More than 50 women recently attended the Quilt-A-Rama hosted by St. Mary Help of Christians Ladies Sodality in Chester.
The purpose of the get-together was Christian fellowship, fun and hand quilting. A total of six quilts were ready in the frames to be stitched.
Most of the women learned from mothers and grandmothers how to quilt. Dorothy Decker of Chester remembered her Grandma Prescher hosting a Bee in her home close to Renault, Illinois, when she was a toddler. Rosemary Bert also recalled memories of her grandmother using a pulley system to hoist the quilt to the ceiling to have room for the family in the evening. Janet Vasquez remembers being scolded at the Ebenazer Church for running under the quilting frames when she was three.
A home-cooked pot luck was served at the event. In particular, Linda Carter made dumplings and the women of the parish made all the trimmings and desserts. Additionally attendance prizes were awarded to all.
The event began a few years ago when the Waterloo parish invited St. Mary's ladies to a quilt-a-rama. In addition to Mary's, other churches represented were St. John, Bremen; St. John Lutheran, Chester; St. Michaels, Paderborn; St. John the Baptist, Red Bud; Immaculate Conception, Columbia; Pleasant Ridge, Rockwood; and St. Rosa of Lima, Silver Lake, Mo.
Anyone interested in learning or participating in the art of quilting can contact any of the churches.
The next quilt-a-rama will be at Ss. Peter and Paul in Waterloo on June 26. Contact their parish office if interested in attending.
