Patti West and Char Burrill
With the delivery on Aug. 6 of 65 quilts and 26 pillowcases to Casa de Paz and CASA of Pinal County, the SaddleBrooke Ranch (SBR) Piecemakers have reached a major milestone. Since 2017, this group of generous SaddleBrooke Ranch quilters has donated more than 1,000 quilts to the organizations they have supported. The grand total after the August delivery stands at 1,023, and it will only continue to grow.
Two organizations are currently supported by the Piecemakers’ community service efforts. Casa de Paz is a women’s shelter operated by Against Abuse, Inc., and CASA provides support for foster children. Other organizations supported in the past include Tucson Veterans Home, Aviva Children’s Shelter, the Dialysis and Cancer Center, Teens on Their Own, and Meals on Wheels. Along with quilts, the club has donated pillowcases, placemats, bags, masks, toiletries, underwear, and household items.
Residents of SBR have also benefited from the Piecemakers’ talents and generosity. The club provides quilts to residents who have lost a loved one or are facing serious illness. To date, 83 quilts have been accepted by SBR residents, and others have chosen to have a quilt donated to one of the supported organizations in memory of their loved one.
The club began in 2017 with about two dozen members and now has close to 100 members. The charitable spirit has been a part of the Piecemakers’ DNA since the start. The first club community service project was to send 19 quilts to Houston to aid victims of the flooding from Hurricane Harvey. In other disaster relief efforts, a small town in Kentucky received 36 quilts after flooding in 2022, and 30 quilts went to Globe flood victims in 2025.
If you have walked through the hallway in the Creative Arts Center and wondered about the large machine in the Needle Arts Room, that is the club’s Gammill longarm quilter. The longarm is the workhorse that makes production of so many quilts possible, and is used to quilt most of the community service quilts. The club provides backing fabric, batting, and thread, and trained members do the quilting.
While the Piecemakers club serves our community by donating handmade quilts to brighten peoples’ lives, it also creates a social place for quilters to foster learning, exchange ideas, and develop skills. If you are interested in joining the Piecemakers, you can contact Aileen Waters (email: h2osgal@msn.com) or Marcia Jacobson (email: mmjacobson3@gmail.com).