So Far, Sew Good

It started with an ad in the Our Lady of Lourdes Church bulletin in 2008. Malverne resident Ann Seccia and her daughter, Beth, of Lynbrook, were looking to start a quilting group

"Experienced or new quilters welcome," they wrote with the caveat they "must be friendly, cheerful, sharing and willing to do charity quilts."

It worked.

They received inquiries from 10 people, ranging in age from 35 to over 90 years old. Step one was complete: they're a group. The next task was to find a space to make these quilts.

Pastor Fritz Nelson, of the Community Presbyterian Church in Malverne, graciously allowed them to use a room in the church basement and they've been meeting there on the first and third Tuesdays of each month ever since.

Ann asked Pastor Fritz if he'd like to invite anyone from his congregation to join and three more members did. Currently, the 13-member group includes those who were brand-new to quilting when they joined to a "master quilter" and every level in between.

The master quilter is 98-year-old Elaine Burns, who's still as sharp as the needles she sews with. Elaine began quilting 1975, although she'd been sewing since she was 12. She's the one the rest of the group looks up to.

Camille Romano, of Lynbrook, is one of the novice quilters. Although she was somewhat intimidated by the group's collective expertise at first, the members were always welcoming and today she is satisfied with her progress so far.

Some of the members belong to the Long Island Quilters Society.The group calls itself The Malverne Piecemakers although sometimes they go by The Malverne Quilters. (The name The Malverne Piecemakers originated with another quilting group in the village, which is now defunct.)

Thus far, the group has crafted and donated two quilts (in 2009 and 2010) to the Community Presbyterian Church, which raffled them off at their annual church fairs. They are currently working on a third one with an applique butterfly pattern, which will be donated and raffled in the fall.

"We started making quilts for the church raffle in order to pay our 'rent,'" said Pat Hosker, of Malverne.

While the goal is to make a quilt, the process is equally as important. The group goes beyond social into therapeutic.

"One of the things that I find particularly notable about this group is that although we are strangers and only meet here... everybody's been very supportive whenever somebody had something good, bad or indifferent," said Maryann Norcott, of Long Beach. "Somebody was here to bolster you and say, 'Ah, you can get through this!'"

"Anything we need, somebody here knows!" said Maryann's cousin, Toni Calcagno, of Oceanside.

Elaine sums it up with, "Quilters are the nicest people in world."

If you'd like to join The Malverne Piecemakers, or purchase a raffle ticket for a chance to win their latest masterpiece, please call Ann Seccia at (516) 593-5324. For more about Ann Seccia and quilting in Malverne, visit Patch on Friday for Part II of these series: Quilt Kids.