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Quilts made by women incarcerated at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility are on display at the Canby Public Library until April 26th. The exhibit also includes quilts made by instructors in the Coffee Creek Quilters program. Instructor-made quilts are available for purchase as part of our fundraising efforts. The quilt shown at left is typical of a first quilt made by one of our students. Each student makes three quilts in weekly two-hour classes held in the prison dining room. The Canby library is located at 292 N. Holly, Canby, OR. Please check the Canby Library’s website for their hours.

Several years ago, CCQ published a document to help others start similar programs teaching quilting in prisons. We’re thrilled to hear that Snake River Correctional Institution has done just that. SRCI is a men’s prison in Malheur County, Oregon. Five men participate in the SRCI program, meeting four hours each week for 18 months to make donation quilts. So far, the quilting program has given away 17 quilts to community agencies including Harvest House, Treasure Valley Children’s Relief Nursery and the in-house hospice unit at SRCI. The Malheur County Argus Observer newspaper recently published a touching feature story about the SRCI quilting program. We’re providing a link to “Prison inmates crafting care” so you can learn more about it. If you’re interested in starting a prison quilting program in your area, we invite you to read The Coffee Creek Quilters Program: A Guide for Starting Quilting Classes in Correctional Facilities.

Christina, a student in our Thursday class, wrote this poem and shared it with us. We think it’s lovely, so we’re sharing it with you.

            Quilt

Our lives are like a quilt, we’re constantly picking pieces up, cutting things out, mixing different patterns of our lives to fit into place. Even the most tattered & torn, mixed & matched pieces you sew & weave in can turn out to be the most beautiful masterpiece.

https://youtu.be/-5qS5PYzoUI Coffee Creek Quilters was recently featured in a Sewing With Nancy public television broadcast. Nancy Zieman of Nancy’s Notions interviewed Peggy Gelbrich, an instructor in our Tuesday morning class in the Nancy’s Corner segment of an episode about “change-up” patchwork. You can view the five minute segment by clicking on the arrow above. Sewing With Nancy is a half hour show that provides step-by-step instructions for sewing and quilting projects. The last segment of each episode is called Nancy’s Corner. That’s where Nancy interviews guests who make a difference in the world of sewing, quilting, and embroidery. Wisconsin Public Television produces Sewing With Nancy in partnership with Nancy’s Notions. You can view past episodes on the WPT website. It’s broadcast on many public television stations, including Oregon Public Broadcasting. We thank Nancy’s Notions for giving us the opportunity to tell the Coffee Creek Quilters story to a national audience.

On December 23rd Portland TV station KATU broadcast a story about a choir for women incarcerated at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. The choir program’s goal is similar to ours — to teach a life-enhancing skill that will improve the women’s chance of a successful return to society after leaving prison. We invite you to watch the video on KATU’s website.

CCQ instructors made 255 colorful pillowcases for donation to kids in foster care this holiday season. The pillowcases will be distributed through Embrace Oregon, a nonprofit that partners with the Oregon Department of Human Services in providing for some of the needs of children in foster care. Making pillowcases is just one of many ways you can help kids in foster care through Embrace Oregon. Here are some others:

• Become a foster parent
• Make one-time or recurring cash donations
• Donate “welcome boxes” for kids new to foster care
• Volunteer as an Office Mom or Dad

Please visit the Embrace Oregon website to learn more.