Stitches from the Heart Quilt Guild is again providing beds for pets, especially pets in need.
Every year on April 11 guild members celebrate the happiness and companionship that pets bring into our lives, a news release says.
On Thursday, the guild issued a media release to remind the public about the important work they do.
Nadene House started the guild’s pet bed program in 2015 when she realized that quilters had a lot of bits and pieces of fabric left over after making a quilt.
“Some of the fabric scraps are big enough to be used in other projects but the smaller bits and pieces end up in the garbage” said House, who was new to the guild and wanted to put those fabric scraps to good use.
House spoke with members to get ideas on how best to use these small scraps and the pet bed program was born.
House organized a workshop for guild members to show them how to make the pet beds out of fabric scraps. They made hundreds of pet pillows in various sizes that could be used by dogs and cats. The successful program has continued since then with several dedicated guild members turning scrap fabric into 1,978 comfy, cozy pet beds.
House distributes the beds to various locations in the Sault including the Humane Society, TAAG, Northern Critters, Second Chances, Elmo Rescue, PetValu and Paw'n Pet Foods.
"Our Guild members have been so generous with this program that we have also been able to extend it to help pets in various communities throughout Ontario including Lively, Sudbury, Burlington, Oakville and Hamilton” stated House.
“And we have even been able to assist pets in the Sault, Chippewa and Lansing, Mich.”
If you are interested in helping the Stitches From the Heart Quilt Guild with their Pet Bed program by donating your clean fabric scraps or making pet beds, please email House at saultquilts@outlook.com.
For more information about this ongoing initiative or to learn more about the Stitches from the Heart Quilt Guild or quilting in general, contact Donna St. Jules, Media and Community Relations at (705) 971-5479 or by email at saultquilts@outlook.com.