Flying Quilts

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Excerpt from Council minutes, 1922
The motion was made, seconded and carried that the Ladies Aid Society be granted the use of the Sunday school library for a sewing room provided that they would clean up the room after each day's work, leaving it in a suitable condition for a library and reading room. If used for a room to quilt in, the quilting frames must be removed from the room each day after using, or, if this can not be done, the quilting must be done in some other room.

The name Flying Quilts came about in the early 1990's when Lutheran World Relief produced a video of the same name about the distribution of quilts to disaster areas and war torn areas. These women gather on the second and fifth Tuesday of each month from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. in Trinity Hall. One weekend a year in September the quilts are displayed around the church before bering shipped to Lutheran World Relief.

Led by Sally Werner the group also includes Catherine Hebert, Larae Hebert, Bonnie Massing, Mary Kidd, Terry Wallace, Coleen Barwell, Patty Junk, Betty Blair, Carol Krepp, Olive Clark, Beth Godinich, Doris Marso, Donna Brecht, Linda Oman, Barbara Swartz, Linda Oman, Jean Harnett, Lynn Muir, Marie Eaves, and Marilyn Johnson.

Donations of time (to work on projects), fabric, and money (for shipping) are cheerfully accepted.

Would you like to make a difference in lives?
Would you like to help make a quilt or to knit a baby layette sweater that will either be sent overseas or used here
        at home to help those in need?
Are you able to do any of the following steps of making a quilt?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, please call Bonnie Massing at 724-253-2932 or the church office at 724-588-8770 to discuss ways for you to become involved with the efforts of the Flying Quilters. Materials can be picked up at the church or can be dropped off to you. If you are not able to be at the church on the Tuesdays that the ladies meet, don't let that stop you from helping.

Steps involved in making a "Flying Quilt"
1.         Choose material for the top and bottom of the quilt. Use as large pieces as possible in order to produce as many
            quilts as possible in the time we have to sew.
2.         Cut material into squares, if pieces are small. Use the patterns we have developed that may be 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 or
            14 inches square.
3.         Sew squares together to the size requested by Lutheran World Relief.
4.         Press quilt top and lay it out face down on a table.
5.         Center the material chosen for the inner over the pressed quilt top. This may be a blanket or other piece of cloth
            depending on the weight of the top and bottom fabrics. There is a weight suggestion from Lutheran World Relief.
6.         Spread the bottom over the inner right side up. Each layer is placed in such a way that there is enough to fold a border
            up and over the top. Pin in place.
7.         Using the guide that we have developed, tie a square knot as indicated by the guide so that the layers are securely
            bonded.
8.        Using the sewing machine zigzag around the quilt to secure the border.
9.        Fold and prepare to ship it

If you have fabric or washable yarn for baby layette sweaters that you no longer have a use for, please consider donating it to the "Flying Quilts." Donations can be dropped off at the Church Office any day of the week between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

"A quilter can never have too much fabric."

Jean Harnett and Sally Werner with a Carol Krepp and Lynn Muir cutting quilt squares.
completed quilt.

Bonnie Massing sewing the middle Jean Harnett pinning middle layer together. Mary Kidd pressing quilt top.
layer together.

Sally Werner stitching all three Betty Blair pinning a quilt top. Donna Brecht sewing quilt back.
layer of a quilt together.

Marie Eaves sewing a quilt back. Doris Marso and Sally Werner pinning Shirley Clark
the three layers of a quilt together. choosing thread.

Many hands working together to help others. Quilt squares cut, ready to be sewn together.

Patty Junk, never too busy for a pretty smile.    Long time member, Olive Clark               Colleen Barwell busy at her machine.

Catherine Hebert, a long-time member of Flying Quilts, with completed layettes that are ready to be shipped. Each layette requires two blankets, four cloth diapers, a bar of soap, a sweater, two Onesies, two sleepers, two wash cloths and diaper pins.

Information on Lutheran World Relief Quilts and Layettes Projects

QUILTS
            A Lutheran World Relief (LWR) quilt is special! It brings warmth on a cold night, shelter from the sun on a hot day. It becomes a bed, a room divider, a backpack to carry belongings, and at times even a home. Quilts distributed by LWR to refugees and other people in need were first made by recycling old but good clothes, blankets, and other items. Most LWR quilts are still made this way, although fabric samples, remnants, or other new pieces of fabric are also used. Each quilt is one of a kind, with a beauty all its own, made as a gift of hope by caring people.

LAYETTES
            In refugee camps, hospitals, and villages around the world, gifts of layettes convey a warm welcome to newborns and their mothers.

FROM THE FIELD
            Oftentimes, LWR Parish Group members will ask, "do the quilts and other items really get to the people who need them?" The answer is a resounding "Yes!" Lutheran World Relief partners with trusted, well-managed organizations around the world to see that the quilts and other items do get to the people who are in the greatest need.

WHERE DO LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF QUILTS GO?
            Since 1945, U. S. Lutherans have provided material resources by the ton for people in need around the world. The quilts, kits and soap travel through a well-coordinated, intercontinental pipeline to get from your congregation to the women, children and men who so deeply appreciate your gifts of comfort.
1.        U. S. Lutherans make and gather material resources and deliver them to LWR warehouses – in person, by post, or even
            by rail.
2.         Warehouse staff process, sort into categories and prepare the items for shipment overseas. Kits and soap are packed into
            boxes; quilts are compressed into plastic-wrapped bales.
3.         LWR partners, local faith- and community-based organizations around the world, identify needs and submit requests for
            material resources. LWR coordinates shipping arrangements and the warehouse staff packs ocean freight containers and
            sends them to port.
4.         Containers are loaded onto an ocean freighter, which sails to the port nearest LWR's partner-arriving 4-6 weeks from the
            day it was ordered.
5.         LWR's partner confirms receipt of the materials and prepares them either for short-term storage or immediate delivery
            to remote villages, refugee camps, hospitals and disaster sites. Some items are kept in storage, poised for quick
            distribution in case of a later emergency, such as an earthquake or flood.
6.         LWR's partner conducts a fair and orderly distribution, ensuring that those in the greatest need receive the material
            resources, and reports the results back to LWR.
7.         LWR staff makes periodic site visits to monitor distribution systems of the partners and learn about the communities
            they serve.