What is hobby-volunteerism? GozAround defines hobby-volunteerism as using volunteering as an outlet for one’s talents. For many people, talents refer to a person’s artistic skills. Using artistic gifts, no matter what medium, is the perfect opportunity to give back.
The women of Trinity Lutheran Church in Spring Grove may not have been the ones to coin the term hobby-volunteerism, but these ladies have been combining their love of quilting with their desire to give back.
“We have a fun day of fellowship while making quilts that will keep people warm around the world. It makes us all feel good that we are helping people who are not so fortunate, and we have fun while doing it.” Rustad went on to share, “I would like to meet twice a month instead of just once a month.”
On the last Friday of every month, fondly known as Love Day, Trinity Lutheran ladies gather in the church basement to make quilts for Lutheran World Relief (LWR). The colorful handmade quilts are then distributed worldwide to those in need.
Church ladies from Trinity Lutheran have been getting once a month for the last 60 years. This year the ladies did not meet in April, May, June, or October because of the pandemic. Typically, they meet from January through October and take November and December off due to the holidays.
Even though the ladies could only meet six months this year instead of the usual 10 months, that did not mean they were not working on quilts during COVID-19. Even when they were able to meet, some women preferred to quilt at home during the pandemic. These ladies continued to sew quilt tops. Visiting one of the workshops to see the fabric artists in action, it was clear that each stitch is sewn with love.
A typical workday begins at 9 a.m. with a break in the morning for coffee and a lunch break at noontime, and the day wrapping up between 3 and 4 p.m. On Fridays, when the maximum number of ladies attend, they complete 22 quilts.
The ladies responsible for all this work include group organizers Carol Rustad and Mary Deters, Jacque Wennes, Yvonne Krogstad, Janice Storlie, Judy Bratland, Marian Bunge, Janet Fossum, Vivien Mathsen, Delores Jacobs, Marilyn Sylling, Judy Tollefsrud, Mary Newgaard, Naomi Pollack, Teri Holland, Bernice Glasrud, Mildred Halverson, Elaine Kjome, Darla Hunzeker, and Peggy Landsom. Special recognition to founder Barb Pitel, who passed away a couple of years ago, for her dedication and work keeping Love Day going all these years.
The ladies are incredibly organized and have their own jobs – pinning, sewing, tying, packing. Usually, there are five to six quilt frames set up. The frames are designed to fit over the chairs. Bed sheets are used for blocks or are pieced together for the back of the quilts. One of the members sews the tops together at home. The group uses mattress pads for the batting. After Luther College students move out, the college donates hundreds of mattress pads to area churches, including Trinity Lutheran. Blankets are also used in the middle of the quilts.
The finished quilts are transported in a railroad boxcar to the LWR distribution center in St. Paul.
“Today and every day, Lutheran World Relief Quilts and Kits of Care are a reminder to families that even in the midst of crisis, they are not alone,” posted on the Lutheran World Relief website, www.lwr.org.
The women are responsible for other church projects that keep them busy throughout the year. The ladies operate the Free Pantry located in the church basement. Last year the ladies donated five quilts to a Hokah family that lost their home in a fire.
Judy Bratland is in charge of organizing the schoolbags which contain donated school supplies. Each schoolbag has four 70-sheet wide- or college-ruled paper notebooks, one 30-centimeter ruler, one pencil sharpener, one blunt safety scissors, five unsharpened #2 pencils with erasers, five ballpoint pens, one box of 16 or 24 crayons, and one 2 ½” eraser. Bratland proudly explained that they packed and distributed 400 schoolbags two years ago. Last year the group distributed 600 schoolbags, and plans are to distribute 300 this year. The bags are delivered to the Lutheran World Relief in Minnesota for distribution around the world.
Deters and Rustad are also responsible for the donations to buy baby supplies for the layettes and assembling the layettes. Each layette includes two blankets (one lightweight and one heavyweight), two shirts, two sleepers, one jacket with a hood or a jacket and cap, a towel, four diapers, two individually wrapped bars of soap, and two pairs of socks. The supplies are bundled together in one of the blankets.
This past October 10, boxes containing 253 baby layettes, 60 quilts, and 356 schoolbags were delivered to Lutheran World Relief train car in La Crosse. Boxes were taken to the cities earlier in the year by Wennes when she visited her sister, explained Rustad.
The quilts, baby layettes, and schoolbags are possible because of generous donations, the church’s Women of ELCA fund the schoolbags, and Thrivent $250 community action grants purchase supplies.
Janice Storlie joined Trinity Lutheran Church after her church in Riceford closed. Storlie sewed crib quilts and quilts for grandkids and was looking for a quilting group to join. If you are a quilter or interested in quilting and your church does not have a quilting group, you are welcome to join Love Day. Contact Mary Deters at mhdeters@springgrove.coop or Carol Rustad at carustad@springgrove.coop for more information.
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