Quilting the community

Ann Reid, Heather Grant, Mary Wilson, Chris Fox, Darinka Barmby with grandchild Billy, Barbara Stevens and Claudia Welter. (Ivan Kemp) 476580_03

Bellarine residents passionate about quilting and craft are helping provide comfort and warmth to people in need within the community.

Bellarine Quilting Group donated 52 handmade quilts to the community, including Meli’s foster care service and the Sexual Assault and Violence Centre in Geelong.

Group coordinator Christine Fox said the ladies “just love making quilts” and donating them to people in need, primarily to “women and children in distress”.

“We’re just a group of ladies who enjoy a love of craft and are able to pass the benefits of that on to the wider community,” she said.

“We love being creative, expressing ourselves and being part of a group that shares a common interest; we just enjoy going and having fun.

“One of the things we like to be involved in is making charity quilts, which we like to call them comfort quilts, and we donate those quilts to various organisations on the Bellarine Peninsula and in Geelong.”

Ms Fox said the group started in 1986 with about five ladies coming together to enjoy crafts, with its members deciding to start donating quilts 15 years ago.

“Giving away the quilts is also a real buzz; we get a lot of benefit out of that. You get as much from giving as you do from receiving,” she said.

“The social benefits are enormous, and we get a lot out of our meetings. People from all sorts of backgrounds come once a week to meet, discuss and share a common interest.”

Jena Carr