News

Donation opportunities

Sponsor a quilterRecently we’ve heard from a number of people who want to help the CCQ prison quilting program, but aren’t able to volunteer. We invite them (and you!) to consider sponsoring a quilter with a financial donation. There are two ways you can sponsor a quilter:

Sponsor a Student Quilter for a Year ($150). You can sponsor a quilter for an entire year. The sponsorship covers the cost of fabric, supplies, notions, tools (such as thread, quilt batting and replacement blades for rotary cutters) and sewing machine maintenance needed to continue our program.

Sponsor a Graduate Quilter Release Kit ($250). One of the most crucial times for our students is when they are released from Coffee Creek, and — in many cases — confront an uncertain future. Women who have successfully completed all three quilts and are being released are eligible to receive a quilting kit of tools and supplies, so they can continue to use their newly acquired quilting skills as they find their way in the outside world. Each kit includes a donated and serviced sewing machine, cutting mat, rotary cutter, basic notions, and the fabric and batting needed to complete a quilt.

It’s easy to make a donation. You can make an online donation with a credit card or PayPal. Or you can mail a check to us at Coffee Creek Quilters, P.O. Box 2672, Wilsonville, OR 97070.

Doll kit donation

Alice and her dilemmaDewdrop Dolls & Stories is a company that sells doll/story kits designed to bring adults and kids together around the Dewdrop Doll characters. They contacted us recently, offering to donate kits for students in our prison quilting program to make as gifts.

While we’re not able to use the kits in our classes, we’re happy to report that the company donated 35 kits to the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility Head Start program. CCCF’s Head Start classes bring incarcerated women together with their children twice weekly, giving the moms an opportunity to bond with their preschool age kids and to prepare themselves for parenting after release from prison.

Each Dewdrop Dolls & Stories kit comes with a story book that teaches a good character trait, fabric printed with the front and back of a doll to go with the story, two squares of the doll’s face to incorporate into a doll quilt, and instructions on how to sew and stuff the doll and make the quilt. Please visit the Dewdrop Dolls & Stories website to learn more about their products.

CCQ featured by Wilsonville Spokesman

CCQ classCCQ was featured in a Wilsonville Spokesman newspaper article this week. “Two for you and one for me” tells how our program, started 14 years ago by Koko Sutton, has grown from a small experiment to a successful program that teaches life skills along with quilting to women incarcerated at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility.

The article’s title references the fact that each student makes three quilts. Two are donated to various organizations including Emanuel Hospital, Good Samaritan Hospital, Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, Meridian Park Hospital, Providence Elder Place, Salud Medical Center, and Camp Erin. Students keep their third quilt, or give it to a loved one.

The Spokesman article offers a peak inside our Tuesday morning class, including pictures and interviews with students and instructors. “Thank you for your time and for believing in me,” one student said.

“This is two hours a week that they feel like they’re regular people. That’s special,” said lead instructor Peggy Gelbrich.