By ceumc on February 25, 2012

Quilting Marathon

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Mission of loving stitches

For nine hours on Saturday, Feb. 25, seven women from our church and another from the Hope Gate Way congregation in Portland united for the single mission of providing warmth to recent immigrants from Burundi.

Led by organizer Judith Hill, the women created seven quilts from scratch, stitch by stitch, painstakingly focusing on each panel from a rainbow of colors. By the end of the afternoon, the quilts were spread across the Narthex floor, reflecting the meticulous work the women had accomplished and the pride with which the church will present these gifts on March 11.

Judith Hill leads the group of quilters early Saturday morning in the Sunshine Room.

The participating women from our church included Jane Beckwith, Gail Parker, Kay Young, Shirley Maxwell-Royall, Margaret Braun, the Rev. Ruth Morrison, Judith Hill and Lisa McNeil from Hope Gate Way. Viveca Kwan was not able to attend the Quilting Saturday, but did work from home and contributed a quilt to the Burundi families.

Each woman selected and purchased the colors of fabric for their quilts and worked independently, with Judith’s guidance, for a brilliant array of blues, reds, oranges, golds, pinks and whites. The final products were distinctly the result of individual preference.

Shirley Maxwell-Royall, Margaret Braun and Lisa McNeil work independently on their quilts.

The quilts will be presented to individuals and families from Burundi at a special fund-raising and cultural event at our church at 3 p.m. on March 11.

At the event, members of the Burundi community will perform music and dance from their country while also offering some of their cuisine for supper. They also will tell stories about what led them from Burundi to settle in the Greater Portland area. The event is free and open to the public, but donations will be accepted.

Many of the immigrants from Burundi are attending the Hope Gate Way UMC in Portland, which hosted a similar cultural event earlier this month.

The quilts are a gift from our church as the immigrants are setting up their new homes and hoping to bring more members of their families to this country.

The Rev. Ruth Morrison arranges panels of her quilt.

Some members of the Burundi community attended a Martin Luther King Day event at our church in January.

While the quilters worked almost non-stop from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday, they did break for lunch when Steve Hill delivered a kettle of homemade pasta-bean soup.