November 04, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Cozy circle

by Rebecca Wallace

The night air is chilly with the first bite of autumn, and pumpkins wink from front yards in the dark. At El Carmelo Elementary School in Palo Alto, the lights are still burning in one first-grade classroom.

Since time immemorial, moms have toiled long into the night for the sake of their kids. For this group, Thursday night is quilting night.

Each week, four to eight women perch on pint-sized plastic chairs and indulge in conversation and camaraderie. All the while, their hands are busy with one of the coziest of arts. Needles slip in and out of the colorful cotton, the air is sweet with fresh-baked brownies, and easy chatter alternates with companionable, hard-working silence.

"It's like therapy," quilter Lesley Kalmin says. "I leave here so relaxed."

Dads are welcome at the group, too, but somehow they never come. "We could have a football quilt," Pamela Sherwood suggests with a grin.

This year marks the 12th that school parents and a few other industrious volunteers are designing and sewing an intricate quilt to raise money for the El Carmelo PTA's general fund.

Every spring, a group huddles to decide on a theme, perhaps "Fall Harvest," or "Tea Party." The heart of the quilt begins to take shape in many living rooms over the summer, when each person takes home fabric and creates one block with a unique design.

They never know what they're going to get until the first meeting in September, when the crafters return with their blocks.

Last year, for example, "A Day at the Beach" inspired everything from a tide-pool crab to mermaids to pearls. One mother, Tanya Wing, created a scallop shell that reminded her of her Russian childhood and summers at the Black Sea.

With the arrival of autumn, the women really start connecting the dots. By this time, they have already sewn the blocks together and then basted together the three layers: top, batting and backing. Now they're doing the detailed hand sewing, stitching around the shapes in each block, following borders and curves and lines.

The more stitching, the better, the quilters say. The finished product looks nicer with detailed needlework, and it holds together better. It also tests fingers -- and eyesight.

"I brought some glasses in case anyone needs them," Anne Keller announces amicably to the group. A veteran quilter, she's also armed with a protective thimble on her thumb and a tiny fabric sling to hold it on.

Once the queen-sized quilt is completed in the spring, tickets are sold and a drawing is held for the finished product. This typically yields $3,000 to $4,000 for the school PTA, Keller said.

Quilts have become popular fundraisers at many schools, said Melissa Baten Caswell, president of the Palo Alto Council of PTAs, which encompasses 17 schools. She has fond memories of having her daughters help with a quilt when they were in 1st and 2nd grade at Duveneck Elementary School a few years back.

Although the youngsters didn't actually sew, they drew pictures that became part of the design. What began as a fundraiser became a warm bonding experience for the family, Caswell said.

Unlike teenagers, "kids like to include their parents in elementary school," she said with a chuckle.

At El Carmelo, this year's theme is "The Northwoods." Stretched over a quilting frame fashioned from white plastic PVC pipe, the quilt includes owls, bears, fish, a waterfall, and a cabin with pine trees.

"This is Betsy's first square that she's ever made," Keller says proudly, pointing to a simple yet graceful orange flower.

"It took me all summer," Betsy Franco admits. Why did she choose the pattern? "That one you don't need a sewing machine for."

Franco, who is using white tape to help keep her stitches straight, is certainly not a longtime, devoted quilter. And her kids, long-ago graduates of El Carmelo, are in their 20s. But, as an author of children's books, she's happy to pitch in to support the school.

In addition, there's the timeless appeal of a warm room on a cold night, gossip, and friendly advice from one parent to another on how to create a Halloween costume or plan a birthday party. Surrounded by alphabet posters and children's desks, the quilting circle could be in almost any town, any decade.

"I wouldn't schedule anything on a Thursday night now," Franco says. "I see why they did it in old days. And you create something beautiful."

To see a photo gallery of past El Carmelo quilts, go to www.el-carmelo.palo-alto.ca.us/quilt.html.

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