Giving back to the Community
Wellington Quilters are proud to support several causes on a frequent basis
Refuge Quilts
Wellington Quilters Guild members make and donate over 80 quilts a year to the Wellington Women's Refuge and Te Whare Rokiroki (Māori Women's Refuge). Around 20 additional smaller quilts are donated to the Wellington City Mission as knee rugs for elderly citizens in need of warmth during the cold winter months.
Fabric and batting are donated from Quilters and companies around the Wellington region. A team of volunteers create the quilts and backs, and organise binding. Busy Bee Quilt Shops kindly donates use of its big quilting machines to quilt them. They are then taken home by Wellington Quilt Guild members to put the binding on, and get returned to a meeting for donation.
A workday is also held quarterly to get together, have fun, create quilts and organise backing and bindings.
A huge thanks goes out to EVERYONE who helped make these quilts possible. The coordinators, quilters, donators, binding stitchers and so on. Every role helps brighten the lives of the women and children who receive these quilts when they're going through hard times. The quilts are used to make the accommodation look warmer, cosier and more inviting.
If you would like to donate please contact us by emailing secretary@wellingtonquilters.co.nz
If you would like to participate in a workday please see our events page for the next scheduled one
Jill Bowman 'From devil to angel', Jill says "Many women in prison have backgrounds of addiction, violence, unemployment and homelessness. With support, I am optimistic many will transition 'from devil to angel' as one prisoner described it. This quilt is dedicated to the many women whom I have taught quilting in the drug treatment unit at Arohata'
Shut in Stitchers
Unfortunately Shut in Stitchers has been forced to close as of October 2022, one year shy of our 30 year anniversary. Our teams are very sad to see this era end and will be looking for another charity group that will benefit from our skill and equipment. Donated materials will be re-distributed to the new charity when this is found. Please email us on secretary@wellingtonquilters.co.nz if you have any questions regarding this.
A group affiliated to the Guild coordinated a programme to teach patchwork and quilting at Arohata Women's Prison, near Wellington. The programme was the longest running one at Arohata, started in October 1993. The team of helpers and tutors was drawn from groups in the Wellington area.
The programme was three months long and started with participants making a practise quilt to learn the basic skills. These quilts were donated to animal shelters as beds. Participants then move onto their own projects and were typically very creative with their designs.
While the programme was unable to run under level two participants continued quilting and working together to support one another’s journey.
The group has received funding from the Alexandra Trust in the past; and has been funded by fundraisers and donations. We are no longer accepting donations at this time.