LuLu's       Consignments         321 E. Main Street           Montezuma, IA     next to Remedy Drug   641-623-5858 (LuLu)

Barb Long and Sherri Spain check to make sure the pieces are
lined up just right.

'Cutups' make sure folks stay warm, colorful
Nov. 29, 2011

Officially, they call themselves the "Crazy Cut-Ups," and they're an arm of Piecemaker's Quilt Guild.

But to watch them, they're the personification of spontaneous combustion, the kind that erupts when great ideas are blended with sewing needles and fabrics.

They make quilts. And more quilts.

Then they give them away.

They sell a few, but just to get money to buy more batting and fabric.

Then they make some more.

"We don't want anyone to be cold," one of them said.

The group, which includes about 10 members, meets twice a month. They bring a sack lunch and break twice for coffee, otherwise, they sew all day.

On the day NewsLife visited, they had taken over several rooms of Jim and Sue Eichhorn's home south of Montezuma and had turned the lower level into a sort of sewing factory.

A pool table was buried other beautiful, finished quilts.

A bedroom was a miniature warehouse for their finished works.

Recently, the group took 33 baby quilts to Stork's Nest in Grinnell, through Piecemaker's.

They've also done 13 regular-size quilts for Montezuma's Operation Christmas Joy.

Members will lay out and cut fabric on or over a large table, then move to sewing machines, then back. They will remind you of bees gathering honey . . .there one minute, gone the next . . .then back again.

The timing appears to be exquisite . . .they're like talented musicians, jamming.

They're doing good things, and having a good time doing them.

The finished products are beautiful.

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