Interfaith Quilting Bee: Uniting to create gifts of hope and warmth

by Kate Ensign-Lewis, LDS Living Magazine, Jan/Feb Issue

Imagine a stake center chapel with its pews overlaid with calico and flannel pattered quilts; a cultural hall set up with fifteen quilting frames; and hundreds of women from different faiths smiling and working with the hope of making a better life for struggling families.

This is the scene of the Interfaith Quilting Bee, an annual public service project organized by the Klein Stake in southeast Texas. In 1996, the Klein Stake held their first Interfaith Quilting Bee, which was organized to include the entire community. On February 16, 2008, Klein Stake will host the 12th annual Interfaith Quilting Bee, themed “A Gift of Hope,” and will gather approximately three hundred quilt donations from surrounding congregations, local quilting groups, and even high school students. The quilts will be donated to the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN), a national organization that helps congregations come together to help homeless families attain more stable lives.

After a careful screening, IHN provides families with clean and safe overnight lodging and meals for one week, every two or three months. IHN accomplishes this feat through the generosity of host congregations of various faiths, who take turns supplying the lodging and food. The Klein Stake is a support congregation that works with an IHN host congregation, Hosanna Lutheran Church. Each family that participates in the IHN program is allowed to choose a quilt provided by the Interfaith Quilting Bee. Quilts may also be given to senior citizens in the Meals on Wheels program, patients of the Children’s Clinic, and clients served by the Family Violence Center.

Read more here >


Do you know someone who is making a difference, or have a great idea for an article? Let us know.

Submit a comment here >

Learn more about LDS Living Magazine >