Quilting at the Library

The Tallman Room at the North Grenville Public Library (NGPL) was full of chatter last Tuesday during the monthly Scrappy Bits Quilting Club get together. The club is a combination of two quilting groups in the area. Some of the ladies are involved with Victoria’s Quilts Canada, which is a national program with a large chapter run out of St. John’s United Church, where participants make quilts to be donated to people going through cancer treatment across the country. Other ladies are part of the North Grenville Quilters Guild, who make quilts regularly to be donated to people in need in North Grenville.

Quilting is very much a group activity, with many people needed to stretch the material and pin it in place to be sewn. Brenda McCraken has been part of the quilting group at the library since its beginning and says the space is perfect for laying and pinning quilts. “We really needed a space for quilting,” she says. “The library has nice big tables and we can layer things and pin there.”

As mentioned, many of the people who come to the monthly get together at the library are also involved in other quilting groups in Kemptville, but anyone who is interested in quilting is welcome to come. The idea behind the club is to get together, swap material, patterns and ideas, and learn from each other. “It’s a whole lot of fun, and I’m always learning something,” Brenda says. “It’s awesome for learning in retirement.”

Most of the quilts they work on at the library are for children. When they are finished, they are often donated to family services to be used as a tummy-time or cuddle blanket for a needy baby or child. At the beginning of the meeting last Tuesday, they were working on pinning a blanket for a little boy.

The Scrappy Bits Quilting Club runs year-round on the first Tuesday of the month, from 1pm-3pm at the NGPL. Brenda would like to thank the library for providing the space for them to meet every month. She encourages anyone who is interested in quilting to come and find out more about the art of quilting, or the Kemptville Quilters Guild and Victoria’s Quilts Canada. There are usually around 6-8 people who attend every week, and they are more than happy to answer questions, swap ideas and socialize.