Singer/songwriter Lorraine MacDonald wrote a song for her mother about a quilt her mother had made for her that comforts her through cold and unhappy nights. It is a brilliant song, one that calls to each of us, that talks to us all about the security of what a warm quilt brings, in fact and symbolically.

Quilts are so comforting that their distribution by volunteers over the years to a myriad to folk in distress, especially children, has benefitted both recipients and the donors in Dufferin for many years.

This is the story of "Stitch and Share," a subgroup of the Dufferin Piecemakers. The group's 130 members are enthusiastic about quilting and the coming together of like-minded people.

The quilting guild has been established for 15 years. From its earliest days, "cuddle quilts" - small quilts made for "children in trauma" - were produced and given to the local firefighters by the guild's volunteers.

The story surfaced in a call from Yvonne Guse- Rohn, financial services adviser with Meridian Credit Union in Orangeville. In addition to being a member of the guild herself, Ms. Guse- Rohn helped to organise the loan of the board room at Meridian for use by the quilters, 20 or 30 of whom assemble every Wednesday to work.

To thank Meridian for their generous gift of time and space, the quilters made and donated a quilt to the credit union, which, in turn, passed the quilt on to the Dufferin County Museum - a small matter, perhaps, compared to munificence that has been the policy of giving on the part of the guild otherwise.

Recently, having given so many "cuddle quilts" over the years, the range of donations has expanded considerably.

Between them, Ms. Guse-Rohn and Pat Kalapaca, President of the Dufferin Piecemakers, outlined the long list of quilt donations over the last few years.

Ms Kalapaca told me that the organisers of Choices Youth Shelter came to them to ask for larger quilts as donations.

"When one of the young people come to Choices and get a quilt, they get to keep it so that when they leave the shelter, they take the quilt with them."

Ms Guse-Rohn says quilts have gone to Family Transition Place and Dufferin Victim Services. She could hardly keep up with herself as she spilled out the numerous acts of generosity that group has performed.

"Their giving is never ending," she enthused, adding notes about mastectomy pillows to cancer victims, baby quilts to Dufferin Child and Family Services, quilts to Guatemala and sewing machines to Tanzania.

I pinned Pat Kalapaca down a bit by asking her what she got from all the work.

She was happy to admit: "It's the people. There is so much talent. You can learn as much or as little as you want but some people come to the guild meetings who have never made a quilt."

For Ms. Kalapaca, moving from simply sewing to quilting became an addiction. Her mother, she said, was a quilter and Ms. Kalapaca took it up once she had retired.

"I didn't learn enough from my mother," she remarked.

Actually, quilting is a profound skill, leaned over time. So, there are various levels of knowledge and all of these are mentored within the guild at their skill builders meetings. There blocks are made and the more skilled ladies put the blocks together to make the quilts.

Everyone contributes. Everyone is a volunteer.

Within their own community, not surprisingly, there is also caring. Said Ms. Kalapaca, "If one of our sister quilters suffers trauma or loss, we make something special for her too."

The community of nearly 130 people is held together by newsletters and a monthly meeting at the fairgrounds.

"When we get together, it's crazy," Ms. Kalapaca said.

"Everybody is so happy to share and to see everybody else."

As for all the work of quilting on the many donations to the community, Ms Kalapaca made the well-heard remark: "It's our way of giving something back to the community."

All in all, if you are having a great time, connecting with people you are learning to love, while growing and benefitting from the connections and still able to help others - what more could you possibly want?