Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

Members of the Mormon Women for Ethical Government gathered Saturday outside the Historic County Courthouse in Provo to urge Utah’s federal lawmakers to uphold constitutional government.

Their form of protest? Quilt making.

Dozens of women wrote messages on flannel squares that were sewn together into quilts, later to be presented to Utah Sens. Mike Lee and John Curtis.

The approach was a unique way to get their message across, said event organizer and Provo resident Jessica Preece.

“Most of us are here because we have been trying to get through to our members of congress and their mailboxes are full and their phone lines are busy, which is great because it means people are calling but it can be a little frustrating to feel like you’re just a drop in the bucket,” Preece said. “And so what we’re here to do is try to help our voices stand out a little bit.”

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

The so-called “quilt-in” was a response to the flurry of executive orders President Donald Trump has signed since he began his second term, which have had implications on everything from immigration to government spending.

Members of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, or MWEG, believe many of these actions are government overreach and want Utah’s senators to hold Trump accountable.

Preece cited Trump’s executive order to pause the TikTok ban.

“Congress passed a law and the Supreme Court upheld that law, and in this particular case I happen to agree with President Trump, but I don’t agree with the way he’s going about it,” Preece said. “I think that’s really dangerous and undermines our constitutional government.”

MWEG Executive Director Emma Addams said many women at the protest were concerned about nominations to Trump’s Cabinet and impacts budget cuts will have on global health and foreign aid.

Jacob Nielson, Daily Herald

Other MWEG members work in refugee resettlement and are concerned about Trump’s immigration policy changes, Addams added.

“There’s a lot of individual issues people are worried about right now. But I think the common theme is that our legislatures are supposed to legislate,” Addams said, “and they have a job to do and the executive branch has a job to do, and unless there are checks and balances in place on the part of our two Utah senators here, then the executive branch kind of creeps into their territory.

“Congress’ job is to decide and to legislate how funds are distributed, and so when the executive branch comes in and freezes funds or takes them away from what they’ve already been designated for, that’s a huge example of executive overreach.”

It was Preece’s idea to express her concerns through a “quilt-in,” but she knew she needed help hosting it.

MWEG, which calls itself a “faith-based community of women dedicated to civic empowerment and engagement,” was quick to get involved.

“I knew it would be the Mormon Women for Ethical Government community and so I posted it and they came. It’s just a wonderful, supportive community of activists,” Preece said.

Addams called the event a “beautiful example” of one woman coming to other women with an idea and then working together to make it happen.

“That is the beauty of America,” Addams said. “We have this longstanding history of women coming together to organize and we’re going to continue to do that.”