The weekend's Quiltathon, the 10th rendition of the marathon effort, produced 31 quilts over two busy days to meet and exceed organiser Fram Bulmer's goal of 500 quits within the initiative's first decade.
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While Mrs Bulmer conceded she had to don the figurative 'red stilettos' to push the pace on the final day in order to reach the goal, she was steering a willing and expanded band of volunteers whose numbers also nudged record levels.
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There were 22 quilters participating on Saturday, and 20 on Sunday. The record of 23 still stands from the early Quiltathon days, but these numbers are a big jump on recent years.
Mrs Bulmer feels this is due to more women attending quilting classes (some of them treechangers who have moved to town), with the workforce also boosted by participants travelling down from Stanthorpe and Ballandean.
The weekend was a collaborative effort of the Tenterfield Community College and Tenterfield Society of Arts and Crafts, with some participants belonging to both groups. Mrs Bulmer credits all of them with great stamina.
Donations from the Lions and Rotary Clubs and Tenterfield Shire Council contributed to keeping up the stash of materials, as did Regional Australia Bank through its Community Partnership Program via the Community College.
"The support was great from everyone," she said.
"The spirit of the people working over the weekend was wonderful."
Janel Holmes deserves a special mention, managing to single-handedly assemble six quilts on the big quilting framer on each of the two days.
Last year quilts were donated to Tottenham drought-affected families via the CWA. This year Mrs Bulmer hopes to deliver the quilts much closer to home, to those who lost homes in Tabulam and Tingha in the recent bushfires.
There's a still a few latecomers to add to the quilt tally, but she aims to distribute the quilts by June, when the Highlands' winter starts to bite.
