Grab a cup of tea and settle in to quilt with the 200 members of the Durham Orange Quilter’s Guild. For 40 years, this guild has serviced the community through quilts: big, small, artsy and traditional. On March 8 they’ll end their 40th Anniversary celebration during a 2nd Friday ArtWalk pop-up sale in Downtown Chapel Hill.
What began as a group of six women in the late 1970s has turned into a multi-generational organization of quilters who’ve donated quilts to veterans, hospitals and charity. Patti Postage has served as president of the guild for three years, but she’s been quilting for almost 50.
“I did it with my grandmother and my aunts and cousins,” Postage said. “... I enjoyed the social time with all the family.”
Postage said she loves quilting, but the best part is being able to give back through her quilts.
“Those are special quilts, so when you’re making those, you really feel privileged to be able to present them,” Postage said.
The group hosts outreach projects to donate quilts to UNC Hospitals, animal rescues and to children who have lost their parents to AIDS in South Africa.
Among other projects, the guild is working with the North Carolina Museum of History on a new interactive quilting exhibit called “QuiltSpeak," set to debut in May.
During their weekly meetings at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Chapel Hill, the group usually hosts programs on quilting where people can share quilting tips or their journey into quilting, as guild Advertising Chairperson Gwen Konsler said.
“People will tell their journey,” Konsler said. “You know, how they went from a biologist to a quilter.”
