A Quilting Bee was the place to be for 14 dedicated quilters during the past year at St. John\u2019s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Allentown.<\/p>\n
The World Piece Quilters began their project more than one year ago, says Eileen Lane, coordinator of the St. John\u2019s quilters\u2019 group. The group\u2019s name is a pun on the phrase \u201cworld peace\u201d with reference to the pieces of a quilt.<\/p>\n
The 110 quilts made by the quilters and 66 personal care kits and 68 baby care kits assembled by the volunteers went to Lutheran World Relief to address disasters in 16 nations, including the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking Lutheran World Relief Mission Quilts is a tangible way to express love to our neighbors in need. Quilts can be used as warm bedding, simple tents or floor coverings. Each one reflects God\u2019s loving presence in a world rife with suffering,\u201d states the Lutheran World Relief website.<\/p>\n
Lutheran World Relief distributed its first quilts in 1945 to families in war-torn Europe following World War II. Within a decade, the ministry was reaching around the globe to villages. An average of 300,000 quilts is given worldwide each year, according to the website.<\/p>\n
\u201cLutheran World Relief provides for people in need. Quilts are just one of those items. They also provide school kits, baby care kits, personal care kits and fabric kits,\u201d Lane says.<\/p>\n
The Rev. Brad Carroll, pastor, St. John\u2019s Lutheran Evangelical Church, Allentown, officiated at the \u201cBlessing of the Quilts and Kits\u201d during the Oct. 5 Sunday service.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Monday [Oct 6], we boxed the quilts. Kristi Smith Re\/Max Real Estate [3120 Hamilton Boulevard, Allentown] donated use of the company\u2019s box truck,\u201d says Lane.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used that truck to take not only the quilts from St. John\u2019s, but other churches in the Northeast Synod. We parked the truck at St. John\u2019s and everybody brought their boxes to us. We filled the truck.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen my husband, Michael, and I drove to Ephrata [Lancaster County]. We met up with a tractor-trailer loaded with donations from the Lower Susquehanna Synod churches. Our donations were added to the truck. We practically filled the truck.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truck went to the Lutheran World Relief warehouse in Minneapolis for processing. From Minneapolis, they go wherever needed,\u201d Lane says.<\/p>\n
Of the quilters\u2019 group, she says, \u201cWe started in October 2024 until September 2025. It\u2019s basically one-year\u2019s production. This is our fourth donation year. We started in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beverly Vos, a member of St. John\u2019s, won a quilt in a raffle. \u201cThe raffle is one of the ways that we raise money to buy batting, which goes inside the quilts. The congregation supports our quilting group through financial donations and supplies,\u201d says Lane.<\/p>\n
In starting the group, Lane says, \u201cI was recently retired and quilting is something I wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each quilt is 60 inches by 80 inches per Lutheran World Rescue specifications, Lane says.<\/p>\n
Quilts are made from cotton fabric with polyester batting. A quilt top has 48 squares sewn together in eight rows of six squares. Each square is 11 inches by 11 inches.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe sew them together with a 1\/2-inch seam for strength, compared to the standard 1\/4-inch seam used in traditional quilts,\u201d Lane says.<\/p>\n
The back of the quilt is typically a single fabric, such as a bed sheet or other large fabric, says Lane.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the quilt top, batting and quilt back are assembled into a quilt sandwich, it is tied at the corner and center of each square. Finally, the quilt is bound at the edges, which finishes the quilt,\u201d Lane says.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome are experienced quilters and some don\u2019t sew,\u201d says Lane of the quilters\u2019 group. \u201cAfter a quilt top is made we have to make a quilt sandwich and the non-sewers help with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Will the World Piece Quilters be making quilts at St. John\u2019s for next year?<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely. We\u2019ve already started,\u201d says Lane.<\/p>\n
The Quilt & Kit Ministry Guide is available at: https:\/\/lwr.org\/qkguide<\/p>\n
St. John\u2019s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Allentown, information: 610-435-1587; office@sjat.org; https:\/\/www.stjohnsallentown.org\/<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO110 quilts made by The World Piece Quilters draped on church pews in St. John\u2019s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Allentown.<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTODonated personal care kits and baby care kits displayed at St. John\u2019s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Allentown.<\/p>\n
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOThe World Piece Quilters of St. John\u2019s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Allentown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Quilting Bee was the place to be for 14 dedicated quilters during the past year at St.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28504,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-28503","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}