Quilters make best of lockdown time

OTHELLO — The quintet of Dianna Booth, Julie Bridges, Janet Larsen, Linda Boothman and Pattie Yonkers take their quilting seriously. They and some other Othello ladies meet regularly at Othello Christian Church and ply their craft, and a couple of times a year, the ladies get together for a quilting weekend.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has put a damper on parties of any kind. However, the five found a silver lining, as quarantine has given them an opportunity to do more quilting.

“We’ve done all those things we couldn’t get done because of interruptions,” Booth said. “We finally had time to do it.”

When quarantine first started, the ladies switched to sewing masks.

“I think every one of us sewed an undisclosed amount of masks when this whole thing started,” Booth said. “We were doing it for free.”

The group made so many masks in six weeks that they ran out of places to donate them. Then they went back to their first love, quilting.

Over the last few months, the five have made quarantine quilts, including a mystery quilt. For the mystery quilt, the quilters were given a different block each day to make for 15 days. At the end, the blocks were assembled to reveal the final product. The ladies made other quilts where they followed a specific pattern.

They also made quilts to give away. Some of the quilts they make are baby blankets that are given to the Othello Community Hospital.

Other quilts go to a mission in Mexico and a street mission in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The group also makes quilts for the residents of the local nursing homes to give as Christmas presents.

Besides being quilting buddies, the ladies are really good friends socially, Larsen said.

“The five of us get together regularly to do quilting at Dianna’s (Booth) house or retreat,” she said.

She also said that the five of them can get together so easily because they are all retired or semi-retired. Most of them are also single or widowed.

Larsen also added that during the first months of COVID-19, the group didn’t meet at all. But now, they are getting together in her backyard when there is plenty of shade and space for social distancing.

The ladies use their quilting as a way to relieve stress and rejuvenate.

Bridges said that after she lost her husband in 2014, quilting was her “saving grace.”

“It is something I look forward to,” Bridges said. “I think I like the artistic part of it.”

Like many other businesses, fabric stores were closed at the beginning of the pandemic. The ladies pulled out the fabric they already had to use in their quilts.

“We went into our own private store and picked out our fabric,” Bridges said.

“We went from hoarders to being well prepared in a matter of days,” Booth said.

Rachal Pinkerton may be reached via email at [email protected].