Quilter of 30 years is known for donating her handmade works to various Catholic fundraisers

Intermountain Catholic

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Flora Lawless displays the hand-made quilt she created for the Saint Olaf Council of Catholic Women luncheon held in January.

TOOELE — Flora Lawless is known throughout the Diocese of Salt Lake City for her beautiful hand-made quilts. She has made and donated quilts or quilted items for many years for fundraising events for the Saint Marguerite Council of Catholic Women and parish fall festival, the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW), the National Council of Catholic Women, Saint Olaf Council of Catholic Women, and Saint Olaf School auctions.

Lawless was born and raised in Tooele and became a member of Saint Marguerite Parish while attending St. Mary of the Wasatch School in 1950. She was married in St. Marguerite Church, and she and her husband, John, will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary on St. Patrick’s Day.

In her years with the Council of Women, she has held every office. She has also served on the parish council, taught CCD for 12 years and been active in the Salt Lake Deanery and the DCCW. In 1988, she was chosen as Woman of the Year.

Lawless and four friends from Tooele began quilting in 1981 by taking lessons at the Mormon Handicraft store.

"We took classes for 20 weeks and learned everything from threading a needle to how to choose colors, design and judge quilts," she said. "While the five of us were together we made wall hangings, quilts and other items and donated them. Then one of our members died, so we made a quilt and dedicated it to her for the Deseret Foundation auction in Salt Lake City."

The remaining four members were then asked by the Utah State Extension home economist in Tooele County to start a quilting group.

"We founded the Tooele County Quilting Guild and it is still going," said Lawless. "I have continued to teach quilting to various groups and help people because I loved to see other people’s work. I was a judge for the Utah State Extension Service at county fairs until recently and have also entered my quilts and other items in the Tooele County Fair and won first-place ribbons. I have met so many people and made such wonderful friendships through quilting."

Lawless photographs, signs and dates everything she makes for her records, which fill about four scrapbooks. She makes quilts for her children and grandchildren for their birthdays, graduations and weddings.

"I have nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, and I make quilts for all the new babies and sometimes for my children’s friends," she said.

Lawless enjoys working alone on the quilting frame in her family room because it’s a wonderful opportunity for her to pray and think, she said. "Quilting is my quiet time; it’s so relaxing and is a comfort for me. I design my own quilts or use quilt patterns and get a lot of inspiration from magazines. Right now I’m working on some placemats for a shower gift, a wall hanging for a school auction and a quilt for the DCCW convention in April."

Lawless developed her love for sewing and quilting while growing up," she said. "My dad had a small bakery in Tooele, so I went to work with my mother from the time I was 5. My mother would wash and bleach all the flour sacks and taught my sister and me how to embroider. We occupied ourselves quietly in the back of the bakery while she worked the front counter. I had dozens of dish towels and pillow cases in my trousseau when I got married. I loved embroidering, but I really wanted to learn to quilt and it became a real inspiration for me."