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Stitching comfort for those in need
Wednesday is quilting day at the Cumberland Valley Relief Center. Women sit side by side, heads bent over quilt frames, carefully stitching designs onto quilts that will be sold at the annual Pennsylvania Relief Sale in Harrisburg, Pa. Across the room, volunteers pin the edges of comforter tops, sew the tops or knot the comforters — a team effort to make warm blankets that Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) will send to families in need across the globe. And behind a hum of conversation and laughter is quiltroom supervisor Marie Eby, 70, answering questions, delivering fabric and bustling from person to person. Eby delights in finished quilts and relishes the daily flow of fabric and projects in the quilt room of one of the newest material resource centers that supports the work of MCC. But the stories she tells are about people — the volunteers, some of whom are new to Mennonites and MCC, who have been moved by the work of the center and by MCC’s mission worldwide. “My most exciting part is getting folks involved in MCC,” she said. “Last week I had three new people in here. That just excites me. ... There are very few people who come here that don’t come back.” The Cumberland Valley Relief Center has been open since 2003, and the Wednesday quilting group has steadily grown — in part due to Eby recruiting her friends and former coworkers, said Susan Wadel, director of the center.
“You feel like you want to join her,” Wadel said. “She puts in so much more effort than what’s required, it compels us to join her. It’s inspiring.” Eby comes to the center Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, often working with her husband, Elden, who cleans sewing machines, moves boxes and cuts patterns for her. The pair serve together on the board of the relief center, as well as on the board of the Pennsylvania Relief Sale that generates funds for MCC. Eby learned her craft in a church sewing circle in the early 1960s. “My mother and I learned together,” she recalled. “It just grew on me.” She started by embroidering quilt tops and what began as a way to get involved in her congregation grew to the point that, in addition to her work at the relief center, she now spends several hours at home each night on quilts that will be auctioned at the Pennsylvania Relief Sale. Last spring, Cumberland Valley Relief Center sent about 80 quilts to the sale; Eby and a friend Rachel Horst had worked on half of those. Even before the relief center opened, Eby was convincing quilters in the area to make items for the relief sale. Now, she brings quilters and other volunteers together to work on behalf of the sale and to compile comforters and bags for MCC school and health kits. “I was always taught to give. I just think MCC’s the place to give,” Eby said. She grew up seeing how her father, a dairy farmer, opened his home and heart to family members and others. “He would give anything for people. I grew up giving,” she said. Today, she inspires others to donate their time and energy. Some volunteers have recently learned about MCC. Others have been sewing material resources for MCC for decades. Martha Martin, who at 95 is the oldest volunteer, still remembers when MCC asked people to knit bandages to send overseas. Today, she knots comforters each Wednesday. “I just come and join the crowd,” she said. “You look forward to every Wednesday coming,” said Mabel Frey, sitting at a sewing machine working on comforter tops. In the quilt room, the hum of conversation is interspersed with laughter. Women talk of summer plans and how best to use zucchini. They discuss friends and acquaintances and share the latest news. “When you miss a week, you just miss out on something,” said Dorothy Crider, echoing a phrase she had heard from another quilter. Crider has made a quilt for each of her grandchildren, but most of what she quilts is for MCC relief sales. “I just enjoy doing it. It’s the Lord’s work. This is the time I give to Him.” Each year, MCC sends thousands of comforters and blankets to families in need across the globe. At relief sales, including the Pennsylvania Relief Sale, items such as quilts are sold to generate funds for MCC. In 2004, relief sales in the United States and Canada raised more than $5 million. (Back)
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Friday, July 4, 2008
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