Kept in Stitches

James L. Davis

If quilting is becoming a lost art then someone forgot to tell the women of the San Rafael Piecemakers, because they are still hard at it and seem to be having a lot of fun in the process.

On the first Wednesday of the month you can find them gathered inside the Huntington Senior Citizens Center, sewing machines blazing as they work on either a quilt of their own or collectively put one together. Chartered to the Utah Quilt Guild, the San Rafael Piecemakers line their sewing machines up one side and down the other of several tables in the senior center and as they go about creating their quilts. They talk, they laugh and they basically keep themselves out of trouble, which is a good thing.

“Support your local quilt guild. It keeps grandmas off the street,” said Anne Sitterud of Orangeville. “What if we were all running around loose?”

The Piecemakers have in years’ past made quilts for Quilts of Valor, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing quilts to military members serving in harms’ way and this year the Utah Quilt Guild has asked them to create a quilt for Quilts for Cancer, which will be donated for an auction to benefit children battling cancer.
During the monthly meetings, the number of members who show up with sewing machines in hand varies from as few as 11 to as many as 20, according to Sandra Oman, president of the organization. The group meets on the first Wednesday of the month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., where they share ideas, talk and laughter and help keep each other motivated.

Creating a quilt can take from hours to months, according to Oman. “It depends on how fast you are. Sometimes, if you’re like me, you get it half done and end up with a UFO, Unfinished Object,” she said.
But if you are lucky enough to have a truly tremendous sewing machine, then UFOs may very well become a thing of the past. Sitterud can attest to that and is only too happy to do so as she shows off the incredible features of her Pfaff Sewing Machine, a gift of her husband Michael Sitterud. Apparently the sewing machine is so great that it actually improves your physical and mental ailments.

“It improves your self esteem. All of my health issues are gone,” she said with a smile. “It raises the bar for gifts for all men in the county.”

And for husbands wondering if their wife joining the quilt guild would be a benefit or not, Michelle Anderson said her husband has the answer to that question.

“He says ‘blessed are the husbands of quilters, for they shall inherit the remote,’” she said.

Those interested in joining the San Rafael Piecemakers are invited to stop by the Huntington Senior Citizens Center on the first Wednesday of the month between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.