Quilters Meet for 50+ Years of Friendship
Naubinway Sewing Circle Remains Unbroken
By Paul Gingras

In May 1960, the Friendship Sewing Circle of Naubinway meets to work on a quilt. Pictured here (back, from left) are Alice Minarik, Hannah Williams, Leatha Legault, Esther Wyse, Candice Rossow, Elizabeth Polachek, and Leona Smith; (front) Hazel Davenport, Rosie Prater, John Foss, Norma Maudrie, Bonnie Maudrie, and Gerald Wyse. (Photography courtesy of the Friendship Sewing Circle)

"It's a nice place to be, around the quilt," said Kathy Livermore, a quilter who considers herself an apprentice, even after 29 years with the Friendship Sewing Circle of Naubinway.

Mrs. Livermore is part of a group of nine women who work the yeararound to refurbish for people throughout Michigan quilts which are often intricate, old, irreplaceable family heirlooms. The Circle, which has maintained its name since it began about 1950, meets twice a month at the Naubinway Christian Fellowship Church, where members also make comforters for people in need.

Seasoned artisans, Circle members consider themselves an outreach group. They use their skills to generate money for local causes and community events.

In this picture, the group is working on an autumn leaf design created by Rosie Prater of Rexton. Mrs. Prater was once a member of the Circle. Pictured here (from left) are Ellie Barta, Jo Miller, Jean Foss, Muriel Eifler, Rosie Prater, Kathy Livermore, and Marcia Waters. (Photograph courtesy of the Friendship Sewing Circle)

For the members, quilting sessions are "all about fellowship," Mrs. Livermore explained.

Current members, all from Naubinway, include President Jean Foss, Treasurer Kathy Livermore, Assistant Treasurer Dorris Papineau, Barb Oertel, Vice President and expert quilt maker Marcia Waters, Muriel Eifler, Jo Miller, Ellie Barta, and Norma Maudrie, who hems many of the final products.

The time members spend together is a chance to practice their skills under expert guidance and to talk with friends. Originally a church group drawing neighbors from Naubinway and Engadine, the Circle no longer is affiliated with any one church. Many of the members are widowed or retired, Mrs. Livermore said, and the average age of the group rises by the year, owing to economic and social changes that have led to a decline in participation by younger women.

The group retains a board structure, and members keep detailed log books for their projects.

When many people imagine a quilt, Mrs. Livermore explained, they think only of the cover, or top; a linked piece of colorful fabric squares. In actuality, not only can the tops of quilts come in many patterns, such as interlocking circles and logcabin shapes, the art of quilting is less about producing tops (which usually come to the group already made) than about linking them to back and middle pieces. Creating a full quilt is time consuming, she added, but the result is a functional, comfortable, and attractive piece of art.

Even with several hands working on one project, the process of turning a top into a fully-fledged quilt takes months. The Circle usually produces one or two quilts a year.

Guided by Mrs. Foss, the Circle places all three layers on a rack, where they are carefully stretched and pinned. This part of the process is critical, and without Mrs. Foss, mistakes could ruin the final product.

Sizes vary from king size to quilts small enough for a baby. The group adjusts its prices accordingly.

Owing to the number of people who work on them, the Circle quilts include differently sized stitches, so they are not as precise as those made by professionals, Mrs. Livermore said. A professional quilter works alone and ensures that all stitches are exactly the same size, charging up to $3,000 to do the work the Circle does for $100 to $600.

The Circle is accustomed to enthusiastic reactions from its customers, "who have often waited for years to see their quilt tops become the finished pieces they had in mind when they were pieced [together] so lovingly," Mrs. Livermore said.

Once the quilting is done, the quilts are turned over to the expert hands of Norma Maudrie, who hems them. Without her, the quilts would simply be "sandwiches" with three raw-edged parts, Mrs. Livermore explained. As she hems, Mrs. Maudrie sometimes discovers mistakes made in the quilting process, and she works with Mrs. Foss to correct problems.

Quilting offers a peek into both history and culture, Mrs. Livermore pointed out.

The Friendship Sewing Circle is an offshoot of a common Mennonite practice. Mennonite churches have often included quilting groups, including the Naubinway Christian Fellowship Church, which was formerly a traditional Mennonite Church, and the Rexton Mennonite Church, which is no longer traditional but retains its name, Mrs. Livermore explained.

Mennonite groups never waste material, she added. They have been known to collect pieces of cloth for years, often filling boxes with four-, eight-, or nine-inch squares. Once enough pieces are saved, they are linked together to form a quilt's top.

Many of the quilt tops the Circle receives are handed down from grandmothers, representing one result of changing socioeconomic times spurred by World War II. Prior to the war, many women created quilt tops, but when women spilled into the work force during the war, the tops were put away. Now, when inheritors of quilt tops encounter the Friendship Circle, the tops are resurrected and the quilting process is completed at last.

In the beginning, the Circle had 32 members, enough to work on two major quilt projects at a time, and Engadine resident Elizabeth Polachek invited Mrs. Livermore to be a part of the Friendship Sewing Circle in 1978. At 34, Mrs. Livermore was the youngest member of the group, and she has often been the youngest since. Most members are now in their 70s.

Working with her older mentors has been a morale booster, she said.

"There is a lot of wisdom," in the Circle, she explained.

Circle members also dedicate their skills to a producing a second, less complicated, but useful product: comforters. These comfortable blankets, like quilts, usually have three layers. The Circle can turn out many comforters in a year.

The Circle sells comforters for $50 to $85 and often gives them away to people in need.

Fire survivors in the Naubinway/Engadine area have received several. When a rash of fires took place in the mid-1980s, for example, the Circle gave out 10 or 15 of them.

Sturdy comforters have replaced quilts as the Circle's main contribution to the Northern Michigan Relief Sale each August in Fairview. The sale is organized by Mennonites to raise money to assist people in need. Michigan's Relief Sale is linked to others of its kind in a global project that operates in 58 countries.

The Circle also uses its profits to support the All Night Graduate Party in Engadine, which takes place at the Garfield Township Hall. Parents organize the event and fund it with donations. The Circle donates money to township government projects. At one time, its members contributed to the township's defibrillator fund. The Circle also organizes a Christmas party each year.

Many Circle quilts are made for people its members never get to meet. Residents of lower Michigan often hear about the Circle's projects at events hosted by the Hiawatha Sportsmens Club, and they send the tops north to be made into quilts, Mrs. Livermore said.

Creating quilts is no easy task, she added.

"At first, I was taking out more stitches than I put in," she said, but under the group's direction she has become competent and comfortable with her work.

Despite their skills, the group remains highly dependent on the abilities of its president, Mrs. Foss. Confronted with the task of working out the final details of complex quilting projects, she has occasionally asked what the group will do without her, according to Mrs. Livermore.

It is a question, so far, with no answer, Mrs. Livermore said.

For more information, or to donate to the Friendship Sewing Circle, contact Kathy Livermore at (906) 477-6915.