Ascension quilt ministry warms with work
Some of the volunteers with the Ascension Lutheran Church quilt ministry pose with quilts they made during a year of service. Pictured are: Front row (left to right) Kelly Martin, Diana Schalk, Holly McCaffery, Lucille Dewey and Linda Corey, back row (left to right) Cecilia West and Brigette Schultz.
Pictured are just some of the collection of quilts from a year of efforts by the volunteers at the quilting ministry at Ascension Lutheran Church.
Pictured are just some of the collection of quilts from a year of efforts by the volunteers at the quilting ministry at Ascension Lutheran Church.
Volunteers with the quilting ministry at Ascension Lutheran Church attend a blessing ceremony for the quilts made for one year's worth of efforts. Included in the ministry and in the blessing service are Dorothy Harmon, Anne Engelby, Pam Burbank, Joanne Marlow, Deanna Adams, Paula DeCarlo, Kelly Martin, Diana Schalk, Holly McCaffery, Lucille Dewey, Linda Corey, Cecilia West and Brigette Schultz.
Pictured are just some of the collection of quilts from a year of efforts by the volunteers at the quilting ministry at Ascension Lutheran Church.
OGDEN — The holidays aren’t complete without donations of more than 100 homemade quilts to various non-profit agencies from members of the Ascension Lutheran Church quilt ministry.
The ministry volunteers have worked all year for more than three decades to produce the quilts that are given out in December to those in need.
And those who perform the service say they receive more than those who are able to wrap themselves in the warmth of their work.
“That’s how God works,” said Kelly Martin, who sometimes volunteers with the ministry.
“Usually you receive more of a blessing than the people you are doing the ministry for.”
Chairwoman of the group, Diana Schalk of North Ogden, said this year the group will deliver about 120 quilts Dec. 15 to the Ogden Regional Medical Center, Boys and Girls Club, Juvenile Services and the Pregnancy Care Center.
She said quilts of various sizes, from baby quilts to full-size bed quilts, will be delivered.
“I feel it’s a very fulfilling ministry,” Schalk said, noting being able to serve people in this area.
She said at one time, some of the quilts were sent overseas with the Lutheran Aid Society but the group decided serving local residents was a better idea.
She said the ministry is open to anyone interested in helping.
“My theory is, if you can tie a knot, you can tie a quilt,” she said.
Not all who help with the ministry attend the effort at the church, Schalk said. Some sew quilt tops or complete quilt bindings at their homes.
Lucille Dewey of South Ogden headed up the group for a couple of decades.
Having just turned 90, Dewey still participates where she can.
“We had received some material,” Dewey recalls as she began to be involved in the group around three decades ago.
“Everybody took material home and made some quilts. We would meet twice a month and tie the quilts and ladies would take them home and bind them.”
And she said there has been joy in the service for all those many years.
“It was very uplifting when we would deliver these quilts to these organizations,” she said. “They were all so glad to receive the quilts.”
But Dewey said the work wasn’t always easy.
“I remember one thing, when I first started with the group, we didn’t have batting and we had to use old mattress pads,” she said.
“That was sometimes really quite an ordeal to tie through that but we made it. Lately we have been using batting and that has been a lot better.”
Area volunteers who want to join the group may do so at 9 a.m. to noon any first or third Monday in a month in the church’s fellowship hall.
The group varies from about a half dozen to a dozen volunteers and Schalk said there is much fellowshipping as the volunteers do their part.
As a means to support the church’s various ministries, members are holding a holiday bazaar, Saturday, Dec. 6, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the church located at 1105 N. Washington Blvd., just north of Harrisville Walmart.
Designed as an old-fashioned church bazaar and holiday gift-giving stop, the event includes homemade candies, nuts, bread, silent auction, handmade holiday items, jewelry, scarves, baby items, quilts, stocking stuffers, homemade all-natural dog treats and a corner cafe with pastry and coffee.
You may reach reporter JaNae Francis at 801-625-4228. Follow her on Twitter at JaNaeFrancisSE. Like her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SEJaNaeFrancis.
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