Front Porch Quilter’s now monthly at Edison & Ford Estates

Area quilters are now gathering monthly at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates to enjoy sitting out on the front porch of the historic homes and quilting.
Many North Fort Myers residents are part of this group, The Southwest Florida Quilters’ Guild, including Darlene Ferrer, Sandy Ludwig and Barbara Greene.
Organizer Nancy Jones reported that the guild had it’s first “Front Porch” gathering on Jan. 24 at the famous home. Once a month, quilters have been invited by the estates to gather on the front porch of the home and do their hand quilting as well as answer questions from the public about quilting.
“We do what’s called a Clothesline Quilt Show with the Ford and Edison Estates each fall,” she said. “Last year it was very good. We probably had about 100 quilts out on a clothesline around the Ford home. From that we asked officials there if it would be possible to meet once a month on the porch and just do some hand quilting.”
They got the nod, and the next gathering will be Saturday, Feb. 28. from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. They then plan on meeting there the fourth Saturday of every month.
“Henry Ford was a collector of all sorts of Americana, including many quilted items,” Jones noted. “Our guild is now hand quilting a replica of one of his quilts top give to the estates here in Southwest Florida.
“It’s great fun, and a lot of people do stop by. If you want to join us, just show up that day.”
For more information on the guild, go to swfqg.com, or you can e-mail sarahobbs@aol.com.