know how, we'll teach you.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER
Ann Piland, left, and Audrey Kiser of the Quilters Guild at
Providence United Methodist Church, donate quilts to Pat Collier,
director of the Women's Center at Obici Hospital.
QUILTERS GUILD
When: 10 a.m. to noon each Thursday
Where: Providence United Methodist Church, 3105 Providence Road
Information: Ann Piland, 539-3527; Audrey Kiser, 255-4918
by CNB