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The Ocracoke Quilters welcome new members
By SUNDAE HORN
 Come
to Deepwater Theater on Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. to see an Ocracoke
tradition in action. It’s not music or storytelling, but another
kind of art. The Ocracoke Needle and Thread Club, aka the Quilters,
have taken over the theater on Sunday afternoons for their sewing
sessions, during which they sit and sew together (and talk, too!) and
create beautiful handcrafted quilts from scraps of fabric. They
recently finished a sampler quilt for next year’s Ocracoke
Preservation Society museum raffle, and two commissioned quilts, both
of which are the traditional Ocracoke Cracker pattern. The quilters
agree that every new quilt they finish is the prettiest they’ve
ever made.
The Needle and Thread Club has been meeting since the mid-1970s to plan
and create traditional patchwork quilts, and to pass on their wisdom
and skill to newcomers who join the group. Although the names and faces
have changed over the years, the spirit has remained the same. You
don’t have to know anything about sewing or quilting to join, and
many of today’s quilters had never wielded a needle before the
other members taught them how.
Eleanor
Garrish, the only remaining original member, and Rosemary Wetherill,
are the reigning matriarchs of the quilters. They have encouraged
others to join and are delighted at the recent resurgence of interest
in the craft. There are currently 20 members and more are always
welcome. A core group of six or seven quilters keeps everything
organized and helps to assign tasks to the rest.
Until recently, the quilters have been meeting at Deepwater Theater on
Monday nights at 7 p.m., but they decided to switch to Sunday
afternoons during the dark winter months.
The quilters provide all the fabric and material for their quilts and
then donate them to worthy causes. This year’s raffle quilt at
the OPS Museum, a traditional Ocracoke Cracker pattern on a dark blue
background, brought in more than $3,500. For the past two years, the
quilters have created and donated a beautiful quilt to raffle at the
Ocrafolk Music and Storytelling Festival. Last year’s crazy quilt
raised $1,600 for the non-profit festival.
Amy Howard and Jane Griffin are hard at work cutting the fabric for
this year’s festival quilt, a pattern that Howard has dubbed
“Ocean Waves.” (Its traditional name is
“Snail’s Path”) In bright ocean colors of turquoise
and royal blue, the quilt is sure to be stunning. Howard found musical
note fabric to use in the Ocean Waves quilt, making it even more
fitting for the occasion.
If you’d like to join the Needle and Thread Club or just want to
visit, feel free to stop by any Sunday afternoon at Deepwater Theater.
 
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