Women trickled in slowly for the regular Tuesday night meeting of the Southwest Quilting Bee, ready to lend a helpful hand and years of experience to others who had brought along their own colorful works of art. Within minutes, it became clear that more than a love of quilting lures members to the sessions, held in a community room at the Southwest Regional branch of the Louisville Free Public Library on Dixie Highway. Quilters at the group’s March 17 meeting Jean Haldeman, Doris Merritt-Kleitz, Shirley Millard, Janet Mikes, Gwen Paulley, Bonnie Ritchie and Pam Wendelgast say the camaraderie has bettered their entire lives. Several of the women also regularly attend Saturday work sessions of another quilting group that meets at the Sun Valley Community Center on Bethany Lane. Undeterred by the largest blackout in state history after this winter’s ice storm, Mikes, of Valley Station, used her foot-pedal treadle machine to quilt potholders. The March 17 meeting brought newbies besides Vannoy of Shively, who has quilted for about six years, her friend Linda Beverley attended and tackled her first quilting project just last month.

Tags: longarm quilting, women, quilting patterns, group, haldeman, quilting fat quarters