Corinth-Holders — Although their meeting was over, several Undercover Quilters were still talking an hour later.

Members say that is typical: While they enjoy making quilts, they cherish each others' company even more.

The 22-member group meets every fourth Saturday in the fellowship hall at Corinth-Holders Baptist Church. Members haul their sewing machines, thread and fabrics to the large hall and spend about three hours working on their quilts.

They make a pot of coffee and nibble on goodies laid on the hall's kitchen's counter. Sometimes they hang quilts on the walls to have a different view of them. At some meetings, members hear a presentation on quilting techniques, or they focus on dying fabrics.

Four women founded Undercover Quilters about 10 years ago. All belonged to the Capital Quilters Guild in Raleigh but wanted a smaller, more-intimate club. The Raleigh group had several hundred members, making it impossible to get know all of them.

Early, Undercover Quilters met in the homes of members. But as the club grew, homes became too small for all of the sewing machines and fabric, said group leader Carole Snyder. Today the women meet at the church, where five of them are members. In lieu of paying rent, the quilters donate their creations to the church's annual auction, Snyder said.

Most of the members are from Wendell, Zebulon, Knightdale and Clayton, but some drive from Garner or Fuquay-Varina. The Raleigh guild tells those members who live in eastern Wake or northern Johnston about Undercover Quilters, while other members find the group by chance.

When Pat Hines went to get a mammogram, she started talking about quilting with the technician, Donna Camin. Before Hines knew it, she had been invited to join Undercover Quilters. Some other members have heard about the group at a Selma quilting store, the Whistle Stop Quilt Shop.

Attending club meetings is not like taking a class, but members do spend time on learning. The women help each other with their projects.

"If you don't know how to make the corners lay down right, for instance, it's likely that someone else here can help you," Snyder said.

What several women like about the group is everyone's willingness to share their knowledge. Instead of hording their skills and competing against each other, the women are ready to help, Camin says.

"In some quilting groups, people get together, but don't really communicate that much about their work," she said. "Here the atmosphere is different, and our members are not jealous of each other."

Helping is something the group takes seriously. To celebrate Veterans Day, the women made 39 quilts and donated them to the Veterans Medical Center nursing home in Durham.

"We heard about quilters donating their creations to the Walter Reed National Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and loved the idea," Snyder said. "But instead of sending quilts to a hospital in another state, we wanted to remember the local veterans."

"We wanted to show the vets there that there are people who care about them, and that was our way of doing that," Camin added.

Now several Undercover Quilters are planning to take part in the Quilts of Valor program. Through it, quilters donate their creations to soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Group members are also supportive of each other. One of the women, Julia Dudley, is suffering from breast cancer and recently started chemotherapy. To show their love and support, other members made a quilt celebrating Breast Cancer Month and donated it to Dudley at the group's Nov. 10 meeting.

"What shows your love more than a creation you have spent countless hours making?" member Linda Dempsey asked.

The women share a love for fabric and interest in doing something with their hands, Snyder said. They also enjoy completing a project from start to finish.

Sometimes members bump into stereotypes about quilting and quilters. When people hear the words "quilting group," they automatically think about "little old ladies sitting in a circle," Snyder said.

"Not everyone realizes how challenging quilting can be or thinks about quilters as dynamic and fun people," Snyder said. "Which we of course are."