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When I started to think about it, our Library Quilting Group, Always in Stitches, has done an amazing number of things in 6 years. The group got its start in September of 2006 when the Abington Community Library began offering free weekly “Tuesday morning learn to quilt class” with a Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) facilitator, Peg Winter. The groups first quilts were completed by February 2007 and put on display at the Library. Astoundingly, several of the women admitted they had never sewn a stitch in their lives, but the work was exquisite. The women weren’t willing to stop, and moved on to more advanced projects that spring. Peg had to start a second beginners group on Tuesday afternoons to accommodate a waiting list of future quilters. During the fall of 2007 that second group was welcomed into the original group, and Always in Stitches was formed! The group now has over twenty participants that meet regularly, always welcoming the Tuesday afternoon ‘newbies’ into their fold.

The original group made a quilt using scraps from their original individual projects and the finished creation was presented to the Library May 2007 as a gift. It is proudly displayed in the community room where the quilters meet. 

The group has since:
• Donated a total of three additional handmade quilts to the library all raffled off to benefit the library.
• Made and donated quilts: to Curves to use in fund raising efforts for the Susan Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; to the Griffin Pond Animal Shelter; to the Ronald McDonald House; to a local Divali Celebration; a participant’s daughter who was undergoing major health issues.
• Donated many other unique hand-sewn items to the Library’s Holiday Marketplace for raffle to raise funds for the Library.
• Made a number of Christmas stockings for donation to the Gino Merli Veterans Center.
• Made countless pillowcases to be donated to ConKerr Cancer, a group that distributes colorful cases to children undergoing treatment in a number of hospitals. This project was brought to their attention by author Nancy Srebro-Johnson.
• Participated in Project DJ, an organization that distributes small quilts, again to children in hospitals. In 2006 they donated 30 quilt tops to the group. These quilts were also part of an RSVP presentation at Scranton's First Friday. 
• Sent a quilt to Russia with one of the quilters’s daughters for her host family. A cabin block was made and the group made blocks for a Friendship Star, which was used as a border around the cabin. A second quilt was made, this one with a Russian church in the center surrounded by more stars. The traveling student gave the cabin quilt to her hostess and had the people she met on the trip sign the other one as a remembrance of her trip. 
• Continues to make Friendship Star pillows for each other when a ‘perk’ is needed. Just recently their sole male quilter had knee replacement surgery and they made him a Friendship Star pillow too. 

Member have demonstrated the art of quilting at the Library for National Quilt Month individually and as part of a “Sit ‘n Sew Day” where the group precut pieces for quilts with the expectation that "outsiders" would come to help sew them into quilts. 

Last but not least, they have recently started making dresses for young African girls. Nancy Srebro-Johnson got them interested in creating simple dresses, which will be sent to Kenya. 

The quilters have ranged in age from 5 years old to over eighty! The quilters all agree, “Tuesday is OUR day,” and the group now routinely lunches together. If you ask them, you’ll hear: “I’ve sewn all my life but never made a big quilt. I wanted to make one before I die!” “My husband signed me up for these classes because I am a voracious reader and he wanted me to have a hobby that allowed me to keep him company.” “My baby sent to school, leaving me alone all day and I got tired of talking to the dog!” “I moved back here after begin away 25 years and signed up to make new friends. I came to the library to see what they had to offer and found something I always wanted to do along with these wonderful people.” “I came to make friends. I’ve lived here for 10 years and have made more friends through this group than I did before I started.” “I love the fabrics and was fascinated about putting the colors together. My daughter, a library board member, thought this would be a terrific experience for me. She was right!” “I retired 3 years ago and was looking for something exciting to do for myself. I drive a distance to attend weekly but I love it.”

This Library-based group is so much more than a creative outlet. It offers friendship, support, and community service. Always in Stitches, sewing, laughing, or crying, they do it together, at the Abington Community Library.