Walk into the Aloha Quilters monthly meeting, and you find grandmothers busy, sewing machines whirling, and pieces of fabric laid out on the floor ready to be fashioned into comforting handmade quilts.
But don’t let their smiling faces fool you. These women, 45 members strong, are the SWAT(CH) team of quilters. And their mission: To comfort and keep keiki, loved ones, and those in need wrapped in warmth.
Each of these women was inspired to create something of comfort and lastingness for someone who needed it. And from there, they never stopped.
“There is no deadline here,” explains Eileen Snodgrass, who founded the group in 1991. “We finish a quilt and then start another one. It’s continuous.”
At this meeting alone, the Aloha Quilters will have finished 10 quilts for Family Support Services. They have donated 40 quilts since January, six to veterans in need. And in the past few years, they have provided more than 300 quilts to foster homes.
Member Susan Distel has been quilting since she was a teenager and teaches a Monday night class on the craft at Quilt Passions.
“These children are coming from rough situations and arrive at a foster home often with nothing but the clothes on their backs,” she says. “We want to make sure there is a nice quilt waiting for them.”
Darlene Sylvia is on the floor, shoes off and sleeves rolled up, cutting batting for two quilts for young children. One has yellow and pink hues and giraffes with pink hearts around the borders. The other quilt has the image of the Lorax popping up from behind patches of blue and red fabric.
“These quilts are for babies,” Sylvia said. “But we will make all ranges of sizes here today. For babies and for adults and sizes in between.”
She is too busy to explain further. Another quilter needs the scissors and is cutting batting for the quilts she is working on. Sylvia is back to her precision stitching.
Eileen Corwin is focused at her machine as Distel hands her cut pieces of various colors in a sequence that will eventually make a bright yellow star against a backdrop of tan and grey patches. Corwin quilted as a teenager then moved away from it as her life took her in other directions. But quilting came back to find her.
“A few years ago, my brother was diagnosed with stage four cancer. I wanted to make him something special. He was on the mainland and this was my way to connect. To be in touch.”
Corwin then joined Distel’s Monday night class, and her involvement with the Aloha Quilters began.
“There is a real energy of cooperation here with teams of two to three members working together or members working individually,” Corwin says. Then Distel chimes in with a smile, “We are optimistic that we will get these quilts done today!”
Nanette Wormley is busy at her machine a few seats down from Corwin. Next to her is a new quilt — just finished. At the center of the piece are sun-like patterns of yellow and orange with black stripes. They are almost electric. The sun-like design continues outward from the center, repeating in an undulating motif, to a black and white border.
“Eight years ago,” Wormley says, “my niece had just had a baby. My sister-in-law said, ‘Let’s make a quilt for her’ and I thought, well that would be OK. And the rest is history.”
By Wormley, Joyce Johnson, a retired home economics teacher, is working on another quilt. Her machine is different. It is the iron horse antique in the room. It’s a rare treasure. One that is both beautiful with antiquity and polished with long, hard use.
“I bought this machine used when I was at my first year of college in 1954. Over the years I gave it to my kids. But they got newer fancier machines. So 20 years ago, I asked for my machine back. This machine just can’t be beat.”
This group of women, some for the better part of a decade and others for a lifetime, have kept generations of people, within their families and their community, nestled within the comfort of a quilt.
A far-reaching gift and an inspiring legacy.
“Quilting is a part of life,” said Distel. “You make a quilt for a baby and then for the older kids. And then one for the parents. By the time you’re finished, the baby has grown out of it and you have to start over.”
Not only are these quilts functional, but the creativity and the craftsmanship is masterful. They are works of art. This fact could not be more plainly seen than in the work of Sylvia Bredeson — an Aloha Quilter since 1993. Her large Hawaiian traditional quilt won this year’s first prize at the Tropical Inspirations Quilt Show hosted by Quilt Passions in July in Kona.
The Aloha Quilters meets every third Saturday of the month at the Living Stones Church in Kona. Every skill level is welcome. For more information, contact Eileen Snodgrass at 328-8027.
