It was great to see some more familiar faces this past month at our Quilting meetings which are held every Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. at Farnsworth Hall. Maxine Kusek demonstrated how to make quilt blocks called paper piecing at one of our meetings. And we will be learning more each week about other patterns and how to use them to make a beautiful, useful quilt.

I recently read a very interesting article about a lady who happens to reside in my hometown of Oelwein, Iowa. Ten years after coming to the United States from Vietnam, this lady saw her first pieced quilt and discovered a passion that turned into her life’s work. She had seen a magazine picture of a pieced quilt top and wanted to learn how to create such a beauty. After a lesson at a quilt shop, she went home and began work on her very first quilt top.

After that first quilt, her love of quilts grew. She needed to do something to help her son financially since he had started to college. She uses an applique technique that gives the quilt top raised edges. She then turned the actual quilting to her friends in the local Amish community.

She sells most of the finished quilts, sending some to other store owners to sell on consignment. She has won six best of show awards and many first place prizes at quilting shows and competition. She has found a way to turn her hobby into a moneymaking venture that allows her to contribute financially to her family.

Perhaps some of our ladies will become interested and will make a hobby into a money making venture.

We have gotten many compliments on our Half Log Cabin quilt that we made. We are selling raffle tickets so anyone who is interested in perhaps becoming the owner of this quilt may purchase one ticket for $1 or six tickets for $5. Some lucky person will win it in February when we have the drawing.

We invite any of you to come to our meetings every Monday afternoon at Farnsworth Hall at 1 p.m. Perhaps you too will become interested and will have a new hobby.

Submitted by Donna Hanson

Officers are:   President - Ruthleen McCall,   Vice President - Leona Meyer,   Secretary Treasurer - Marge Davis.