Formed in 1985, the Heirloom Stitch Quilt Guild has created numerous quilt and pillowcase donations over the years. These heartfelt gifts are given to various recipients, including the first newborn of the year, fire victims in DeWitt County, graduating seniors, mothers and children at the South Texas Children’s Home, attendees of the Christian Warrior Retreat in Yorktown, police and EMS first responders, children in the DeWitt County foster system, and the VFW for raffles to raise funds. The Guild also provides gift certificates to 4-H quilt winners each spring.
The 35-member group meets monthly on the third Thursday and forms committees for different projects. With members from Cuero, Shiner, Hal- lettsville, Victoria, Goliad, and Yorktown, they range in age from 30 to 80+, with most members in their 60s and 70s.
The committee members and projects vary every year. Most are individual projects.
“With 35 different women, you're going to get 35 different styles. So, we have to do different things,” Nelda Huber explained.
Major quilt donations, such as the VFW quilt, are a group project that meets three times a year at a guild meeting. The tasks are delegated.
“We have ladies that will do the cutting; other ladies will sew them into the quilt tops; other ladies will do the actual machine quilting and binding,” Huber said.
The 2025 donation kick-off will be a baby quilt for the first newborn of the year, a tradition that dates to 1990. Carol Daniel, owner of The Square Quilter shop in Shiner, has provided stylish monogrammed bags for the past five years. This year’s bag will contain one crib quilt made by Nelda Huber, two baby quilts, eight dozen disposable diapers, five containers of baby wipes, a lovely security blanket, bottles, hats, onesies, a $60 gift certificate, and much more. The Guild covers the material costs for the baby quilts, while all other gifts are donated by members as well as the Cuero Regional Hospital.
Nelda Huber is the one-member committee responsible for creating this year’s baby quilt, which is her first year doing so. She shared her design process.
“It started with a panel in the center, and it grew from there,” she said, pointing out different sizes and colors of squares, rectangles, and other shapes cut out and sewed by hand.
It's a big undertaking (preparing a quilt and bag of donations). I didn't realize how big it was until this year. It's my responsibility to get it all together,” she added.
In 2016, CRH remodeled its Childbirth Center, equipping it with modern facilities and technology. “Because the CRH is not as busy as larger hospitals in Victoria and Houston, there is more one-to-one care with CRH nurses,” Huber said.
She emphasized that prenatal care is essential, and as mothers approach their due dates, commuting to doctors in bigger cities becomes increasingly challenging. “You certainly wouldn’t want to do local prenatal care and deliver elsewhere in a town where the doctors do not know you or your pregnancy,” Huber added.
The ladies of the Heirloom Stitchers Quilt Guild come from diverse backgrounds, including former teachers, accountants, and postal workers. Huber herself is a retired physician assistant who worked with Dr. Reese and Dr. Dugi from 2006 to 2016. The quilters share a common love of putting together puzzles.
When comparing handmade quilts to $19.95 mass-produced quilts made overseas with poor-quality materials and sold by large online retailers, Huber discussed the value of handmade quilts.
“Nobody wants to pay what a quilter thinks the quilt is worth. But this is our LIFE (and time) we are donating. We buy the fabric and do the sewing,” she explained.
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, January 16th at 8 a.m. - noon at VFW located at 934 U.S. 183, Cuero, Texas, 77954.
