NEWS&COMMUNITY
Photos by Gretchen Ammerman
THE TUESDAY STITCHERS RECENTLY DONATED THEIR 1,000TH QUILT to the Caring Cabin, a respite for children with cancer and their families run by Children’s Cancer Association. Above, from l-r, Sharon Nutting and Karen Tyler show two more of the quilts destined for the Caring Cabin as they pose in front of a cabinet filled with more of the recently hand-sewn quilts.
Crafting Quilts of Love Tuesday Stitchers has now donated 1,000-plus quilts to Caring Cabin By GRETCHEN AMMERMAN for the Sun
each family as soon as they walk in the door. We are incredibly grateful to the Tuesday Stitchers for their friendship, talent, and generosity.” community group that started The quilts donated to Caring Cabin small has made a rather large aren’t the only pieces of goodwill procontribution, donating more than duced by the Tuesday Stitchers. 1,000 handmade quilts to an organization “We also have had 500-600 quilts that creates a place of respite for families donated to community members that of children battling illness. are in need for a variety of reasons,” “We started with just two people 15 Twedt said. “They say ‘It takes a village,’ years ago,” said Tuesday Stitchers coand it really does. We do so much more founder Karin Twedt. “At first it was just than make quilts: rides to town, to me and Jeannie Marshall. Now doctor’s appointments, temporary we usually have between 20-35 shelter, we even have one person people at a time.” whose well goes out every once in Created without a particular a while so we help her. We’re just a goal, the ladies simply wanted to loosely organized group of people “be able to sew without interrupwho get together to support each tion and get lunch made for us.” other in many ways. We’ve been Soon more joined the group, and there for each other through cancer, when Jeannie let on that she had losses of husbands, lots of things. It’s been a quilting teacher in the past, a wonderful support system.” they decided to include quilting One of the ways the group instruction to the informal gatherraises funds is through periodic ings. The name “Tuesday Stitchsales of donated fabric. “We had one ers” was adopted after 2005, when member pass away and her husband member Shelley Crowe proposed donated boxes of wonderful fabric to donating finished quilts to famius.” Twedt said. “Sometimes people lies staying at the Caring Cabin. just need to clean out fabric or other “We called ourselves a ‘stitch quilting and sewing supplies they’ve and bitch,’” Twedt said. “But once NEW TUESDAY STITCHERS MEMBER Betty Hickey, we started making the quilts, we from Florida, takes a short break from quilting dur- had in storage and we are happy to get it. Our members love the sales had to sew labels on them, and ing one of the Tuesday Stitchers’ meeting days at the because they are a great way to find we couldn’t exactly put that on the Kiawanda Community Center. new things.” labels.” Though there are currently The relationship with the have made 40-50 all on their own. One about 60 members on the mailing list, the Children’s Cancer Association, which the woman lost her son and decided to make group always welcomes more members Caring Cabin is a part of, started 10 years and are happy to have people just drop ago when the quilters organized a show at and donate a quilt for every year that he’d lived, but once she did it, she just kept in on their weekly get-togethers. “Our the Community Center with hundreds of on going. This is such a caring group and membership keeps growing,” Twedt said. quilts on display to celebrate the opening a great example of how one person can “We now have the granddaughter of one of the Cabin. have an idea then have many people of our members that has joined and many “Since then, I’ve had the deep privicome forward to make it happen.” members that are not full time residents lege of getting to know Karen Twedt and The quilts have come to be an inteof Tillamook County.” And in case you are the amazing women who make up the gral part of the experience for those at the wondering, yes, they have one member Tuesday Stitchers,” said CCA co-founder Cabin. that is a man. and Caring Cabin site manager Cliff Ellis. “Families come to the Caring Cabin “Thanks to their kindness and talents, to connect with nature, to heal, and to The Tuesday Stitchers meet every Tueswe’re able to hand select a quilt that create lasting memories outside of the day at the Kiawanda Community Center, reflects the interests, favorite colors, and hospital environment,” said Megan 34600 Cape Kiwanda Dr., Pacific City, from personality of every child that visits the Byrtek, CCA President and CEO. “The 10 am to 3 pm. For more information, call Cabin. The Tuesday Stitchers are passionexquisite, personalized quilts that the 503-965-7900. ate ambassadors for CCA and an incredTuesday Stitchers create warmly welcome
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Pacific City
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Tim Hirsch Editor & Publisher
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Contributors: Gretchen Ammerman, Pat Gefre, Sally Rissel, Shiana Weaver
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THE 12TH ANNUAL Birding & Blues Festival returns to Pacific City, April 29-May 1 with three days of field trips, nature seminars and blues music.
ible testament to the generosity of the Pacific City community.” When Crowe first proposed the project, she was met with a bit of concern at home. “I thought it would be nice to make quilts for the kids that had to stay there,” Crowe said. “My husband said, ‘That would take making 50 quilts a year,’ which he thought would be too much. Well, we’re now starting our second thousand batch of quilts. Some of our members
Page 4 • Pacific City SUN • April 15, 2016