Stitched With Love: Local Soroptimists Make Quilts for Victims of Japan Disaster

Members of Soroptimist International of Lemon Grove recently created and shipped four handmade quilts to their sister club, Soroptimist International of Yamaguchi, which will auction the quilts on May 8 at a special bazaar to benefit victims of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan.

Yamaguchi is southwest of the disaster zone and was relatively unaffected.

The Lemon Grove club includes expert quilters whose beautiful creations have benefited a variety of charitable and emergency causes for more than 50 years. Working around the clock to complete the full-size bed quilts, the members drew upon such historical quilt patterns as “Grandmother's Garden,” “Crazy Quilt,” “Morning Star,” and “Hedgerows.”

“We wanted to make colorful, cheerful quilts to send to people struggling in horrendous circumstances to recoup their lives,” said Tina Rainer, a past president of Soroptimist, who formerly ran Craft Depot in Lemon Grove. She has received international awards for her quilts.  

“The quilts are warm, washable, shrink-proof and colorfast," said Nancy O'Connor, also a past president of Soroptimist and Lemon Grove's former director of Parks and Recreation.  Her handmade “wearable art” is a feature of the club's annual Holiday Bazaar.

Soroptimist (“best for women”) International was founded in 1921 for business and professional women seeking to improve the lives of girls and women as American cities and factories expanded in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. Today, the organization has close to 100,000 members in 120 countries. The clubs in the Ring of Fire region are especially close knit.

Among other activities, the Lemon Grove club has run the annual Holiday Food & Toy drive for 20 years, assisted in beautifying the community, worked to end domestic violence and sex trafficking, and given annual awards to meritorious high school girls and women for higher education and/or retraining.  The club’s signature Chili Cook-Off raises funds for these efforts, but club members frequently open their pocketbooks to aid projects benefiting those in need.

To join the club, call 619-469-9785, or write to SILG, P.O. Box 518, Lemon Grove, CA 91946.

Helen Ofield, a member of Soroptimist International of Lemon Grove, contributed this article to Lemon Grove Patch.