Clayton News Daily

Photo by Curt Yeomans Local quilters and Clayton County Humane Society officials discuss a quilt that has been made for Jonesboro-based Quilts and Fixins’ annual sale intended to raise funds for the Humane Society.

Quilter Barbara Moss has a warning for the faint of heart: Be wary of the ladies who hang out at the Quilts and Fixins quilting supply store in Jonesboro, for they could lead you down a dangerous path.

A network of approximately 50 quilters work on animal-themed quilts throughout the year for a Clayton County Humane Society fund-raiser at the store. They gather once a month, like a bunch of cowgirls gathering at an old west saloon, and they share stories, playfully tease each other and let out bawdy laughs whenever one of them tells a joke.

It is one of the reasons why Moss, a resident of Locust Grove, likes coming to the store month after month, and year after year to make quilts for the annual fund-raiser.

“I like all of the people we sew with,” Moss said. “They’re a hoot! You can come here for the first time and be the most straight-laced person alive, and by the time you leave, you’ll be ruined. We will have corrupted you.”

Quilts and Fixins is set to host its Eighth Annual Humane Society Quilt Sale fund-raiser on June 2, from 9 a.m., to 5 p.m., at the store, which is located at 7986 North Main Street, in Jonesboro. All of the money raised from the quilt sale will be donated to the Clayton County Humane Society’s shelter in Jonesboro, to help cover its operating expenses, according to store owner Jeanne Lowery and Humane Society officials.

“We benefit because our animals benefit from the money they raise with this quilt sale,” said Clayton County Humane Society Vice-President Robin Rawls.

So far, the store’s network of quilters has made more than 200 quilts, along with other items, such as children’s dresses, napkins, place mats, tote bags that have been made from used bags of cat food, and “probably a dozen Georgia Bulldogs quilts,” Lowery said. She said they will be working furiously over the next two weeks, to finish up more quilts, so they could have as many as 300 quilts for sale on June 2.

“We do it because we’re all animal lovers, and we want to help the shelter out, but we also just have fun getting together and making quilts,” Lowery said.

She added that the prices set for items sold at the quilt sale do not cover the expenses entailed in making the quilt, but she added the quilters do not care because they money is going to a good cause.

“They are making a donation, and we are giving them a quilt basically,” Lowery said.

Lovejoy quilter Madeline Brown said she can appreciate the work the Humane Society does, and called it a “privilege” to make quilts for the fund-raiser. “I’ve adopted a dog from their shelter, so I know what they do, and how they need money to continue operating,” Brown said.

Items sold at the quilt sale are priced anywhere between $3 and $250, depending on the item and how big it is.

Last year’s sale raised approximately $15,000 for the shelter, according to Quilts and Fixins’ owner. Clayton County Humane Society President Michelle Bryant said the quilters have been “phenomenal” in the amount of money they have raised for the shelter, largely because it can as many as five weeks to make a single quilt from scratch.

“You think about how much time it takes to make one quilt, much less hundreds of quilts, and you realize it is a labor of love for these women,” Bryant said.