SHELBURNE — Residents looking for something to do on Mother’s Day need look no farther than 218 Shelburne Center Road, where they’ll find somewhere between 40 and 50 quilts on display.
The address is the home of 67-year-old Jody Stetson, who decided to organize a drive-by quilt show for the holiday. The quilts — about 20 or 25 of which Stetson made herself, with the rest being contributed by five fellow Shelburne residents — will be displayed along Stetson’s fenceline and on clotheslines from noon to 6 p.m.
“Everybody’s shut in and I figured that if they do parades, cars could go by and see quilts,” she said, noting that, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, some of the usual ways to celebrate Mother’s Day, such as taking your mother out to brunch at a restaurant, are out of the question this year.
The quilts will be visible from the road, and Stetson asks that visitors not stop or get out of their vehicles.
“I want everybody to stay safe,” she said. “Just a little road trip, that’s all.”
Stetson, a retired nurse who worked at Baystate Franklin Medical Center for 41 years, started making quilts by hand when she was in college. She’s made 125 in all, including one that she gave to her husband during their first Christmas together, which will be among the quilts on display Sunday.
“I like quilts and I have several that I haven’t been able to show anybody because we’ve been in lockdown,” she said, adding that some of the quilts on display will be old while others will be brand new, but none are antiques.
Since the pandemic began, Stetson said she hasn’t been able to devote quite so much time to her quilting. Instead, she’s staying busy as a member of the Shelburne Board of Health and the COVID-19 Task Force, and by making face masks that she gives away to community members. She has made 600 so far, all with material that she had already from quilting or that was given to her.
Oftentimes, Stetson donates her quilts to be raffled off by charity organizations. She said she will also have a donation bin available on Sunday during the drive-by quilt show, with all donations supporting Samaritan’s Purse, an international disaster relief organization.
Having spread the word about her drive-by quilt show mostly by word of mouth, Facebook and an email listserv to about 200 Shelburne residents, Stetson said she hopes seeing the quilts brings joy to those who pass by on Mother’s Day.
“I just hope that they have a lovely day with whoever comes by,” she said. “I hope it lifts their spirits a little bit.”
Reach Shelby Ashline at
413-772-0261, ext. 270 or
sashline@recorder.com.