On the first Thursday of every month, members of the Gone to Pieces Quilt Guild of Alpena meet to share their quilts with one another as well as tips and tricks.
There are about 90 members that come from mainly Alpena, but many travel from all over Northeast Michigan to attend the meetings, workshops and retreats.
Ginny Roland, president of the guild, said the organization is an effort to form a community and spark social interaction through shared common interests.
Roland described the intimidation she felt coming in as a new member. She felt she didn’t want to ever show her own work because she thought it did not compare to others.
“So, as president, I like to encourage people to bring whatever you have, because everybody has talents,” she said. “Everybody has a first quilt that they’ve made that they want to show off and get some praise for to make them try to improve.
"So, sometimes you need to show your simplest quilts, just to get a little handshake, clap, a little bit of praise, so that you will go on to the next level, because it truly is intimidating.”
Besides the guild’s own sense of community, it has made efforts to expand beyond that by contributing to several charity organizations, including a local baby pantry, Hope Shores Alliance, the Salvation Army, the District Health Department and, most recently, Quilts of Valor.
Quilts of Valor are quilts made for veterans of war from World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The guild had an inquiry last month to present female veterans with lap quilts and have been working to donate since then.
Another project that had been started three years ago and is still in commission are baby quilts made for the neonatal unit in Ann Arbor. The project is done in partnership with Kiwanis clubs throughout Michigan.
Roland said this is the fourth year the quilt guild has been making baby quilts for this project.
“They don’t use these for the children themselves,” she said. “They put them over the isolettes to keep moisture in the air and keep the light out because they usually need to be protected.
So they are given to the unit. And then when the child goes home, the quilt goes with it.”
The guild has donated an average of 125 to 145 baby quilts a year to the Ann Arbor unit. Roland said other guilds get involved in the program as well and have continued to receive supportive feedback from the parents of the children still using the quilts three years later.
“It’s very emotional when you get involved with that because they are so thankful,” she said, “That’s a total stranger thanking them. So that’s one of my favorite projects.”
When asked to expand on the personal impact collaborating with charity organizations has, Roland said it makes quilting all the more special. When you are making a quilt for a family member, it is out of love and it warms your heart to give it to them.
“So, when you’re doing it for total strangers, whom you’re never going to see, there’s a separation there,” she said. “Because you don’t get to see their face when they receive it yet. But it’s still a very strong emotional sensation.
“I think you do that anytime with any charity you give, because it makes you feel good. It makes you feel that there’s a purpose for it.”
The guild does not fund making charity quilts. Each individual is responsible for the costs of their quilts, Roland said.
“We don’t give people money for doing this,” Roland said. “There are folks who donate fabric or bedding or items that you can use to quilt with.”
Supporting and lasting friendships
Gone to Pieces held its first meeting on Jan. 21, 1993. There were 28 charter members to start out with. The first president of the guild was Joanna Gould.
Commemorating 30 years as a quilt guild recently, Roland said there were four original members in attendance.
When asked how she thinks the number of members have grown over time from 28 to 90, Roland said there is a lot of word of mouth and people that bring their friends.
“If you are a seasoned quilter, I think you do this more for the friendships that you develop, and for the ability to see what other people do that you may never have tried before,” Roland said. “And it will encourage you to do that.
“Or a lot of it is because you have things that you can help other folks with. There’s some folks who are natural teachers. … If you came in and you asked a question, they’d be more than willing to walk you through it, help you with it, teach you step by step if they wanted to, which is really nice.”
As Roland stepped into the role of being the president of the guild two months ago, she said she wanted to do so to help the guild become even more friendly and community active. One way to do that is for every member to wear a name tag so everyone can learn each other’s names.
“Because I want us to all know everybody and make everybody feel welcome,” she said. “And the only way you can do that is if you know their name.”
Additionally, the guild has hosted retreats for the members to build friendships outside of the typical meetings. As well as put together workshops to focus more on learning different quilt patterns and tips.
Inspiration from quilting
When she first joined the guild, Roland said her hope was to have an opportunity to meet a lot of people.
“But what I got out of it, more than I expected, was learning from all these wonderfully talented ladies,” she said. “I was astounded when I first attended these meetings at the beautiful things that were accomplished.”
Roland originally joined the guild about seven years ago and wanted to join the guild to find encouragement and support from others.
“You need other people patting you on the back, [and] you can pat them on the back, but it gives you inspiration to keep you going,” Roland said. “Otherwise, you kind of get burned out with it to be perfectly honest with you, you lose your interest.”
However, she has also found a lot of support within her husband. When the couple moved from Texas, she said they were moving into a smaller home so there was quite a bit they had to get rid of.
“And I said, everything except my fabric,” Roland said. “All of my fabric is coming.”
There was no argument from his end.
Similarly, Emma Caroline Ritz who has been a member for over 20 years said her husband’s support has helped continue to fuel her passion for quilting.
“If I say I need some thread, he says ‘what color?’ He says, you know, ‘How much do you need?,'” Ritz said.
Ritz also said it is a pleasure to see people’s reactions when giving them one of her quilts. She has made 30 veteran quilts on her own.
“Some of them I don’t remember their names,” she said. “I didn’t know much about them except that they had served. …My brother served in World War II, my father served in World War I. So veterans are important. They protect us, they give us our freedom.”
Ritz originally fell in love with her grandmother’s quilts, which her mother gave to her to sleep with when she was a child.
“And I always felt safe under her quilts,” she said. “And that’s why I fell in love with quilting.”
Ritz has made over 400 quilts, nine of them since May and recalled a saying from her mother about a quilt’s significance.
“When you think of a quilt, a lot of people refer to it as a blanket,” she said. “Well, a blanket warms your heart, but a quilt warms your soul.”
She said you feel a part of the person that made the quilt when you are sleeping under it or touch it. And when working on the quilt yourself and figuring out what it’ll look like, Ritz said it’s just a feeling that comes to you.
“You can’t just take a quilt and just you know … and say this is what it’s going to be,” she said. “You’ve got to let it talk to you.”
Anne Hood was a member of the guild previously and later rejoined after moving back to Alpena. When she was in the sixth grade she had made her first quilt after being taught by her grandmother.
“She was my inspiration,” Hood said. “And she could sew and do anything. And so she knew how and she was the one who started me.”
What keeps Hood passionate about quilting is how it occupies her mind when she’s making one.
“The days just fly by,” she said. “And so it’s an occupation that you’re fully embraced with, whatever you’re doing. And even if it turns out ugly, you can learn a lot.”
There is much thought that goes into making a quilt beyond a gift you can buy at the store or baking a cake, Roland said. Throughout the process of creating one, you are constantly thinking of that person as you incorporate different colors and designs.
“Every piece of that is built with them in mind,” she said. “And I’m not sure that the recipient realizes that until perhaps you’re gone, you know, then maybe that will be something that they remember.”