Dexter's Piece-Makers Quilt Group Delivers Bundles of Love to Sick Children

When Dexter residents Elaine Owsley and Ginny Weber began quilting together in 2004, they never knew their common interest would turn into a mission of love for children inflicted with illness.

The longtime friends are co-founders of the Piece-makers Quilt Group, a band of retired mothers who meet weekly at in Dexter to sew handmade quilts for children at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor.

"When we first started, we were just quilting for our own pleasure," Weber said. "I wanted to teach folks how to quilt as a hobby."

But as word spread through the church as well as the surrounding community, more members began joining the weekly quilting group. Weber and Owsley said they soon began looking for ways to give back to the community.

"I heard about a program where groups can donate items to sick children at the hospital, and we decided as a group that it would wonderful to be able to bring a smile to a child's face who might otherwise be having a bad day," Owsley said. "Each week, there can be up to 300 patients in the children's hospital, and we were told that there is a lack of donations for young boys, so we concentrate our efforts there."

A mission of love

Since 2004, the group has grown to about 25 rotating members from Ann Arbor, Dexter, Chelsea and Pinckney, who have produced roughly 500 quilts for young patients at the hospital.

"We're usually able to complete about 70 to 80 quilts a year," Owsley said. "This year, we just hit 100 — and by the end of the year, we could have 130."

Weber compared the process to a relaxed assembly line, where instead of  standing on their feet for eight hours in a plant, the women work leisurely at their own pace for two hours on Thursdays at the church, chatting and quilting.

"Each and every one of the members have a special niche they bring to the group. Some of the girls just like to sew the bindings, one likes to work with the blanket labels, and others love to iron," Weber said. "It's a division of labor."

Weber said each quilt takes about six hours to make.

In order to make the quilts, the group depends on donations from the community as well as a yearly quilt show fundraiser that provides the money to buy fabric, batting and thread, Owsley said.

"Much of the fabric is donated by St. Andrew's parishioners — and sometimes by mystery people who leave bags or boxes for us," she said. "That is always a nice surprise."

In 2006, the group expanded outward and began partnering with a pediatric team from the hospital that conducts a medical mission to Guatemala each year.

"These doctors go on their own time and their own dime, and they are always appreciative of the blankets and coughing bears (teddy bears made of leftover material that children can hold next to them when they are experiencing a coughing fit)," Owsley said. "This year, we sent two garbage (size) bags full of bears."

'Not doing it for the recognition'

Owsley said the group's efforts often are rewarded with kind letters from parents and doctors.

"Parents usually can't bring anything from home to the hospital, so when the quilts come in, it brightens the room for their kids," Owsley said. "We get a lot of letters from parents thanking us, which is very rewarding. Perhaps the saddest part of this project is hearing that some quilts go home from the hospital but the children do not."

Weber said that since starting the group, she has developed a keen sense of just how much her work means to others.

"We're not doing it for the recognition," she said. "At the end of the day, when you leave the group, you feel like you accomplished something. I love doing it. It gives me a sense of purpose, and it's a fun group to be a part of."

The Piece-makers meet from 9-11 a.m. every Thursday at St. Andrew's United Church of Christ in Dexter. The group is always looking for new members who have an interest in quilting. The group is free and open to the public. For more information about the Piece-makers, email Owsley at efowsley@earthlink.net.