July 19, 2023
The Tooele County Quilters have been busy perfecting their blanket-making skills and donating quilts to members of the community since the mid 1980s.
They have made quilts for veterans, the Tooele County Justice Center, the Harris Community Resource Center and Mountain West Medical Center. The quilters have also made placemats, children’s balls, and bibs for the elderly.
The group was formed in 1986 after a group of local women who were taking quilting classes in Salt Lake City donated one of their homemade quilts to a fundraiser by the Deseret Foundation, now known as the Intermountain Foundation.
After their quilt raised $2,050, the second highest amount in the auction, they decided to create a quilting group in Tooele to give back to the local community. They called the group the “Tooele County Quilters,” placing themselves as a chapter under the Utah Quilt Guild. They began meeting in the basement of the Tooele County building and the group rapidly grew with many talented quilters.
Now, 37 years later, they have more than 70 members.
The group meets on the third Tuesday of each month to work on their projects and discuss all things quilting.
“We meet together to continue quilting, to teach each other, and to learn new techniques,” Barbara Lay, president of the Tooele County Quilters said. “We usually have a class or a technique that we talk about and we show our quilts that we are making or have made.”
During their meetings, the group also receives challenges, like creating mystery quilts, hand quilting, and finishing the quilting projects that have been sitting in the back of their closets for years.
“We call them UFO’s for unfinished objects,” Karen Pinkelman, charity co-chairman of the group said. “One of our challenges is we have to bring those in to finish.”
During their time together and during their free time at home, the quilters work on various projects for members of the community.
“We try to find various people or groups in the community that need things,” Pinkleman said. “We want to keep it in the valley.”
Perhaps their biggest project — for a number of years, members of the group have been making blankets for the Tooele County Children’s Justice Center.
“We make little lap quilts that they can give to the kids who come into the center,” Lay said.
They also make blankets for police officers to keep in their patrol vehicles for victims of accidents.
One of their most popular projects has been making quilts for veterans. Since they started participating in the project years ago, they’ve made hundreds of quilts. Some members of the community who aren’t in the group also help to create the blankets.
Each year, during Tooele City’s Veteran’s Day program, the quilts are given out to the veterans. Last year, 58 quilts were given out.
“There is a list of all of the veterans who would like to receive them,” Pinkelman said. “The veterans are able to choose which one they want a week or two before Veteran’s Day.”
The older veterans are given priority in choosing a quilt.
Although they are involved in many projects, the group’s biggest project right now is creating quilts for the beds at the Harris Community Resource Center.
They started creating the quilts in October 2023 and they are nearly complete.
“We have made 66 twin-sized bed quilts,” Pinkelman said. “It has been a huge challenge but it has been amazing to see how everyone has stepped up and has gotten them done … They are really beautiful and they’ve put such love and care into them.”
Residents at the Harris Community Resource Center will be able to keep their quilts when they leave the facility, a hopeful reminder that they are cared for.
Much of the fabric they use for their projects is donated to them. They aim to not let any go to waste.
“We try to figure out what to do with the fabric that we have,” Pinkelman said.
Last year, the group made Christmas placemats with donated fabric and gave them to every care center in Tooele County, so that each resident could have their own.
“We did 325 placemats and they were all patchworked,” Pinkelman said. “They were so fun to make and we were able to get rid of a lot of the Christmas fabric we had.”
Next month, members of the group plan to use more remaining fabric to make Christmas pillowcases for the care centers. They also plan to make bibs for the residents.
The group recently used remaining fabric to make toy balls for children and donated them to the WIC office.
“When moms come in to get food from WIC, the children can have a toy,” Pinkelman said.
Last week members of the group gathered at the Grantsville Police Department to cut fabric for receiving blankets that will be donated to Mountain West Medical Center. They were able to cut around 300. Now, they just need to be made. The event was part of their monthly “charity sew” where the group gathers together at the police department to participate in a project all together.
“If someone doesn’t know how to sew or needs any help, there’s always someone to help them,” Pinkelman said, speaking of the monthly event.
Pinkelman and Lay enjoy being around other talented quilters.
“I love seeing how talented everyone is,” Lay said. “Their quilts are just gorgeous … It’s really fun to see the different quilts and the ideas that people have.”
“We have women that are so talented,” Pinkelman added. “They are willing to show and teach you if you’re willing to learn a new step, process, or way to put a quilt together.”
Beyond quilting skills and charity work, the group provides friendship for its members.
“This brings us all together,” Lay said. “I love to see how everyone comes together through their love of quilting … There are immediate friends here.”
In the future, the quilters plan to keep serving the community and creating quilts and other various charity projects.
“We want to keep creating some beautiful things,” Pinkelman said.
To join the Tooele County Quilters, please visit the Tooele County Quilters Facebook group or join their meeting on the third Tuesday of the month at the Tooele County Health Department at 9:30 a.m. Those interested can participate in the group for a month for free. If they decide to join, it’s $20 a year.
Everyone is welcome at the group.
“If you have any interest in quilting at all and have time to come to the meeting, come,” Lay said.
Those interested in donating supplies to the group can call Pinkelman at 909-455-4848 to arrange for drop-off.
The Tooele County Quilters have donated thousands of homemade quilts to members of the community for over 37 years since the group was founded in 1986.
