PARSONS – Seniors at the Tucker County Senior Center spend their time doing many projects, including making and selling quilts. The ladies meet once a week – and spend the afternoon talking, sharing memories and making beautiful quilts to sell.
Parsons resident Jean Wilmoth said she helps the seniors learn about quilting and the correct process to make a quilt.
“Every Thursday from noon until 2 p.m. we have quilting,” Wilmoth said. “We piece, we quilt the squares and make a quilt. When they are finished, we hang them up and sell chances.”
Sisters Patty Wilfong and Arlene Ramsey work to put the quilt on the frame so it can be quilted before being sold.
“We do everything here by hand,” Wilfong said. “There are no machine stitches or quilting on these. After we piece the quilts, we put them together with the batting and backing, then we hand quilt each one. Some don’t like to sew and some don’t like to quilt, so we split it up.”
The women are currently selling chances on a purple dahlia quilt and they are working to finish a log cabin pattern quilt.
“We are also working on a rail fence quilt,” Wilmoth said. “The purple dahlia quilt reminds me of my dahlias at home.”
Wilmoth said it takes quite a while to complete a quilt, and often, she said the group has up to six quilts going at once.
“We try to sell chances for the quilts until we gather at least $500,” Wilmoth said. “That gives us the money to get materials and supplies for our next quilt.”
Besides buying materials for the next quilt, the seniors said they use the proceeds to buy something for the center.
“The kitchen needs a new refrigerator,” Wilmoth said. “We also got the curtains, mini blinds, chairs and songbooks for the choir. We have been doing this for years, and some of the girls’ mothers used to quilt here at the center as well.”
Wilmoth said some of the group members had never quilted before joining the group.
“Some of the ladies had never sewed before joining the group,” Wilmoth said. “Some had never done anything before and they do great.”
Wilmoth said there are between 12 and 14 women who gather each Thursday to quilt.
Wilfong said she comes to the center to quilt because she enjoys her time there.
“My mother taught me to quilt,” Wilfong said. “I have a log cabin quilt in the frame at home as well. We have lunch and sing in the choir before we quilt. We do this for the fun.”
“I didn’t know how to sew a button on when I started in November,” said one senior. “I came here and took a leap of faith. I wanted to learn to quilt and Jean took me under her wings. I got a wall hanging and I started out that way. You just sewed around everything – now I have earned trust.”
“I have completed a nine patch and I am working on my own log cabin quilt,” she stated. “But I would not have learned to do it without Jean and all of these ladies here surrounding me like a mother hen. I just love it.”
For information about activities at the Tucker County Senior Center, or to purchase a quilt chance, call the center at 304-478-2423.
