Anita Zimmerly works on quilt with her sewing machine while Becky J Dunlap creates washcloths and Janet Skillman hand quilts during a recent Community Sewing Circle event at Heritage Station Museum in Pendleton.

PENDLETON — Twice a month, spaces at Pendleton’s Heritage Station Museum fill with the sounds of sewing machines, crafting and conversation. At the Community Sewing Circle, members are piecing together both projects and a community.

“The Sewing Circle is about sharing, coming out and visiting,” Anita Zimmerly said. “You show up, do your thing, chat and visit.”

Although historic sewing circles often focused on quilting, the Community Sewing Circle welcomes crafting of any and all kinds. Past projects have included scrapbooking, needlework, crocheting and, of course, quilting — both machine and by hand. The goal is to create a welcoming space where anyone can join, regardless of what sewing or craft they do.

Although many participants bring their own projects, they would be happy to teach beginners.

“If there was someone wanting to learn, we’d be happy to share,” Zimmerly said.

The group members said the Community Sewing Circle can also be a great way to try out an activity before investing money, such as buying a sewing machine. The Sewing Circle can also help participants find different crafts or sewing options to match a skill or a project.

“With the quilting, Janet (Skillman) is doing hand quilting,” Dunlap said, nodding toward Skillman whose needle flew in and out of a colorful fabric held fast in a wooden hoop. “You don’t have to have big bucks to do it.”

Some of the projects made in the Community Sewing Circle are kept at home, some go on to become gifts for friends and family, some are donated to Project Linus to be given to children in need and some are sold for income for the individuals that made them.

This modern sewing circle traces its origins back to Quilts of Valor, an effort to award military service members or veterans with quality, handmade quilts. Debbie Mulder and Zimmerly both sewed for the veterans program, but the coronavirus pandemic put the local effort program on hold. The women missed the camaraderie, and when Shannon Gruenhagen offered space at Heritage Station to revitalize a Community Sewing Circle, they took it. The group now meets two afternoons a month.

“We’re friendly, we’re not judgey,” Mulder said. “Whatever your skill level, whatever your passion, we celebrate it.”

The Community Sewing Circle is also a place for sharing stories and fabric stashes. Participants drop in as they can and talk about both their projects and what is happening in their lives. The Sewing Circle is also a great way to learn different ways to reuse and recycle pieces. In May, one group worked together to turn old denim jeans into new quilts.

“My grandmother raised a family during the Great Depression, and she never threw anything away,” Zimmerly said.

The Community Sewing Circle meets the first Monday and the third Saturday of each month, from about 11 a.m. to 3 p.m, at Heritage Station Museum, 108 SW Frazer Ave. For information, call 541-276-0012.