Church group keeps dying art of hand quilting alive

■ Methodist women uses their skill as a fund-raiser.

Once a week the coffee goes on at 8 a.m. and large wooden frames are moved out of their storage room at the First Methodist Church in Bella Vista. Although their group used to be much larger, there are still about eight women who come and go between 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. every Wednesday.

They are the Bella Vista Methodist Quilters. While they are not all Methodist, they are all hand quilters.

The group is shrinking, member Marilyn Frisbee said. There just aren’t as many people who quilt by hand anymore.

As a group, they don’t make the quilts. People bring the quilt tops and pay the women for their hand-quilting skills. The the group donates the proceeds.

The quilt tops come from all over, Dorothy Day explained. Sometimes people bring in quilt tops that were found in a great aunt’s closet after she died.

Occasionally, the quilters will have to explain why a quilt top just isn’t worth quilting, she said. They will sometimes suggest tying a quilt top which is less labor intensive.

She remembers one quilt top that a man brought in. His wife had made it and left it on a top shelf in the closet. Later, he surprised his wife by presenting her the finished quilt. She loved it.

The large wooden frames where the quilt tops are stretched and then rolled were made by a member’s spouse back when the club was larger. There are four frames, but usually only three are in use. Several women can work on each frame.

The price of their work is based on five cents per square inch, Day said, but if the customer wants a more intricate pattern it could be more.

Each time the club’s balance reaches $1,000, they give it away, Day said. The church always gets $200, then the rest is divided between four nonprofits on the club’s list. They go down the list so everyone gets a donation eventually.

The quilters welcome visitors and want to add more members. They’re happy to offer quilting advice to anyone.

“We don’t hesitate to tell them if they’re doing something wrong,” Vicki Hoye said. If a beginner happens by, they are given a lap hoop to practice on while they learn to hand quilt.

But they may never finish learning because, Hoye said, there’s always more to learn. The group is always happy to help.

Lynn Atkins/The Weekly Vista Ann Brown is the only member of the Methodist Hand Quilters who uses the spoon method and avoids callouses on her fingers. In her case the spoon is really a butter knife that she holds under the fabric as she pushes her needle through. The group meets...