Quilters make comfort for those in need

Evelyn Russell doesn't know how many people are involved in an annual effort to put together dozens of quilts for the benefit of people in need, around the world and at a nearby crisis shelter.

"We've got a box in the back," Russell said, standing inside the sanctuary of Zion Lutheran Church in Grand Coulee Saturday, with 91 colorful quilts covering every available surface, anointed by sunlight coming through the colored glass.

The box collects pieces that quilters finish at home. The tops and bottoms of the quilt sandwich are then tied together by volunteers who show up from 10 a.m. to about 1 p.m. every Wednesday in January and February. They bring their own sack lunches.

"The camaraderie is wonderful," Kathy Winzer said, "and somehow everybody always finishes at 1 p.m."

"We met ladies we hadn't known before, a really great group of ladies," Russell said, noting that more of them than not don't go to Zion Lutheran. This year's effort included volunteers from Almira and Coulee City, she said.

The tying of the quilts requires the ability to reach across the quilt as it's stretched out on a frame. But those who can't do that can put together front and back pieces at home. Batting is supplied by Thrivent Choice Dollars, Russell said.

"It allows for everybody to contribute what they can," noted Judy Miles.

Although the church keeps four quilts for local needs, about half the quilts are donated to a crisis facility in Okanogan. Half go to Lutheran World Relief, which prepositions them with personal care kits in "United Nations Humanitarian Response Depots Network for rapid deployment and distribution" when needed in 35 countries around the world.

But before they get there, they are "dedicated" each year on a Saturday morning as some of the volunteers show up at the church to lay them out across the pews and almost everywhere else they find an open space.