Quilters hold sewing marathon for Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees

A group of quilters from Leduc are helping Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees in the way they know best — by quilting, of course. The Leduc Black Gold Quilt Patch club held a quilting marathon this weekend.

About 40 quilters gathered at the Executive Royal Inn in Nisku on Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday, doing some serious power quilting to sew as many quilts as they could for evacuees.

“We really wanted to do something for the Fort McMurray people aside from giving them clothes and things like that,” said Janet Mireault, a member of the Black Gold Quilt Patch club.

“[We’ll] Make them quilts. That’s about all we know how to do,” Mireault added.

Quilters joined in the marathon from all around the province and from as far away from B.C. — even some evacuees themselves picked up a pair of scissors.

“We actually have people here from Fort McMurray as well, a few people who have lost their homes there have come to sew quilts for others from there,” Mireault explained.

The Executive Royal Inn provided the sewing space free of charge, and many local businesses have also stepped up to chip in.

“There’s been so many  different quilting shops that have donated fabric and given us discounts. It’s unbelievable,” said Mireault.

The first quilt was already donated Saturday afternoon to a Fort McMurray couple with a four-month-old daughter. (See Facebook post below.)

The goal of the group was to make 100 quilts over the weekend. They finished about 65, but say they will continue quilting for the cause. You can find out more about the Black Gold Quilt Patch on their Facebook page.