Stitching up kindness

by Chris Studor

For children and adults who are sick, to celebrate the baptism of a baby, for adults in need of caring, the women’s quilting guild at Our Savior Lutheran Church is bringing comfort, stitch by stitch.

Crafting more than 80 quilts a year, the guild has been meeting monthly in the church’s sewing room for more than 26 years.

Upon entering the sewing room, the hum of multiple sewing machines fills the air, with their operators skillfully assembling quilt pieces. At a large table, bolts of fabric are being cut and patterns are laid out. At smaller tables quilters, with needles in hand, concentrate on the fine details. At the end of the table are huge piles of fabric in a rainbow of colors and small prints just waiting to be selected.

Donna Rice, a former home economics teacher who worked in the Cleveland City School District, said she joined the quilters’ guild when she retired in 2012.

“My husband had a stroke and he was given one of the prayer quilts,” Rice said. “It just melted my heart and I decided to join the group,” she recalled.

Rice explained that the prayer quilts the group specializes in making are somewhat unique in that a number of the squares on the quilt have a double strand of yarn poking out of the center of some of the squares.

When someone in the parish is sick, one of the quilts the group has made is put in the church’s lobby and parishioners are invited to take the double strand of yarn and tie a knot in it as they say a prayer.

Those who receive the quilts know their fellow parishioners are thinking of them knowing each knot was tied by a well wisher and fellow church member.

In addition to the prayer quilts, sewer Vickie Getz said the guild makes baptismal quilts for each baby baptized at the church, along with quilts for residents living in the Medina County Home; for cancer and sick patients at Akron Children’s Hospital, St. Jude’s and the Ronald McDonald House.

Quilter Pat Rostas explained that once the largest piece of material is selected, a cotton backing is pinned to it and then it is given to one of the sewers. Rostas said the cutting process, pinning the backing and sewing the squares can take up to several hours.

“It’s like an assembly line,” said Rostas. “The people who receive them are thrilled with them. My mother was given one and I put it in her casket when she died. For some of the [less fortunate] children who receive them, it is sometimes the only thing they own.”

Quilter Janet Maracz said anyone can join the group.

“You don’t need to know how to sew to join, we can teach you and we have jobs for everyone,” Maracz said.

Being a member of the quilters’ group is also a place for the ladies to form long-time friendships.

“I come for the camaraderie and I know I’m helping at the same time,” Jo Kanya, one of the quilters, said.

Most of the fabric used for the quilts is donated and sometimes people will donate gift cards for material to be purchased.

Quilts made by the ladies at Our Lutheran Church are also blessed at a special church ceremony before being given to recipients. This ceremony, members of the guild say, holds special meaning and is conducted several times a year. ∞