Guild makes quilts for migrant education program

Photos by Kristina Gabalski – Orleans County Quilt Guild members Eileen Sorochty, left, and Lynn Andrews hold a John Deere-themed child’s quilt made by Andrews for this year’s donation to children of migrant workers at the Migrant Education Program in Lyndonville.

Members of the Orleans County Quilt Guild will continue a special annual tradition on Monday when they take quilts to children at the summer Migrant Education Program held at the former elementary school in Lyndonville.

“It’s so cute to watch them pick out their quilts and wrap them around themselves,” says Guild member Lynn Andrews.

The Guild will give quilts they made or collected from other local quilt guilds.

Most of the quilts are just the right size for little ones – 40 inches by 65 inches – and feature colorful prints and soft, warm fabrics. All are constructed with great care and attention.

Guild president Shirley Newbould says the group has participated in the project for years.

On the day of the donation, “We meet Donna Spence (project director) and take bags of quilts to the classroom,” Newbould explains.

“We lay them on the floor and the kids pick out what they want.”

Members of the Orleans County Quilt Guild leave space for recipients to put their name on the back of the quilt they choose.

“Last year a little boy picked a pink one with cowgirls and horses,” says Guild member Eileen Sorochty.

She says he was drawn to the horse motif. “He curled up with it and went to sleep.”

An up-close shot of the beautiful quilts to be donated to children of local migrant workers by members of the Orleans County Quilt Guild.

Kindergarteners get the first pick and then first graders, Shirley Newbould says.

Because membership in the Orleans Guild is not as large as when the program started, additional quilts are collected from other local guilds including the Genesee County Quilt Guild, the Brockport Quilt Guild and the Genesee Valley Quilt Club.

“We appreciate it,” Newbould says. “We couldn’t do it without them.”

The Orleans County Quilt Guild meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month.

Members gather to work on a variety of needlework projects, share a potluck lunch, and enjoy each other’s company from late morning through mid-afternoon.