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Volunteers like Joan Fairlie are working around the clock until 5 p.m. Saturday at Boutique 4 Quilters in West Melbourne to make 300 quilts for people in Haiti. Photo by Michael R. Brown

by KIMBERLY C. MOORE

WEST MELBOURNE — Anita Kelly saw the massive destruction on television last week from Haiti and knew immediately what she had to do -- organize the friends and customers of her shop, Boutique 4 Quilters, to make in one week 300 quilts for the earthquake victims.
"It's something that needs to be done," Kelly said Tuesday. "It should be automatic."
An e-mail was all it took to get the word out and quilters, embroiderers and those who simply know how to sew on a machine began showing up at the West Melbourne shop.
On Monday, about two dozen volunteers began measuring, cutting and sewing together dozens of pieces of fabric squares. After batten and a back is added, it is all sewn together and then a curving, twisting quilt pattern is added, turning them into everything from baby blankets to lap-sized quilts. By Wednesday afternoon, they had sewn together about 123 blankets, which still need a quilt pattern sewn into them.....

How to help

Boutique 4 Quilters needs quilt fabric scraps, extra threads and batting, volunteers to machine-sew the pieces together, and donations of snacks, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners to keep the quilters going. They are at 2945 W. New Haven Ave., West Melbourne. Call 768-2060. They will be working non-stop until 5 p.m. Saturday.

Read more at -  http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100121/NEWS01/1210319/1006/West+Melbourne+quilters+stitch+for+Haiti