Garlands member Gwen Larabee began sewing children’s jumpers for her mother’s friends at the age of nine. A decade (and several jumpers!) later, Gwen earned her master’s degree in education from the University of Illinois. After graduation, Gwen became a home economics teacher at Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, where she instructed clothing, millinery, and stitchery classes and eventually became the department chairperson
Gwen is one of several accomplished seamstresses, quilters, and needleworkers who share their love for, and knowledge of, the textile arts at The Garlands weekly Stitching with Friends group that is crafting friendship and so much more.
Gathering in front of the fireplace at The Garlands Galleria (they say it is like being in a friend’s cozy living room without the clean up!), they needlepoint, cross stitch, crochet, knit, quilt, and embroider their hearts out while sharing stitching tips and catching up on one another’s lives.
Mending the Soul
“We all tend to make something different,” says Gwen, who prefers to work on counted cross stitch and embroidery these days. “It is an open group, and any Garlands member is welcome to join us. You can stitch, chat, get help, or learn how to do a new stitchery project.”
Gwen finds the group to be a wonderful way to spend time with neighbors, admitting that, “Usually we work on our projects together, but sometimes we just show up to chat — and that’s OK!”
Her sister in stitches, Lia Douglas, who enjoys knitting and crocheting, recalls that the stitching group was one of the first activities she joined upon moving to The Garlands. “I just brought down my bag with my needles, pulled up a chair, and it was like we had just known each other forever. I had found my people!”
Crafting For a Cause
Lia is the co-chair of The Generous Crafters in Lake Zurich, and she and some of the Garlands group stitch for the charity, which donated 8,000 items last year to over a dozen local organizations for fundraising auctions, victims of violence, and hospital and hospice patients.
The Garlands stitchers also collectively contribute lap blankets, neck pillows, and textured textiles that offer pain relief to JourneyCare hospice patients.
“We enjoy working together on our personal projects and as a group,” says Gwen. “We all bring our own expertise, and we appreciate each other’s work while helping others”. . . one stitch at a time.
