"When they ran out of classes, the gals in the club decided to keep getting together," said current President Cindy Nobel. "We've been meeting ever since!"
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"We try to end around 11:30 a.m. or noon, but many times we end up staying all afternoon," Nobel said.
The group works on individual quilts, bringing questions or requests for help to the group. But they also do community service through their quilting.
"We make Christmas stockings for the children in juvenile hall and those in foster care each year," Nobel said. "We've done that for years."
The group also contributes to a backpack program which helps ensure that children in foster care or those taken from their homes have something of their own.
The backpacks all include a handmade quilt for the child to keep.
"Last year instead of doing our gift exchange, we each bought $10 items for the baby backpacks," she said.
Nobel said the group also makes pillowcases and blankets for those in need. For years, the group donated quilts to the Ronald McDonald House. Quilts made by the members still hang in the Springfield, Mo. Ronald McDonald House.
"We had some woman donate all this polyester for lap blankets," she said.
"She started the project and couldn't finish it - there must have been at least 60 of them we made for cancer patients."
Nobel said while she is proud of the work the group does to improve the community, she is just as proud of their long-lasting relationships.
"It is such a good group," she said. "When anyone needs something - anything - someone there is ready to help. We really work together well."
The club boasts 90-plus members.
"We have a couple of honorary members who can't continue to come each month because of health reasons, but for the most part, we all show up each month," Nobel said.
The class brings in outside speakers to teach classes on new techniques. It also boasts five nationally recognized quilting teachers in the club.
"We have such talent in this club - it is truly astonishing," Nobel said.
In May, the group will learn about Turning 20 quilts, which involve several layers of fabric.
In June, the officers are planning a wedding theme. Quilters are asked to bring in wedding quilts, their wedding dresses or quilts they have made for others.
"The whole place will be decorated like a shower," Nobel said. "It will be so cute."
The group tries to throw theme events every few months. In April the members honored its charter members and ate birthday cake in honor of its 24th birthday.
Nobel said they planned a big Christmas party last year.
"It was going to be so cute," she said. "But then St. Clair canceled school.
That's the rule - if St. Clair R-XIII calls off school, we don't meet." At each meeting, the quilters exchange quilt items. The exchanges are low cost and voluntary.
"Last month, it was thimbles," she said. "We never go over $2."
In addition to their monthly meetings, the group holds a yearly retreat each October at Shaw Nature Reserve.
For two days, the women quilt, eat and enjoy each other's company.
"It is so fun - we rent out the place and just have a good time," Nobel said. Nobel said the club is starting to draw younger members - a fact which delights her.
"It is so trendy right now and we couldn't be happier," she said. "It brings fresh life to the group and we welcome all newcomers."
Nobel said she loves seeing the art of quiltmaking passed on through the members.
"We teach each other - there is so much talent in this room," she said.
Nobel said many of the members are artists with their quilts.
"Judy Humphrey, one of our charter members, did something where the rule for the quilt was that you had to use silver or gray thread," she said. "She did a quilt of Albert Einstein's head with all that silver thread. It was unreal."
Each month the members do a show and tell where they display what they are working on at home or with other groups.
"One is more fantastic than the next," she said. "Some of them are truly works of art."
The club welcomes newcomers at their meetings. They start at 9 a.m. on the third Wednesday of each month at the Knights of Columbus Hall in St. Clair. For more information, call Novel at 314-795-5222.
