Sewing plus service

School group donates 33 quilts to Child Haven

Advertisement

Sure, they knew they were helping a good cause. Sure, they realized they were cementing their knowledge of geometry with hands-on work. But the students involved with Garside Junior High School's Quilting Club this past school year genuinely liked making quilts for Child Haven.

The club was the brainchild of Jeannette Bautista, Garside's math teacher. Her interest in sewing, combined with a $1,000 grant from State Farm Insurance through Youth Service America, led to the formation of the club.

Bautista said she wanted to form a group anchored in community service. The fact that she can throw in a few geometry concepts like parallelograms and polygon attributers is seen as an added plus.

Her room included eight sewing machines, some of them spaced between the room's computers. They've been sitting silent ever since the school's home economics teacher retired more than a year ago and was never replaced. Now, they are being used again.

Stacked in the walk-in closet at the back of the room were 43 completed quilts.

"In the grand scheme of things, we'll find time to take these to Child Haven," she said. "I just don't know how it's all going to fit in my car--which is a good thing."

Bautista first introduced the Quilting Club last year. It ended up donating 33 quilts to Child Haven.

The quilts were eventually taken to Judge Frank Sullivan's courtroom and he arranged for them to be delivered to Child Haven.

"This effort shows students what it means to be part of a community," he said. "It's kids helping kids."

The group met after school each Wednesday for about an hour. Four or five students came religiously, but the number swelled to eight or nine on any Wednesday afternoon. The highest count was 12.

Curiosity brings some sewers. That was the case with Emily Ronquillo, 14.

"I walked in by accident," she said. "I was looking for something to do after school."

Emily was already in the National Honor Society, a member of the student council, belonged to the scrap booking club and on the junior varsity quiz team. But of all of her activities, she said she liked making quilts best.

"I like knowing it goes to someone who needs it," she said.

Aria Een and Leslie Seglin, both 14, were working together on a quilt. Aria was an experienced seamstress and said she liked making Child Haven quilts "because you can do what you want with it. It can be totally weird if you want it to be."

Leslie said it was fun to choose from the various fabrics.

"I wish we had more time to work on them," Leslie said. "Like, maybe we could meet more often--two times a week."

When the club was first formed, the overwhelming majority had never touched a sewing machine so Bautista spent the first month going over the basics. She also taught them how to plan out the pattern and ensure corner seams were top notch, something that takes a few tries to truly conquer.

"And if some of the corners that aren't as precise as we'd like, we cover them up with yarn ties," she said.

The $1,000 grant was stretched to buy supplies including fabric, batting, thread, pattern books, cutting boards, an iron and ironing board. The selected fabric had variety so each quilter could choose from pastels, vivid patterns, stripes or primary colors.

"I caught the sales at Joanne's (Fabrics & Crafts) which worked with us and gave us a discount," Bautista said. "You'll see a lot of remnants here."

When pressed, she admitted to doling out supplies purchased with her own money.

"As a teacher, it's just what you do," she said.

Christina Ramos, 13, and her sister Claudia, 12, already sewed at home. They help the others when someone has trouble making stripes match or piecing together a complex pattern. They sometimes took the work home. "The hardest part is fitting the pieces together," Christina said. "But I like the challenge."

Claudia was on her third quilt. Although she'd sewed before, her projects were never blankets or quilts.

"Over summer vacation, I'm going to make one for myself," she said.

At Child Haven, the youngsters who receive Garside quilts get to take them when they leave. It gives them their own "blankie" to hang onto in uncertain times, Sullivan said.

"Hopefully this will be a lasting thing, that we'll see these children when they're 16, 17, 18 and they still have their little quilt," Sullivan said.

Anyone who wants to donate supplies or funds to buy more cloth can call Garside at 799-4245.