Colorful quilts and other textile creations handcrafted by 10 members of Quilters on the Rock will be on display at the Oak Harbor Library beginning Wednesday and remaining until the end of September.

“I love being part of this group,” said Carolyn Lancet, co-president of Quilters on the Rock. “And I hope that everyone who comes to the library to see our display gets some pleasure from it.”

Quilters on the Rock, established in 1981, is a nonprofit quilt guild whose members create and donate quilts, place mats, pet beds and more to various organizations, including American Hero Quilts, Meals on Wheels and the Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation. Members meet once a month at the Coupeville Methodist Church to quilt together and frequently host quilting classes.

Quilters on the Rock is currently about 100 members strong and of a variety of skill levels. Many are retired, endowed with the free time necessary to commit time and energy to the craft.

“We pack the house,” she said. “It’s wonderful.”

Elucidating the length of her quilting avocation is tough for Lancet. She has been sewing since eighth grade and made her first quilt back in 1998 but quilting consistently is far more of a recent endeavor. For the last 10 years of her working life, she longed to fully dedicate herself to quilting until retirement granted her the opportunity she needed.

Seven years ago, Lancet retired and moved with her husband from California to Whidbey Island. She knew she wanted to join a quilting group as soon as she arrived and, seeing as she was already familiar with Quilters on the Rock through Facebook, she joined within months.

“It was perfect,” she said.

Inspiration can be found a variety of places, Lancet explained — perusing Pinterest and Instagram, visiting a quilt show like those in Monroe and Anacortes, watching quilting TV shows and flipping through quilting magazines. Buying the fabric once a pattern is settled, she added, is “half the fun.”

Quilting can be a time consuming process, and estimating exactly how long a single quilt could take is difficult. “It takes longer than you think,” she quipped.

Creating beauty is something Lancet is passionate about, but what makes so many lonely hours spent at the sewing machine worth it, she confessed, is the gratitude from recipients of the group’s charitable efforts. In the past, Lancet has received notes and photos with the quilted donations expressing thanks.

“When you donate anything, it’s rare that you ever see it reach its intended destination,” Lancet said of these such reactions. “I treasure it.”

Demand for quilts from the organizations Quilters on the Rock serves is consistent, so the more quilters, the merrier. Lancet invites those interested to check out the group’s Facebook page and come to a meeting, where there will be more than just fabric and sewing machines in store.

“A lot of it really is about community as well as the quilting part of it,” Lancet said of her quilting comrades. “We just really like each other.”

(Photo provided) Lancet said her group is planning several more library quilt displays for next fall, the year of their 45th anniversary.

(Photo provided) All of the quilts and quilted creations featured in the Oak Harbor Library display are small, so as to fit the library’s available display space.

(Photo provided) Lancet said inspiration for quilts can “come from a lot of sources,” and the process of creating one can be lengthy.