CARSTAIRS - A local group of quilters is putting its members' skills to good use. The Mountain View Quilters consist of avid members from around the region who meet once a week at the Half-Century Club in Carstairs.
For some time now, the quilters have been making charity quilts and donating them to worthy organizations.
Theresa Bacon, one of the members, said they all have a good time and are glad to give back to the community.
"We meet in Carstairs but we have members from Carstairs and Didsbury and the surrounding area," said Bacon. "We even have someone coming from Water Valley who comes out. We've been together almost four years now. Some of the ladies quilt for themselves, they do whatever they want."
The group will occasionally put on classes on different techniques.
"The ladies are all really good about helping each other out and sharing," she said. "Also, for the last couple of years we've been making charity quilts. So we'll set aside one Monday a month and all work together on charity quilts. Some will work on them at home."
The Mountain View Quilters donated 20 quilts last year to different organizations.
"We gave a lot of them to the Carstairs Lions for their Christmas hampers," she said. "We sent some to Didsbury's (Chinook's Arch) Victim Services. We have one lady, she sends all her quilts to Ronald McDonald House. Nearly everyone is associated with Ronald McDonald House because we all know someone who has cancer."
Bacon said they've also sent quilts to the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary.
"Many of us are grandparents or parents. We may have kids or grandkids that have been there or may be there one day," she said.
The group also makes flannel hearts for the neonatal section at the hospital.
"What they do is they'll put one heart on the baby's chest and another on either the dad or the mom's chest and then switch them about so the tiny baby will have the scent from the baby when they can't be holding them," she said.
"This was just introduced to us a little while back. So we thought yeah, we have plenty of flannel and we can do it."
The quilters have a lot of fun and get along well, she said.
"It's a real fun group," she said. "We have 23 registered members. It's just grown by word of mouth. In all the years I've been in committees, women don't always get along. Not in this group. This group is perfect; everyone gets along. Everyone is so helpful."
