the.com/quilting bee

means A communal gathering where people stitch a quilt together in one sitting, turning tedious handiwork into a shared social event.

from From 'quilt' (ultimately from Latin culcita, a stuffed cushion or mattress) plus 'bee,' the old term for a cooperative work gathering — husking bees, barn-raising bees, spelling bees all share this sense. The popular story ties 'bee' to the industrious insect, and that image certainly helped it stick, but the word more likely comes from dialectal English 'been' or 'bean,' meaning voluntary help given to a neighbor. Quilting bees themselves were a practical necessity in frontier and rural communities, where finishing a large quilt alone was slow work — so neighbors pooled needles and gossip alike, and the chore became an occasion.