Ties that bind
Kids sew quilts for other kids — unknown and in need



ALTAMONT — Nine-year-old Mark Sagar is making his third quilt.

He proudly displays his first — a rich autumnal pattern broken by vivid red lines into squares. His second features patches of playful teddy bears, with a bright yellow border. His third is still just pieces of fabric — bits of blue water scattered with colorful sailboats.

How did he learn to quilt"
"My Nana," Sagar answers with pride as he carefully pins the pieces of ocean together. "She sews and came to the class and taught me."

Sagar was one of a dozen kids working in the Community Caregivers’ building Thursday afternoon, creating quilts for other kids under the watchful guidance of expert quilters.
Sagar’s quilting partner is a woman in her seventies, said Ruth Dickinson, who is in charge of the project. "She loves working with him.," Dickinson said. "I love the way this project spans generations and brings them together."

Dickinson came up with the idea because she wanted to involve kids in a meaningful way in the Community Caregivers’ quilt show, which will be held in Orsini Park at the center of the village on Sept. 8. (The show raises funds for the not-for-profit organization that harnesses the energy and good will of volunteers to provide free services, particularly for the elderly, so they can continue to live in their homes.)
The quilts made by the Altamont kids will go to foster children who have been taken from their homes because of abuse or neglect, said Dickinson. "I wanted a direct connection," she said.

Michael Breslin, Albany County’s executive, will accept the quilts from the kids at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 8 in the midst of the quilt show.
The thirteen quilters range in age from 4 to 14, said Dickinson. The youngest, at 4, is her granddaughter. An older granddaughter, Marissa Testa, at 13, is acting as Dickinson’s assistant. Dickinson reports, "She told me, ‘I won’t work on my quilt, Grandma; I’ll help other kids.’"
Children, unlike some grown-ups she’s taught, aren’t afraid of quilting; they plunge right in, said Dickinson. "I say, ‘Do you want to make a quilt for a baby or an older child" Do you want to make a quilt for a boy or a girl"’" Once they decide on the age and the gender, the kids immediately know what kind of fabric they want.
All of the materials for the project were donated. "I was going to write to different companies, asking for materials," said Dickinson. "But people — some of them I didn’t even know — just donated things when they heard about the project.."

Material to back the quilts was donated, batting to fill them was donated, and so was material to make the patchwork tops.

Social fabric

Dickinson is a practiced teacher, who circulates easily about the busy room Thursday, helping those who need it.

Tiara Conklin is using one of the sewing machines, stitching together a patchwork of pale pink and spring green.

Eight-year-old Elaina Brown has chosen animal faces to fill each of her squares. Her favorite animal, a monkey, wasn’t pictured in the material; her next-favorite, which is pictured, is a pig.
"I’m making a quilt for a little baby girl," says Jessica Peck, 13. She has chosen downy-soft fabric for the project, which she is carefully pinning as she sits cross-legged on the floor.

Her cousin, Jamie Peck, also 13, is stitching a quilt of pinks and purples.

The adult mentors are members of the Train Station Quilters, named for the station at the center of the village which is to be home to the Altamont Free Library. The group was formed when librarian Judith Wines called Dickinson after the Caregivers’ last quilt show and asked if she would teach a class.
"I expected it to last a couple of weeks. I started out with one person. Now we’re up to 25," she said. "It has become a group."

The group quilts Tuesday mornings at Village Hall.
"It’s an extraordinary group of women," said Dickinson. "They are very caring and kind to each other."

When Dickinson retired from work as a special-education teacher in 1996, she decided she wanted to learn to quilt.
"I might not be a great quilter, but I’m a great teacher," she said. She loves the craft and the social fabric that goes along with it.
"I’m addicted," said Dickinson. "My husband says I have quilt pox"If I don’t quilt every day, I’m uncomfortable. I even quilt in the car — not while I’m driving," she hastened to add.
She went on about quilting, "It’s very relaxing and creative"It’s like painting with material."

Besides the art of quilting, she likes the ethic of sharing. Dickinson belongs to a guild in Delmar that makes quilts for such groups as Head Start and Albany Medical Center Hospital.
"We hear stories back about how the kids with cancer who get a quilt always bring it with them when they come in for treatment," she said. "A quilt is a blanket with a heartbeat."
She concluded, "You should share and you should help, and that’s what Caregivers is all about. And now these kids know what it’s like; they feel what it’s like to volunteer."