Killarney Guide

BY KIM LANGEN

Dozens of men, women and children gathered in a church gymnasium last week, to raise up their needles and thread, and make a warm world of difference.

It was Knotting Day at Killarney’s Lakeview Community Church, and over a hundred partly finished blocked quilts were stacked and waiting to be completed by these volunteers. 

There were thousands of knots to be tied, with a busy day ahead to get the job done. 

“Anyone can tie a knot,” said sewing volunteer Rose Heide, and one of the organizers of the church’s Great Winter Warm-Up event. “Eight to ten ladies have been making these quilt tops since last fall. The goal was 100 quilts, and they have reached that, and more. We are starting at 9 a.m., and hope to finish tying them all by 4 p.m.”

Tying each quilt, which means binding the three layers into one, requires over 200 careful, separate knots, and can take the volunteers between one and two hours to complete, she said. It was quite a formidable task for them to face, and the rising tide of quilts was a wonderful, colourful, geometric sight to behold.

The knotters met up on Wednesday, January 31, with the promise of cinnamon buns, coffee, hot chocolate, plus a mid-day feed to sustain them through a busy day of tying quilts. 

But with so many wonderful quilts stockpiled, the group had to re-join in the gym a week later, for a second day of knotting, in order to complete the massive task, she said.

“We now have 120 finished quilts,” said Heide on Thursday morning. “We had a pretty good turnout out yesterday, maybe a few less than last week, but we hunkered down and got it done.  We enjoyed cinnamon buns at coffee time, and another tasty lunch, supplied by some of the ladies.” 

These beautiful items will soon join some 70,000 similar quilts being crafted across North America, which the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) will eventually distribute around the globe to people in need, she said.

Last year, the MCC shipped 59,277 of these comforters to communities in Canada, Ecuador, Guatemala, Haiti, Iraq, Jordan, Malawi, Syria, Ukraine, Zambia and the U.S., including Puerto Rico, according to their website.

“In this world today, everything is about ‘me,’” said Heide. “And this is a chance to truly make a difference, in meeting a physical need for others through the gift of a handmade quilt. These quilts will go all over the globe.”

Materials for the winter warm-up quilts consist of all new fabric, said Heide. “We make the quilt tops, usually cotton, from fabric that people donate to us. The MCC sells us the backing, which is flannel, and also the filling for the comforters.” 

Volunteer sewer Hertha Penner said the hundred-plus quilts would soon be on their way to become someone’s precious gift.

“We will take these finished quilts to Plum Coulee on February 20, to the MCC warehouse, where they will be baled up, and made ready for shipment,” she said. 

“And then we will start all over again,” said Rose Heide.

There is more to the task than meets the eye, she added, and many kinds of volunteers are very welcome to join.

“We would love to extend an open invitation to anyone interested in sewing quilts for third world countries,” said Heide. “We meet for two consecutive days, usually a Tuesday and a Wednesday, once a month. We don’t meet in July or August. It’s usually from September to June. And it’s great fun. It’s not a club; people can just drop in. And you don’t need to sew. Sewing is wonderful, of course, but people can also help by cutting fabric, designing the blocks into patterns, and there is also the ironing. 

“If people are interested, they can call me at 204-523-4437 for more information, and details, and to let me know they may be coming, so we can make plans. We will be starting again on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 19 and 20.”

Penner, along with her husband Dan, recently spent time in Malawi, Africa, as part of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank volunteer group. They were helping to support cyclone victims there, she said, and just missed witnessing the arrival nearby of a large MCC quilt shipment to that devastated area.  

Penner would have loved to have seen these quilts, she said, being unloaded after their long journey to a new home. A quilt can mean so much to a family or an individual in crisis, and sends a clear message that other people do care about them, she added.

“If people have a heart for this sort of thing, they would be so welcome to join us when we make these quilts,” she said. “They can stay for two hours, or all day.”

For more about the Mennonite Central Committee’s Winter Warm Up comforter information, and more, you can check them out online at: https://mcc.org.

Keep scrolling to share this story below.

ALL HANDS ON DECK – Knotters of all ages helped to tie together over 100 quilts on Wednesday, January 31, at Lakeview Community Church. Above, some of the volunteers for the MCC’s Great Winter Warm-Up, as they drew out long lengths of strong thread, making ready to run their needles through the three layers of alternate quilt squares, and tie them neatly together.

BEAUTIFUL QUILTS MADE FROM THE HEART – Fabulous, vividly coloured quilts received their final stitching by volunteers who turned up for Knotting Day at the Lakeview Community Church last week. An impressive 120 quilts were completed by the end of two busy days of tying, as part of the MCC’s Great Winter Warm-Up. The quilts will be distributed worldwide to people in need of a comforting blanket. Above (from left) are Dorothy Martens and Myrna Goerzen, tying a quilt together, along with Rose Heide and Hertha Penner, holding up a finished masterpiece.

PARTY IN A BUCKET – Kids had fun playing in the gym, while the slightly older folk worked away for hours on the quilts behind them last Wednesday at the Lakeview Community Church. Not everyone can fit so comfortably in a bucket.

KIM LANGEN/KILLARNEY GUIDE PHOTOS