Group of women sews for those in need

EAST SYRACUSE — Finding nothing but fun and camaraderie every time they get together, a close-knit group of crafters meets in the training room of East Syracuse Fire Department Station 2 to make items for area nonprofits and different causes.

The group calls itself NUTZ, an acronym standing for “No Unfinished Tops, Zanies.” Those words refer to the push the women give themselves to go back and finish the stitching projects they’ve started so as to not leave a quilt top without batting or backing, along with an acknowledgment that the group’s members are all at least a little silly or eccentric.

Most of the 40-or-so ladies that show up regularly are retired, and most admit to storing “embarrassingly large” stashes of fabric in their homes. But once they bring in what they’ve got, whether it’s wool or cotton, nothing ever goes to waste.

Priding themselves on being an industrious bunch, the members give as much as they can to the organizations they help out with their handiwork.

That includes crocheted winter hats or knitted wheelchair caddies to local senior centers and nursing homes, and so far this summer, over 100 adult bibs rebranded as “shirt savers” that keep the clothes of men at the Syracuse VA Medical Center clean and unstained. Some of those shirt savers are emblazoned with logos of favorite sports teams and festive designs meant to brighten up the center’s dining room when the holiday season comes around.

In addition to doggie beds and fleece fabrics for various animal shelters and pet therapy programs, NUTZ also donates coverlets like quilts and afghans to places like the Crossroads Adult Home operated by the Syracuse Rescue Mission and to children at hospitals or social service agencies through Project Linus.

The group also gives patriotic quilts of valor in the colors of red, white and blue to the Honor Flight Network, which are then presented to the veterans returning home from their visit to Washington, D.C. to see the national memorials dedicated to their service and sacrifice.

Often enough, NUTZ passes along quilts for local charities to raffle off for the purpose of raising extra money for any endeavors they have in their sights, including the Syracuse-based nonprofit focused on pediatric oncology research and the providing of care packages to patient families Paige’s Butterfly Run, for which the daughter of NUTZ delivery team leader Melonie Unger is director of development.

Unger said another one of her favorite projects is NUTZ’ contribution to Sleep in Heavenly Peace’s 12 Days of Christmas, during which that organization delivers 300 beds to children in need for a dozen days straight, all complete with carry-around quilts made by Unger and friends as well as pillowcases made by fellow NUTZ member Pat Verrette.

Verrette is known to make plenty of those month to month, to the point that she’s affectionately nicknamed “Pillowcase Pat.” Sometimes she makes as many as 50 a week, said one of her tablemates in the fire station training room, and fittingly Verrette said she can pretty much make them in her sleep thanks to her Threadbanger sewing machine, which goes through five layers at once.

Diane Dwyer, who has been involved with NUTZ for over a decade, makes it her passion project to send packaged assortments of cloth diapers and baby wipes fashioned from leftover flannel scraps to the CNY Diaper Bank. Those materials, which Dwyer recruits Facebook friends to create either at home or in the NUTZ sewing room, are washable and reusable—and thus cost-saving—plus they come in different designs showing such images as llamas, handprints, footprints and fire trucks.

NUTZ started out about 15 years ago at the quilt shop on New Court Avenue where Unger works called Calico Gals, but more recently the volunteer group moved to the Sanders Creek Parkway station because it was a bigger space and the fire department offered to let them use it.

Lynn Schantz, one of the women who heads up the group, said their routine gatherings are full of laughter and merriment and are never boring. The members also bring in a spread of food to share, and in their round-the-clock productivity, they inspire each other and obsess over one another’s pattern ideas.

The seamstresses see the group as not only a way to give back to the community but as a part of their social life too.

Verrette, a retired payroll services accountant, said it became an uplifting outlet for her after her husband and mother passed away 14 years ago and 12 years ago respectively. Now, she views everyone else in that room as supportive friends, and Dwyer said the same, calling the group’s meetups her “foundation.”

Schantz, who taught pre-K and parent education in the East Syracuse Minoa Central School District for 30 years, said she feels lucky to be part of a group so willing to do what they can for others. She said she also appreciates the fire department personnel for always stopping in to ask how they’re doing and if they need anything.

“It’s a great group, and we’re so thankful to get together like this and share each other’s company,” Schantz said. “It’s real nice.”

The members of NUTZ also sew for their own use, for wedding gifts, and for birthday presents to give to family members. The group, which last convened July 11 and 12, meets from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. two Thursdays a month and on Friday one of those given weeks to make it two days in a row, always welcoming newcomers with open arms whenever they’re there at the station.

Because the members tend to see their effort put toward making these items as a labor of love, Schantz said she’s fairly certain they’d show up every week if they could.