Such a blessed person is Beth Weaver, co-founder of the Quilting Club at Calvary Budapest. The first thing I realize as she begins sharing about the club is that quilting and sharing, or better said quilting and story-telling, are inseparable, they go hand in hand.

“I’m always quilting something, I always have a piece in my bag,” she explains. And I bet she would have pulled the piece out the next second, had I not asked something that would trigger more memories and thoughts.

Beth grew up in the jungle, her parents were missionaries among the Wayana Indians of Suriname, South America.

“When I was about 12 years old, we needed some mosquito nets,” she recalls. “That was actually the first great challenge, my first design. As a child I had to sleep under a mosquito net that I never liked. I always felt claustrophobic after tucking in the net on all sides.”

Her new design became so successful that it was taken on by the whole community.

“I was about 30 when a lady in our church taught me how to quilt in the proper way,” remembers Beth. The proper way, because she was 22 when she designed her first quilt for her parents’ 25th wedding anniversary. She went to the library and read all the books about quilting. Then she made a design and sent out the 12x12 inch pieces to everyone in her family to make. As there are more than 80 missionaries in the family, she had to send the pieces around the world to many countries, from Peru to Thailand. It turned out to be a fabulous masterpiece; professional artists and embroiderers decorated the separate pieces.

“I will never forget how this whole thing got started for me,” joins in Palma, co-leader of the club. “Beth came to me and asked if I wanted to help her organize a club. I am a busy architect, so as quick as a flash I said ‘no, thank you’. In a few weeks I got a flyer from the local Cultural Centre, they were offering all kinds of courses for those interested. You have to know that I had been playing with the idea of taking a sewing course for years. So as I read through the courses I realized how much I really wanted to take part and learn quilting. I came back to Beth, a little ashamed, and asked if it was still possible to join. She just beamed with joy, and confessed that she had been praying all along for this to happen!”

Last January, 27 ladies signed up for the Calvary Chapel Club. Since they meet on Saturday afternoons, an average of 15 or 16 of them come each time. The clubs already have their own routine: a time to learn about the project, cutting time, snack and circle time for talking, sharing and praying and sewing time. Everybody brings their own sewing-machine as well as the pieces they’ve been working on. Ladies work in pairs, so beginners are always helped and encouraged in the work. New techniques challenge them all. Ladies in their 50s are very skillful and gifted; they learn quickly and pass on not only their expertise and experience, but their enthusiasm as well.

“Sometimes I feel like I'm driving from the back seat,” admits Beth. “We have ladies who learn something in the club and are ready to come and teach the same technique to others in another club. They are amazing.”

Working together brings about change. Cutting the fabric and feeling the different textures, arranging and rearranging varying colours, sewing the cut pieces into blocks and the blocks together into still larger blocks is a very satisfying experience. The sense of achievement and belonging, story-telling and fellowship - these all work together to bring healing, encouragement and answers to the questions they have in life.

Marietta Szabó

The Club meets in the KEGY church on the first Saturday of every month. Anyone is welcome to come – no previous sewing experience is necessary! To get more information, please email Pálma Kõrösi at palm@freemail.hu