The Larch are Golden

And the women are back quilting every Friday at the Historical Village. Not only quilting on Fridays, but also busy making all sorts of lovely items for our online store. Baby quilts, pine needle baskets, catnip mice, scrubbies, potholders, art bags for children, tied quilts and so much more. You can see all of these on the online store here, or stop by the old schoolhouse in the Historical Village any Friday between 10am to 3pm to look over these items.

If you stop by, you not only get to see what is available for sale, but also can admire the two quilts we are currently working on. One is a sampler quilt made by Sally Steward and definitely showcases Sally’s abilities with putting together the perfect colors. The second quilt is one a local woman pieced quite a number of years ago and finally decided to have it hand quilted. It is interesting for those of us sewing on it because we are using black thread on a black background for part of it. Both are a joy to work on. Of course, we are always open to have more people sew. Don’t hesitate to stop by on a Friday to sew with us – novices and experts gladly welcomed.

In case you think it might be grueling to stitch from 10am through to 3pm, please know there is an awful lot more that goes on at the schoolhouse on Fridays. Often there are visitors dropping by to see the schoolhouse, or ask questions about the valley’s history. People also drop things off. Recently Jane Fox donated five Seattle Seahawks face masks for us to sell. Not only a treat to add these items to our store, but to visit with Jane. Some women who quilt bring in things they are working on. Renata and Jan always have lovely things to share with us. We call it ‘show and tell.’ Sally brings things she has made, as well as vegetables and fruit from her garden. Cathryn puts the coffee on around 11:30 (unless there is a call for it earlier). Sometimes we have homemade sweets someone brings for dessert. And all the quilters bring their own bag lunches every Friday which we eat promptly at noon.

So yes, there are enough distractions that no one seems to get tired of sewing and yet, a lot of sewing gets done every Friday. Hope you stop by one of these weeks to visit.

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This is a great opportunity for you. And it is also a story.

When information about COVID 19 penetrated the northwest corner of Montana, it only made sense to start sewing face masks. After all, we had fabric for quilts, lots of thread and sewing skills (some of us more than others).  So serious face masks making began.  At first we used fabric from the Historical Village because we have a stash there for future quilts.  But as word spread in the community about our endeavor, individuals began donating fabric.  We weren’t concerned about colors or patterns as long as it was 100% cotton, a tight weave and clean.

Boxes of fabric came in and were sorted so women in the community who were sewing face masks could easily pick up a bagful.  A front porch in town became the exchange station: fabric dropped off in boxes, fabric picked up in bags, freshly sewn masks delivered back to the porch, and then masks picked up by the good citizens in our valley to wear.

I must admit we didn’t pay attention to patterns when sorting fabric. Mostly it was enough effort to get bags of fabric to those who needed them, and the finished masks distributed in the community. Until two days ago when posting on Facebook with a photo that free masks were available, activity began to seriously pick up and caught our attention.  In that photo was a face mask made from Seattle Seahawks fabric.  All at once – people were not just asking for masks, they were asking for those masks. And within a very short time, all the Seahawks masks were spoken for.  Betsy had made those masks and she heard about the demand.  Unfortunately, most of the Seahawks fabric was already used up. Most! but Betsy had some snippets left which she pieced together so now in this valley we have two (2) Seahawks masks that are available.

All the  face masks we made since March have been freely given to whomever asks, as we are glad to see people wearing them at the post office and the grocery store.  But we decided we would put these two up for a donation to the Historical Village.  If you are a Seattle Seahawks fan and are interested in sporting these masks, get in touch with Rita (collinsrita@yahoo.com).  She will drop them off if you live in the Tobacco Valley or mail them to you if you live farther away, in exchange for a donation to the Tobacco Valley Board of History. First offer received will get the masks (too busy sewing to hold an auction).  Thank you.