An Afternoon at Milltown

It was on a learning tour to Ukraine that I first met Judy.  And it was partly because of blankets.  I worked for Mennonite Central Committee as a Material Resources Coordinator in Alberta, and Judy was part of a Hutterite Colony in Manitoba that made blankets to send overseas with MCC.  We were there to see how our shipments affected their lives.  But that's another long story.

I have visited Judy a couple of times, and know that I am always welcome in Milltown.  But this time I was specifically invited to come and see them making blankets.  They set aside one week in the fall and set up their sewing machines, irons, and all the necessary tables, and invite ladies from various colonies to come and help them. 

There was much talk and laughter about food.  Their lunch meal is huge; soup, fresh bread, meat, salad, several vegetables, and a generous serving of dessert.  Then there is coffee and more goodies at 3 p.m.  Some of the ladies remarked that they just get going on the blankets and it's time to eat again.  But no one was complaining about the length of their day: they start at 8 a.m. and finish at 8 p.m.

The group was very gracious about my camera and trigger-happy finger, and so I was able to capture some memories of this day.

Judy is the head cook in her colony, and her beautiful stainless steel kitchen is courtesy of their own shop on the colony.

Sometimes you have to get right up on the table to get the job done.  Pinning the quilts before machine-quilting them.

You can't cut a straight square from crumpled fabric.

Judy holds up one of the tops that is ready for the next step.

These ladies understand what MCC really wants: brightly colored quilts (going to people who need a smile) without a lot of white, which would get dirty too quickly in situations where water is a valuable commodity.

A busy place!

Even the preschoolers get involved.  They're playing now, but when there is a job that they can do, they do it.  A lady whose arthritis does not allow her to sew anymore, happily removes the pins from the finished blankets.

Marie does an initial sort to see which pieces can be used for the backs and fronts, and which ones need to be a filler layer instead.  She tests the softness of fabrics against her cheek before they are approved for the outside of the blanket.

Sorting the scrap fabric.

Showcasing some of their work.

A women was talked into showing us the quilt she made for her daughter.

I wasn't the only non-Hutterite there yesterday.  Two other friends from Winnipeg came by to work with them for the day, and another friend from Brandon dropped in for a visit.

Try setting this up in your home!

School children at snack time.

This top we saw earlier, is now a blanket and just needs the final machine-quilting.

 In all, there were 200 quilts by early afternoon on their third day of quilting... the week is only half done!