

I was checking through my past newsletters on Substack and was surprised to find out that my most popular newsletter (meaning the most views) was “Dorcas Handquilters” from back in May of 2023. It was the first one to break 100 views. So, I thought I would give you some photos of the quilts we are working on now.


If you are not familiar with us, and you wouldn’t be unless you were a quilter in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are an organization that teaches hand quilting and we hand quilts tops that have been brought to us. We charge a fee for this depending on how much quilting needs to be done and donate the proceeds to St. John’s Presbyterian Church in San Francisco who has hosted the Dorcas Hand Quilters since the 1950’s. Yes we are celebrated our 80th Anniversary.


I found the Dorcas quilters about 15 years ago. I had attended some meetings of the San Francisco Quilters Guild looking for guidance on hand quilting. Little did I know that these quilters were mainly art quilters and contemporary quilters and they all used machines for their work. I was a handworker and felt very out of place. But I did find my people at the SFQG quilt show later when I came upon some Dorcas ladies sitting around a frame putting stitches into a Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt. I immediately went to one of their meetings and met Lucille who gave me a metal thimble (I was using a leather thimble because it felt better), a between needle (so it would be easier for me to make smaller stitches), and the proper thread that wouldn’t tangle and knot as I plied my needle. Then she showed me how to do the rocking stitch. I showed her my current mess of a quilt and to my surprise, she put me on the frame saying my stitches were good enough. And I fell in love.




We just installed this quilt on the frame. It belongs to Kristy, one of our members. The top was appliquéd by a friend’s relative who had passed away and gave it to Kristy who could not turn it down. I think it was appliquéd in the 1960’s or maybe earlier 70’s and it reminds me of the Vera designs you would see at that time on sheets and dishtowels (you know I would notice the dishtowels). Kristy used stencils to mark the quilting patterns and added some whimsical touches to it. This is going to be a very fun quilt to do and I’m looking forward to working on it. Kristy put a lot of variety into the patterns so we won’t get bored doing the same pattern over and over again.






This quilt is absolutely gorgeous!!!! It was brought to us by a woman who found it in a thrift shop years and years ago. I think it is from the 1930’s from the look of the muslin background and the prints used in the flowers. It also has that what I call the “depression green” shade of fabric that was so popular in that era. I think it was made from a kit or maybe purchased with the blocks and borders premade so the quilter could just sew everything together. I wish my phone had a good close up camera and would show the piping inserted along the border. It is so tiny with the beautiful blue fabric just peaking out of the seam. And the hand stitches are so tiny. A lot of skill went into making this quilt top.
The woman who owns it is not a quilter and needed some guidance from us on choosing the quilting pattern and markng it. She decided to go with a traditional cross hatch background with stitching around the appliqué shapes. And we marked it for her. There is an area at the very top of the quilt that has no appliqué on it. I think it was for covering the pillows on the bed. Instead of just cross hatching it, the owner wanted some kind of whole cloth pattern on it so one of our members designed a leaf and vine pattern. You can see the beginning of it on one of the border photos but it’s not very visible yet.
I’m not a fan of cross hatch quilting. I did hand quilt that pattern on a quilt made for my daughter and it bored me to tears to stitch the same pattern for hours on end. But all the tears are worth it when you see the finished quilt. It is a very effective pattern and looks beautiful when it is used on an appropriately designed top. It’s already looking striking on this quilt and the finished piece is going to be a doozy.
My self promotion section: I have been able to sneak in another Beginning Embroidery class at Cloth Carousel in Vacaville for Saturday Feb. 17 from 10:30 to 2:30. Also Beginning Sashiko is scheduled there for Saturday Feb. 24 from 10:30 to 1:30. Sign up quick if you are interested because both classes sell out quickly.