‘Fabric is my life:’ Quilters’ Guild gives back, one stitch at a time

A group of quilters is making a difference in their community, one stitch at a time.

The Saskatoon Quilters’ Guild has 170 members who use their passion for fabric, colours and sewing to craft quilts that are then given out to the community, charities, family and friends.

For this tight-knit community of women, quilting means more than just working with a needle and thread. You might even say it’s part of the fabric of their lives.

Carol Ewles, a member of the guild since 2008, said sewing has been a big part of her life since she started making clothes for dogs at just five years old. That turned into sewing her own clothes, clothes for her children, and then quilts.

Ewles said she likes to take pictures of abandoned homesteads and buildings on the Saskatchewan prairies, such as grain elevators, and copy those images onto fabric.

“Fabric is my life,” Ewles said with a laugh.

Janet Clatney-Bertsch, a seasoned sewer who fell in love with quilting in 1983, said planning out her projects always gets her excited.

“I love quilting. Choosing fabric is my favorite part. I love colour,” Clatney-Bertsch said.

Clatney-Bertsch said she finds joy in giving quilts to people for events like weddings and graduations. The quilts also go to victims of violence, she said, and to those that have lost a loved one.

“Quilts are for comfort,” she said.

For many of the guild’s women, the passion for quilting started from learning to sew from their mothers, or in home economics classes in school. Sewing jackets, table runners and shirts eventually shifted to the art of quilting.

As a little girl, Charlene Omelan used to sew all of her clothes and always thought she’d be a quilter. She joined the guild 19 years ago, and said she enjoys the community and the classes the guild has provided.

“I enjoy quilting a lot more than sewing clothes, because you don’t have to fit into the quilt,” Omelan said.

Ann Atchison, a member of the guild for 18 years, said quilting was always on her to-do list after she retired from her teaching career.

She said she enjoys the entire process of quilting, from picking out the fabric to putting the finishing touches on the final product.

“There’s a speed my machine goes at that is very calming to me,” she said, adding it feels like “a Zen moment.”

Atchison said her daughter was a foster parent, and every child who came to her home received a handmade quilt with a personal label. Atchison also utilizes her knitting skills to make clothes for Cloth for Kids, a local charity where volunteers use donated fabric to sew clothing for children in need.

Many of the quilts the guild produces are donated to Serendipity Quilters Group, a charity that works with organizations like the Saskatoon Quilters’ Guild to provide 350 to 400 quilts each year to women and children in the Saskatoon community.

Wanda Drew, with Serendipity, said the non-profit’s work is made possible by volunteers who donate quilting fabrics, completed products and their time to give back to their community.

Many of the donations can be seen at KidsFirst-Awasis, Egadz Youth Centre, Adele House, and the Ronald McDonald House.

“The wonderful thing about quilters is that they are probably the most generous-spirited women,” said Yvonne Morgan, a newcomer to the guild.

Dorothy Thomson with the Saskatoon Quilters’ Guild is has made 150 quilts in one year for charity pic.twitter.com/tFHWaU2CTO

— Mia Holowaychuk (@miaholoway) February 1, 2023

Dorothy Thomson, a guild member for 23 years, said she sewed 60 quilts the same year she celebrated her 60th birthday. She said she finds the process of sewing very therapeutic.

When Thomson turned 65, she kept up the tradition and crafted 65 quilts for charity. That still wasn’t enough, so she more than doubled her age when she turned 70, creating 150 quilts for Serendipity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Saskatoon Quilters’ Guild’s work will be showcased at the group’s 2023 Quilt Show this October in Saskatoon.

Show organizer Shirley Figley said the event brings in visitors from Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan. She said this year’s show aims to bring back the joy of quilting to Saskatoon after the event took a hiatus during the pandemic.

Since its inception in 1982, the Saskatoon Quilters’ Guild has brought together women through friendship and a shared desire to laugh, cry and give back to those in need.

“I think there’s an image that we’re just housewives,” guild member Marianne Hydomako said. “We’re not. We’ve had long-established careers, and this just happens to be our creativity.”

–Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to correct the number of members in the guild.

Photos by 650 CKOM’s Mia Holowaychuk.