History of Bangkok Quilt Group

Doris Gregory started our group in 1998. She taught several of us to quilt. We met at her house every Tuesday, where sewing machines were always set up, rulers and mats on the table ready to use. Doris created beginner patterns using Electric Quilt and made copies for everyone.

In 2001, Linda thought our group should make quilts for charity, specifically AIDS babies, and one of our quilt members took up the idea and then we were all at Doris’s house ironing and cutting and as they say the rest is history. To date our quilt group has made and distributed over 500 quilts. We put together pre-cut kits, patterns, batting and floss. Members of the group supply the labor. We also provide four quilts each year for our International School Bangkok students to take as house warming presents when the students work with Habitat for Humanity on week without walls.

When Doris moved back to the U.S. in 2003, the group decided to meet at a different person’s house each month. We have a coffee morning, every Tuesday morning, when International School Bangkok is in session. When school is out most people travel or go on home leave.

We sent 26 quilts to Le Refuge, a center for girls in Chiang Mai. Here are the girls from Le Refuge with their quilts in 2005.

In October 2005 we sent quilts to Laos with Kathleen and then took the rest to the Pakistani Embassy for earthquake victims in Pakistan. In 2006 we made quilts for Children of the Forest in Sangkhlaburi. Deb and Linda drove up there with the quilts and Deb became involved in teaching the children how to sew and do crafts, on an ongoing basis. In 2007 we gave quilts to the El Shaddai 2 Family in Sri Racha.

Marjolein’s beautiful quilts were in an art show at International School Bangkok. In October 2006 various quilts made by our group members were displayed at a crafts show at Tang Hua Seng department store.

People come and go, and when someone leaves we make a quilt for them. In the past we have made an elephant quilt for Margaret, cups and saucers for Bonnie, Thai houses for Cheryl, butterflies for Mary Ellen, friendship stars for Judie, plates for Barb P., paper pieced hearts for Bev, lanterns for Terri, bookshelves for Kathleen, signature blocks for Ellen and Rose, and coffee cups for Deb: