News

Quilting at a men’s prison

SRCI prison quilting programSeveral 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.

A poem from Christina

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.

CCQ featured on Sewing With Nancy


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.