Islesboro’s Baptist Sewing Circle has been “Keeping Islesboro in Stitches Since 1858”-at least that’s what the banner they carried in the Fourth of July parade trumpeted. The circle is undoubtedly one of the nation’s oldest continuously active sewing circles, according to President Suzanne Babbidge.
To celebrate, they entered a quilt bedecked float in the parade while some marched wearing blue aprons with a new logo designed by Bill Rogers. The group also spruced up their building. All this plus getting ready for their annual summer fair held August 5.
The women gather Tuesday afternoons at 1 p.m., at a former school house not far from Dark Harbor pool to sew, knit, crochet, weave, embroider, and quilt, planning the holiday sale and summer fair which raise thousands of dollars for worthwhile community projects.
They also write cards of condolence and congratulation, wish each other and members of the community a happy birthday or to get well. Every new baby in town gets a handmade bib. At Christmas they distribute poinsettias to shut-ins or anyone needing a bit of cheer. They and their predecessors have been doing this for 150 years.
Membership and level of participation varies over the year, with fewer attending in the winter, and numbers swelling in the summer as retired members return from winter homes and summer residents join in. One member described the group as a “warm circle of good friends” and a supportive group of women.
Each week, Babbidge posts needed sewing projects and members select ones they want to do, often taking them home or, in the case of weaving projects, arriving at the building off-hours to finish a certain number of inches each week.
The Circle Fair, a much-anticipated event, features, in addition to the needlework items, flowers, vegetables, baked goods and white elephants. Fair goers can buy a lunch consisting of traditional sandwiches like tuna, egg salad, or ham and cheese, or a more up-to-date veggie wrap. The food table displays a big selection of pies, gorgeous French bread, and even freshly made kimchi.
The public begins lining up well before the opening at noon and stands behind the rope strung across the Islesboro Historical Society’s lawn while inside the women check to make sure everything is priced, make room on tables for newly arriving pies, cakes, bread, and lay out donations of zucchini, green beans, and beets.
Despite its name the sewing circle is ecumenical and benefits not only the Second Baptist Church, but also most other organizations around town from the elder care home to a feral cat project. In fact, more money is distributed to town charities than the church. Any organization worth its salt applying for funds presents itself to the sewing circle to explain its project and answer sometimes pointed questions. “It’s a fun time when you decide how to distribute your largess,” said treasurer Bonnie Hughes.
They also used their funds, to supplement memorial gifts for improvements to their meeting house, a former two-room school house, adding in recent years an entry ramp, an addition on the rear to house looms, a septic system and restroom and off-the-road parking. The original sewing circle, in fact, built the building two doors south of the church, which is now being renovated into the Islesboro Community Center.
In the process of creating goods for sale, the circle has also kept alive artisanship. Years ago Eva Pendleton reintroduced quilt making, teaching some of the members how to assemble patchwork quilts and quilt them by hand. More recently Marcy Congdon introduced the hand weaving that has added rag rugs, woven place mats, and scarves to the list of circle products.
The circle sponsors Cabin Fever Relievers on winter Fridays so members or anyone else can work on their own projects with the ready advice of experienced needle workers and sewing machines available. They hold social luncheons marking Valentine’s Day and a harvest time to promote fellowship. Maintaining circle membership faces the same problems that all volunteer-based endeavors do as more younger women hold down jobs or pilot youngsters to their activities and joining the circle becomes a matter of the privilege of retirement or dedicating time.
Hughes said that there is “a great deal of comfort women can take in sitting around in each other’s company and doing something worthwhile.” The circle exchanges news about community needs such as getting food to the sick, how to provide respite for caregivers, or to do what they can to overcome isolation.
Isolation is the last thing on anyone’s mind during the Circle Fair. Thirty-five members clad in the blue aprons turned out to work at this year’s fair. Hundreds of buyers fingered knitted items, examined the huge pillow selection, and snapped up scrubbies and Christmas decorations.
Summer residents and islanders meeting up for the first time this summer greeted each other with hugs, marveled at the growth of off-spring, and elbowed one another at the baked goods table. Most of the pies disappeared in the first fifteen minutes, and many, many pounds of fudge were weighed out and bagged.
The circle will take a couple of weeks off, go on an outing together, then resume meetings at the end of the month. “We don’t know exactly what day our anniversary is,” said Babbidge. It hardly matters as the circle merely continues its regular weekly gatherings, prepares for the Christmas sale, and servies its island community.