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CCQ donates quilts to camps for kids

Zack's quiltEight year old Zack’s quilt (to his right in the picture) was one of 45 submitted for the annual Coffee Creek Quilters challenge on June 4th. Zack participated along with his grandmother, our own Judy Dunham.

In past years all challenge quilts have been donated to Camp Erin, a summer camp for kids who have experienced bereavement. This year we also donated to Camp Sunrise, a project of Hospice of Redmond. Another change this year was to give quilts made by students in our prison quilting program along with instructor-made quilts. A total of fifty-six quilts were donated to the two camps.

“Providing quilts to bereaved children has been a long term commitment for Coffee Creek Quilters instructors. The students voted that they would like to contribute also so this year is the first time student quilts have been donated to bereaved children. It is exciting to expand our outreach to Central Oregon especially since the students come from all over the state,” said CCQ President Linda Downey.

Camp Erin is a national program where young people learn to grieve and heal following the death of a loved one. Funded by the Moyer Foundation and local groups, camps are held in 45 locations in the U.S. and Canada. The camp is free for kids aged 6 to 17. Oregon’s Camp Erin is administered by the Providence Foundation and takes place this year at Camp Kuratli in Boring, OR, August 12-14.

Camp Sunrise is offered to kids ages 7-14 residing in Central Oregon who have experienced the loss of a loved one. Structured games, music, art, stories, and other therapies teach bereaved campers about grief and how to understand their feelings. The camp is open to up to 40 kids each year who reside in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties and is offered at no charge. The three-day, two-night camp is held the third weekend of June.

Meet our volunteers: Mary Ann McCammon

Mary Ann McCammonMary Ann McCammon teaches quilting to women in three countries.

She’s taught in the CCQ Thursday class for the past eleven years. Her impressive quilting skills and gentle humor have empowered dozens of women incarcerated at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility.

Mary Ann also makes an annual trip to Yelapa, Mexico where she teaches local women to make small landscape art quilts that they sell to tourists. One student, Evelia, has been so successful that she’s sending her kids to college with the proceeds of her quilting business. Her daughter will start college this fall and her son will complete his senior year in engineering.

Last year Mary Ann began teaching quilting to women recovering from obstetric fistula surgery in Eldoret, Kenya. She works with a small non-profit, Beyond Fistula that supports women after surgery to reintegrate with their families and gain financial independence. The goal is for women to earn an income with their quilting. Mary Ann’s own art quilts and quilts made by her students in Kenya are featured in an on-line art show about obstetric fistula.

Longarm quilters support prison quilting program

Longarm quilt detailEleven longarm quilters support the Coffee Creek Quilters program by quilting our students’ third quilts. Some of them are professionals while others are hobbyists.

The detail shown here is from a quilt that was quilted by Kathy Morrison. “One of my greatest joys is quilting for CCQ, making the quilts even more beautiful or whimsical or traditional. I enjoy choosing quilting designs that will enhance the quilt when a student doesn’t have any requests and try to accommodate the few requests I get,” she says. Kathy has been a professional for five years. Her website is www.quiltrocker.com.

Gloria Richardson is an instructor in our Wednesday class in addition to providing longarm quilting. “What I get out of the program is a full heart from being able to give a gift to someone who is in need.  Hard to put this into words but it makes me cry to see how appreciative the inmates are to have someone do something nice for them.  Seems like I get more out of it than even they do,” Gloria says. You can see samples of her work on her website, MorningGloryQuilting.com.

Wendy Viohl lives a fair distance away, so we’ve only been able to use her services once. “I loved quilting that one quilt, seeing how far the new quilter had come and trying to make her quilt very special for her,” Wendy says. “Just knowing that this was the one quilt she made for herself makes me so proud for her. These students have had an uphill battle just to make it to the class, so yes, I’m indeed very proud of her. The quilt was a cowgirl theme and I chose a pattern in keeping with that theme. I wish I could do more!” Wendy provides information about her professional longarm quilting services on a Facebook page for her business, Green Mountain Quilting.

Linda Burrell is primarily a hobbyist, but occasionally quilts for others. “What I get out of participating in this program is knowing this completed quilt will be very special to the person who pieced and completed the project,” she says.

Others who provide longarm quilting are Mary Craft, Nancy Geddis, Doreen Hickman, Pat Ogle, Lisa Potter, Gerri Thompson, and Sherri Wadley. We hope to highlight the others in a future post on our website.