Quilting together for art and friendship

Ann Kelly's Port Jefferson Station home is filled with scores of quilts she's made over the past 30 years. They hang on the walls, cover the beds and drape over furniture.

Lately, Kelly, 73, has started quilting coats, vests, skirts and tote bags, too, able to devote more time to her craft since recently retiring from her job as a school secretary at Eastern Suffolk BOCES. "I ran out of wall space and beds so I moved to the body," she muses. "I jokingly tell my husband it's cheaper than a psychiatrist."

Long Island is home to hundreds of quilters, who, like Kelly, enjoy expressing their creativity by cutting, piecing and stitching swatches of fabric to make quilts.

For the crafters who make them -- whether by hand or by machine -- they provide limitless possibilities. They can become a bed covering or a showpiece; tell a family's story or commemorate a special event. They are heirlooms-to-be or a one-of-a-kind gift to celebrate a marriage, cradle a newborn or comfort a soul.

Many older adults find their way to the craft through relatives and friends, visits to specialty stores and quilt shows, adult-education classes and library exhibits.

There are a number of quilting guilds on the Island, which provide a venue for enthusiasts to share their passion, hear guest lecturers, attend workshops and show off their stitching skills in juried shows. Kelly belongs to the Log Cabin Quilters that, with only 10 members, is among the many small home-based groups.

The largest are the Eastern Long Island Quilters Guild and Long Island Quilters' Society, with about 220 and 330 members, respectively. Other well-known groups include the Smithtown Stitchers, the Huntington Stitchers and the Evening Star Quilters, which is hosting a quilt show next weekend (see below).

The Log Cabin Quilters began 15 years ago and meets once a month in members' homes. Kelly hosted October's gathering. An interest in quilting brought them together, but, over time, friendships bloomed and they have become a cozy, close-knit community.

When members have moved away or had a life-changing event, the group has collaborated to create a quilt for them. For instance, when Marie Zimmerli, 68, married her second husband, John McKinney, three years ago, each member made individual squares that went into a Blooming Heart quilt -- a surprise wedding gift for their friend, who'd lost her first husband to lung cancer and was getting a second chance at love.

The quilt has become more meaningful to her since McKinney passed away a year ago. "I cover myself with it every night," she says. "That quilt is on my bed, and it will always be on my bed."

The most senior Log Cabin member is Netty Gautier, 86, of Rocky Point, who has been quilting for 40 years. She designs colorful quilts using old neckties. The group has been a great support to her since she lost her husband of almost 67 years and her son, she says. "The nice thing about quilting is you become like family."

And quilting isn't just for women. Steven Graham, a retired music teacher in Miller Place, learned to sew when he was young and became interested in quilting in 1992 when his Aunt Josephine showed him how to do a running stitch. "I like the learning that I'm offered and the ladies are so good to me," says Graham, who splits his time between the Log Cabin Quilters and Eastern Long Island Quilters Guild.

While some quilters lean toward the more traditional, there are those who like to shake things up a bit. Take Polly Whitehorn, 58, a quilting instructor from Great Neck and member of the Long Island Quilters' Society, who enjoys experimenting with contemporary approaches, such as using hand-painted fabrics and photo-transfer techniques in her work.

It can take hours, days, months or years - and hundreds of dollars or more - to finish a single quilt that becomes a family treasure. But many quilters donate their work to charity auctions, hospitals, homeless shelters and nursing homes.

Rita Trenz, 85, an accomplished quilter and cancer survivor from Oceanside, co-chairs the Long Island Quilters' Society's charity committee. This year, the group donated 20 quilts to veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and in August, members sent 125 quilts to children with cancer at Camp Adventure in Sag Harbor.

For Barbara Sparrow of Hempstead, quilting proved that it's never too late to start something new. Inspired by the beautiful quilt work of a longtime friend, she threw herself into it completely after retiring in 2007 from her senior account clerk's job with the Hempstead School District. On Wednesdays, she takes machine-quilting classes offered by the Town of Hempstead at Smith Street Park in Uniondale.

"I just love sewing . . . and I love the beauty of how it comes out and working with the other ladies," she said. The class may work with the same pattern, but no two quilts ever turn out exactly alike, says Sparrow, also a member of the Long Island Quilters' Society, which meets at the Freeport Recreation Center. "We bring our own material, so they all come out different." She recently started collecting relatives' photos to create a quilt she hopes to finish in time for her family reunion in Charleston, S.C., in July.

June Gerbracht, 68, a retired social worker from Wantagh, says the class offers her regular me-time. "That's sort of the highlight of my day," says Gerbracht. "I take care of my grandchildren. I do volunteer work. This is my fun day for myself."

The Harvest of Quilts IX show, is hosted by the Evening Star Quilters, Nov. 6, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Nov. 7, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; $6 adults, $4 children under 12, at the Mineola Community Center, 155 Washington Ave., Mineola (visit eveningstarquilters.org).