Thelma Hilbert, 84, cuddles with her great-granddaughter Shelby Gray, 2, on her porch in Corbin. Since moving back to Corbin from Michigan in 1993, Thelma has enjoyed being close to family. She has two children, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Thelma, 84, simply cannot sit still. Sewing, an art form she learned from her mother, is everywhere in her Corbin home. She has a designated sewing desk with quilt squares on the left, her Janome sewing machine in the middle and her pin cushion and scissors on the right. A speaker playing modern gospel music sits on the bookshelf.
"When I was in school, (mother) would take sheets of paper out of the old Sears and Roebuck catalogue, square them up, and I would sew strips on them," Thelma recalls. Her mother taught her how to sew scraps – using scrap fabric to make quilt patterns – a technique she still uses at Busy Bee.
Thelma's journey has not been smooth. She retired from General Electric in Michigan after 30 years to move back to Corbin to be with her mother, Elva Walker, in 1993. Nearly a decade ago, Thelma was diagnosed with breast cancer, but doctors moved aggressively and prevented it from spreading. COVID-19, however, posed a bigger challenge. She had two severe cases and was intubated during her second case. From there, she had some severe complications.
"They called my family and they let them see me," Thelma says. "I remember my granddaughter coming in and I said 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die.'"
Thelma pulled through, but she was not in good shape. As a result of complications from the infection, she had to re-learn to walk. It was a struggle for her to get back to living on her own, but now she is.
Thelma has always volunteered. She was president of the women's auxiliary of a now-closed Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter. After her husband, Paul, died in 1998, she started Women Helping Others, a consortium of former female VFW volunteers. Through all this, she and fellow volunteers have managed to create and care for others, distributing hand-crafted blankets and pillows to disabled veterans, children, grieving mothers and fellow breast cancer survivors. They also make teddy bears that they give to the county sheriff's office to give to children in need. Many of the Women Helping Others members joined the Busy Bee.
For the next Busy Bee meeting, members are driving 10 miles from the Whitley County Extension office to deliver blankets to the Baptist Regional Hospital in Corbin.
Thelma places fabric squares on her sewing machine at home. She is one of the longest-standing members of Busy Bee Homemaker's Club. The group donates some of the items they create - blankets, teddy bears, pillows - to people in need.
Judy Heamstead (left) and Thelma sew during a meeting of the Busy Bee Homemaker's Club. It is one of 10 homemaker's clubs in the county, but the only one that sews.
A pink ribbon blanket, gifted to Thelma, sits on her couch. Thelma is a breast cancer survivor.
Thelma lets her pony, Biscuit, out of his pen to eat grass in her back yard. She has had Biscuit for six years.
Thelma works on a scrap quilt at her home. Her mother taught her how to sew scraps when she was a kid.
Thelma opens a care package she received from members of a sewing group she belongs to on Facebook. Group members send each other sewing-related gifts.
Thelma shows off a quilt she made for her son, Darrell Hamlin, who enjoys hunting.
Thelma Hilbert hangs out in the kitchen of her home in Corbin on October 25.
Thelma moved back to the property to live with her mother in 1993. In this barn, she used to keep hens for eggs.