NEW THURSDAY PROGRAM FOR 2011

Collaborative Quilting: Orphan Quilts Warming Hearts and Souls

The New England Quilt Museum Community Quilting staff and volunteers are inviting museum members, local quilt groups and interested individuals to a series of free workshops between February and June 2011 to assemble twenty-four attractive lap quilts for patients in a local nursing home.

The New England Quilt Museum’s Outreach Program has received numerous donations of unfinished quilting projects and hundreds of different quilt blocks in various sizes, the latter often referred to as “orphan” blocks. Quilters, newcomers and experienced, will work together to assemble quilts using the “orphan” blocks. During the workshops, Museum staff will review the basics of quiltmaking - patchwork, appliqué and quilting - and present quilters with options for block layouts and adding an array of fabrics. Participants are welcome to use the museum’s library as a resource in finding designs and techniques to complete the quilts.

The quilters will be invited to share the quilts, discuss their design process and the techniques at the Brown Bag Lecture on Thursday, July 7, 2011. A selection of the quilts will be featured as a part of the Community Quilting Exhibit at IMAGES, a venue of the 2011 Lowell Quilt Festival.

The quilts will be delivered to the Heritage Nursing Care Center, a nursing home located on the outskirts of downtown Lowell. The center is an example of the city’s multicultural population. While the patient population changes, the majority of the residents lived in Lowell, greater Lowell or Merrimack Valley before moving to the facility.

Collaborative Quilting Workshop Dates:
Thursdays, March 3, 10 and 31
Thursday, April 21
Thursdays, May 12 and 26
Thursdays, June 9 and 23.