Quiet Time Quilters is a newly formed group of Williams College faculty and staff that has come together to share the joy of quilting while giving back to our local community. For this raffle, we will be supporting the Berkshire Food Project.
Quiet Time Quilters Group Members: Valerie Bailey Fischer, Jane Canova, Mea Cook, Laura Day, Patti Exster, Jacqueline Fallon, Heather Forman, Karen Jolin, Sara LaLumia, Theresa LePicier, Tony Pisano, & Laini Sporbert
Berkshire Food Project, 134 Main St, North Adams, MA 01247
History: The shift in the northern Berkshires from an industrial to a service economy has rendered hundreds of local residents unemployed, underemployed, or at best, leashed to minimum-wage jobs with neither benefits nor security. In this devastating situation, the inability of a growing segment of our fellow citizens to provide their families with nutritious meals, and the actual incidence of hunger, have become alarming.
In the autumn of 1986, a group of Williams College students, with the support of several local residents and, above all, the encouragement of Rev. Elizabeth Wheeler (then minister of the First Congregational Church of North Adams) decided to create a program to offer regular free lunches in North Adams. The Berkshire Food Project began its operations on a twice-weekly basis in January 1987. Its initial funds came from a "meatless meal" program at Williams College. For each student who was willing to forgo meat once a month, the College Dining Services donated (and still does donate) one dollar to the BFP.
Apart from providing the Project with roughly $600 every month of the school year, this mode of fundraising made students aware of the serious needs of the community around them. And indeed, this linkage between usually unconnected and distant parts of local society was from the very beginning a key objective of the BFP. The BFP Board of Directors has always included a member or members from our dining room, and all Board members are encouraged to support the Project by volunteering at mealtime. All volunteers—as well as visiting business people—are expected to break bread with others in the dining room. This interaction among diners, volunteers, church staff, community residents, and Board members is written prominently into the BFP mission statement. The Project aspires to be a community forum where people of widely different ages and circumstances can meet one another in an atmosphere of friendliness and mutual respect.
The BFP has grown from providing three meals each week in 1987 to now serving five days a week. Our meals are cooked from scratch and often use local ingredients. We make every effort to prepare delicious and nutritious meals; we try to isolate meat to a specific dish in each meal, leaving vegetarian options whenever possible.
Some of our food is supplied through in-kind donations from businesses and organizations; shares in the cooperative, organic Caretaker Farm, in Williamstown; and the Western Massachusetts Food Bank. The remainder is purchased from wholesale stores, retail providers, and local supermarkets. image.png850.96 KB
How will the raffle work? We will draw a ticket - that ticket winner will be called and asked which item they would like. We will continue this process until all items have been claimed.
English Garden Quilt Pattern by Missouri Star Quilt Co. 76" x 88" Material: 10" Batik squares, 1 1/2" Eggplant inner border with 6" Batik outer border.
Pieced by: Quiet Time Quilters group: Valerie Bailey Fischer, Jane Canova, Mea Cook, Laura Day, Patti Exster, Jacqueline Fallon, Heather Forman, Karen Jolin, Sara LaLumia, Theresa LePicier, Tony Pisano, & Laini Sporbert
Quilted by: Karen Jolin of Karen's Quilting Corner in Williamstown, MA
Patriotic Pin Wheels
Pinwheels.jpg3.23 MB Quilt blocks from AccuQuilt - Quilt in a Day by: Eleanor A. Burns Pieced & quilted by: Theresa LePicier Wall hanging or table topper measures 30" x 30"
LoveBow
IMG-4012.jpg1.91 MBPieced and quilted by: Heather Forman Mini 100% cotton wall hanging or table topper measures 18 x 21
Dogwoods
Canova_2.jpg389 KB36" x 46" knitted lap quilt, 18" pillow, and 18" doily. These knitted squares have beautiful white flowers in the center and blue scalloped trim. Made by: Canova family.
Xs and Os
String Quilt 2021.png736.81 KBString Quilt String quilts are simply quilts made from your longer fabric scraps. To make a string quilt, you start with a foundation fabric or foundation paper, then use an easy sew-and-flip technique to attach strips and scraps to the foundation until the scraps completely cover the 8 1/2" foundation square.
Lap Quilt 68" x 52"
Pieced by: Quiet Time Quilters group: Valerie Bailey Fischer, Jane Canova, Mea Cook, Laura Day, Patti Exster, Jacqueline Fallon, Heather Forman, Karen Jolin, Sara LaLumia, Theresa LePicier, Tony Pisano, & Laini Sporbert
Quilted by: Karen Jolin of Karen's Quilting Corner in Williamstown, MA
