GILBERTSVILLE – A recently established quilt group called the Gilbert Block Quilt Group (GBQG), which meets in Gilbertsville, has been sewing up a storm this past year. These quilting hobbyists have made it their mission to use their talents to spread comfort and cheer to young and old in the communities of Chenango, Otsego and Delaware counties, with their hand-crafted quilts.

The Gilbert Block Quilt Group, with less than thirty-five members, meets two times a month at the Episcopal Church in Gilbertsville, for “working meetings”. Most often fabric, some of which has been donated by fabric/quilt stores, is cut into quilt “kits” to be sewn at individual members’ homes. They raise funds for other needed materials by participating with a “boutique” in the annual Major’s Inn Quilt Show in Gilbertsville. Despite the newness of this group, they have been making a huge impact toward their feel-good goal.

They have already donated 28 quilts to the Prenatal Care Assistance Program, or PCAP, part of Planned Parenthood of South Central New York, Inc., in Norwich. Each time a preemie baby is born at Chenango Memorial Hospital, PCAP sees that the baby goes home with a warm, hand-made infant sized quilt.