COVID-19 is keeping us at home…but we can meet here!

To all our Greater Ann Arbor Quilt Guild members and friends, this special page helps us stay connected to GAAQG during the COVID-19 crisis while we’re staying at home to keep ourselves and our families safe.  This page will be updated frequently, so please visit often. If there’s something you would like to see here, please send your recommendation to:   webmaster@gaaqg.com .

It was a hard but necessary decision for us to cancel our March and May activities, but we will carry on individually making quilts for  SafeHouse Center (dubbed ‘Quarantine Quilts’) and masks for healthcare workers, charities, families and friends. Our Guild has supported SafeHouse from our earliest days to make quilts for domestic abuse victims. Requirements and other information, including free patterns, are on our  Quilt for SafeHouse page.

Messages from our President, Susan Schwandt – click on the links below

President’s Message – SafeHouse Quilts Needed       IMPORTANT:  Read instructions in this message carefully about preparing your quilts for delivery. 

President’s Message – May Meeting Cancelled

Blog post:  SafeHouse Center Updates – April 11, 2020

President’s Message – Quilt Show 2020 Cancelled; Fabric Sale postponed to Sept. 19; Garage Sale postponed to Nov. 21

President’s Message – Online “Celebrate the Quilt From Home ” 2020 Virtual Quilt Show Announcement

SafeHouse ‘Quarantine Quilts’ made by our members

SafeHouse has some quilts that have been quilted for free by a long-armer but need to be bound.  Please contact Jan Kosko at safehousequiltkits@gaaqg.com to volunteer to bind one or more quilts.

We have set a goal of 300 quilts for our guild to make and donate to SafeHouse by December, 2020.  Now that we are home with not as much to do, it’s a good time to get out your stash and make some.  As we’ve heard, in times of crisis like this, there is often an increase in domestic violence associated with the increased stress on families.  We are including this ‘thermometer’ to record the number of quilts delivered to SafeHouse since January.

Go to our Quilt for SafeHouse page and scroll down to ‘Construction Guidelines’ for the requirements.  Be sure to wash your quilt first and package it in a plastic bag before delivery (see instructions in President’s Message above).  Further down the page, you will also find a formatted page of labels that you can print on any inkjet fabric sheet.  If you need pattern ideas, there are several free ones further down on that page.  Members:  if you need batting for your SafeHouse quilt, see instructions under ‘Batting’ on the same page.

Since we can’t show our SafeHouse quilts at our Quilt Day meetings, we’ve created photos of all quilts sent to webmaster@gaaqg.com which are posted below.  If you’ve made one or more and they’re not included, please send photos to:  webmaster@gaaqg.com  and they will be added to a later file.

Click here to see photos of SafeHouse quilts delivered from January 2 through May 8, 2020 (scroll down and you’ll see the photo’s with the donor’s name).

CLICK HERE to see photos of new SafeHouse quilts delivered from May 9 through June 20, 2020

SafeHouse staff members sent this thank you card to our guild members who have donated quilts.

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Request from Jan Kosko – May 14, 2020 – safehousequiltkits@gaaqg.com

LET’S SHARE A SPARE !!

Are you looking for MORE TIME with your sewing machine (and who isn’t?)?

Are you looking for relaxed and FUN time with your Quilting Machine?

Face Masks Needed for Health Care Workers and Other Charities

URGENT NEED:  SafeHouse is in need of 160 adult masks (with elastic) to get them through the Fall and Winter months.  Please deliver them to SafeHouse.

Our members are making face masks for area healthcare workers in the Ann Arbor area, as well as other charities in metro Detroit.  Ann Arbor Sewing is collecting and delivering them where needed.  If you’re donating them to SafeHouse, deliver them with your SafeHouse quilts.  We want to track how many face masks have been contributed by our members (not including those made for family, friends and neighbors). so please send us your count to:  webmaster@gaaqg.com.

Michigan Medicine Now Accepts Cloth Face Masks

Michigan Medicine will now accept donations of hand-made cloth masks for staff working in non-patient care settings. Anyone can drive up and donate face masks in sealed plastic bags from 12-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday at Dock 90 of the U-M North Campus Research Complex, at 2800 Plymouth Road in Ann Arbor. Shipments may also be directed to that address. Washable cloth masks help conserve medical-grade masks for teams working in patient care areas.

Click here for directions and information on where to deliver the masks.  If you’re donating them to SafeHouse, deliver them with your quilts.

Who would like to help sew masks for young people in Ypsilanti?

This is a collaborative pilot project with folks from the Grizzly Center YCHS, My Brothers Keeper, the WCSO, Mentor2Youth, and others to help keep our young men and their families safe during Covid-19.  These masks are afrocentric utilizing Kente cloth fabric.  They are handmade.  All masks will be given away free through partner organizations.  The project could use more people who know how to sew to help.  Please contact Sharon Held from the YCHS Grizzly Center grannyheld@gmail.com or me at wyattk@washtenaw.org.

YouTube Video Series on How to Make a Mask: Click Here

Mask Pattern with Elastic Ties: Click Here

Mask Pattern with Fabric Ties (no elastic): Click Here

For the latest COVID-19 news, visit:

• State of Michigan  https://www.michigan.gov/coronavirus
• Washtenaw County Health Department: https://www.washtenaw.org/3095/COVID-19
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html