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CCQ offers four weekly quilting classes for women incarcerated at the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. Every year our students make at least 100 quilts for donation; last year it was 140. Some years ago it became apparent that it would be most efficient to have a kitmaking committee assemble quilt kits for the classes, so member Nancy Pettit offered to start  one. These days, Nancy and Cindy Pease co-chair the kitmaking committee. They monitor the quilt kit inventory and periodically invite other members to participate in kit making meetings to assemble more kits. They’re pictured here leading a meeting of kit makers and instructors who gathered recently to fine tune the guidelines for kits. For example, patterns for first quilts are simple, with squares and rectangles. Patterns for second quilts are more challenging and usually introduce half square triangles. Other guidelines cover fabric color selection, the size of fabric pieces, labeling, etc. We are so grateful to Nancy, Cindy, and the other kitmakers for their efforts. The kitmaking committee is a “behind the scenes” effort that helps to make our classes and organization run smoothly.

In addition to quilts, CCQ students and members make pillow cases for donation. We received a lovely thank-you card from Evans Creek Retreat “UP Camp” for pillowcases we sent for participants in their Christmas program last year. The card reads: “Just a few of the many faces that say thank you for Coffee Creek Quilters work and thoughtful gift to these special people at Christmas. Everyone is very proud of their unique pillow case and they recognize that someone took the time to make it especially for them. A true gift of love. Blessings, Evans Creek Retreat ‘UP’ Camp, 2019!”  

CCQ gave 140 student-made quilts to six community organizations in 2019. The quilts were crafted by women in our prison quilting program in classes we teach in the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility dining room. Recipients of the quilts include:

• Meridian Park Hospital, a medical center in Tualatin
• Community Warehouse, a furniture bank for neighbors in need
• Good Samaritan Hospital, a medical center in NW Portland
• Emanuel Hospital, a medical center in NE Portland
• Kinship House, a nonprofit serving foster kids
• Cottingham Place SAFE, A domestic violence shelter for women and children

Each student in our program makes three quilts. The first two are for donation and they keep the third quilt. We poll our students periodically to ask them what types of organizations they would like to support. They’ve told us they want to give quilts to organizations that support foster kids, hospice programs, and families in need.

CCQ needs an additional instructor to join the team teaching our Tuesday evening class. Instructors teach the basics of quilting: reading a pattern, operating a sewing machine, sewing a quarter inch seam, and all of the skills needed to complete three quilts. The open position is a “rover” who will help a variety of students at different stages of their progress or fill in where extra help is needed. Instructors must have at least advanced-beginner quilting skills, and a willingness to work with a wide variety of student learning styles. Prior teaching experience is not required, but patience, good listening skills, and compassion are essential. Instructors must be able to make a long-term commitment. We hold bimonthly meetings for Instructors from all four classes to talk about common issues that come up in teaching classes to this special population of quilters. We don’t currently have openings in our other three classes. However, if you’re interested in teaching but unavailable for Tuesday evening, please contact us anyway. We might have other openings later this year. Please contact us if you’d like to learn more.

Quite a few CCQ instructors own KAI scissors and love them. So, when the scissors used in our prison quilting classes for the past 15 years started to wear out, we decided to give them a call. After hearing about our program, KAI donated 20 pairs of their 6 1/4″ sewing scissors. They also offered that we could purchase four pairs of their 8 1/2″ dressmaker shears at their wholesale price. We are so grateful to KAI for their generous donation. According to their website, “KAI sewing scissors and shears are hand polished and balanced allowing for fatigue-free cutting on all types of fabrics. Soft ergonomic handle grips and hardened stainless steel blades offer superior cutting action for quilting, crafting or dressmaking.” KAI scissors are generally sold in quilt shops and are also available directly from kaiscissors.com.

KGW News aired a series of three stories about Coffee Creek Correctional Facility on February 3-5. It tells the stories of three women and their participation in the Mercy Corp Northwest LIFE entrepreneurship program. You can watch all three videos on the KGW website.