The South Dakota Quilters’ Guild Spring Retreat will be held at the Crossroads Convention Center in Huron, April 9 -11. The vendors will be open beginning Friday evening with fabrics, patterns, books and sewing machines. Saturday evening is banquet with a trunk show by Kandi Paige Gallup. The classes include a banner class by Paige Gallup and a snowball and nine-patch class by Minks.

Tags: longarm quilting, quilting supplies, quilting patterns, evening, paige, quilting

West Swamp Mennonite Church is holding a week-long knotting marathon to create comforters for the Mennonite Central Committee, which sends them to people around the world. Locals are trying to knot more than 200 comforters this week for the Mennonite Central Committee, which is shipping the blankets to earthquake victims in Haiti. This week, West Swamp Mennonite Church in Milford is holding its fifth annual knotting marathon called Why Knot. The all-volunteer event creates comforters for the Mennonite Central Committee, a relief and service agency based in Lancaster County. The MCC distributes these comforters and others it receives to needy people around the world. Church groups knotted comforters for Europeans devastated by World War II, said Lynne Rush, secretary at West Swamp and one of the knotters.

The local quilting store is participating in American Patchwork and Quilting magazine’s One Million Pillowcase Challenge to benefit ConKeer Cancer, an organization that brightens the lives of sick children in hospitals through homemade pillowcases. Nancy Mason — owner of River’s Edge with her husband, Paul — has a goal of donating 500 pillowcases through her shop by the end of the month, so Sunday’s party will take her closer to her goal. Nancy said some of her customers are making the pillowcases at home and then bringing them to the store for transport to Riley’s Hospital for Children. Nancy said many of her customers work on Quilts of Valor, small quilts that are given to injured soldiers in veterans’ hospitals, and most of the county’s four quilting guilds plan projects to benefit the community.

Josephine Swift , 88, talks about making quilts for her 128 great-grandchildren in her Coal Creek home Tuesday. Instead, Josephine Swift uses her hands to make quilts, appliques and other crafts. Once Swift grew up, had children and worked outside the home, she didn’t have time to devote to quilting. Also, Swift picked up another technique, known as stack ‘n whack, which involves creating pinwheels in the quilts. Later, she married Willie Swift, who worked as a coal miner and helped her raise the five older children, along with twin boys of their own. Instead of idling her days away, she puts her hands to work, making quilts and other crafts for family members.