Conestoga Valley townlively.com
MARCH 1, 2023
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LIX • NO 10
Quilting for dollars BY ANN MEAD ASH
n the cold of February, the women who live in the area surrounding Fairmount in Ephrata gather at the retirement community to create quilts. On Feb. 11, 14, and 15, a total of 192 quilters joined forces to work on 14 framed quilts. Over the three-day period, 11 quilts were completed and three were partly completed before being sent home with some of the quilters for finishing. The quilts will be sold at auction in the fall to benefit Fairmount residents in need. Many of the quilts were queen size, and Carol Swailes, Fairmount public relations coordinator and a quilter herself, noted that size is the most common. “There was a great representation of several popular patterns,” said Swailes, who mentioned Trip Around the World, Bargello, Log Cabin, and Kaleidoscope. “(There was) one unnamed quilt in reds and blues that has flying geese, four-patch, and stars included,” she reported. “(There
I
Many hands made light work during Fairmount’s annual Quilting Days.
were also) several quilts with embroidered and cross-stitched patches.” Many of the quilts featured embroidered patterns of flowers and birds. A hunting-themed quilt sported a photo of a family of bears on a background of woodland colors, including greens, browns, and light blues. One cream-colored quilt
was decorated with appliqued hearts, flowers, and leaves in deep greens and reds. Colors ranged from bright reds and pinks to rich cranberries and navy to subdued pastels. Quilting Days attracts many Fairmount residents and local families. Swailes noted that groups of sisters were gathered at several of the
Sisters Dolly Kauffman (back), Reba Yoder (center), and Anna Mae Eby, worked to complete a quilt top during Fairmount’s annual three-day gathering.
tables. The goal of Quilting Days is to create quilts to be sold at auction during Fairmount’s annual chicken barbecue in the fall. During 2020, Fairmount streamlined its Sharing Fund benefit by holding chicken barbecue sales off-site and moving the annual auction online. In 2021, many of the activities associated with the
event returned, but the fundraiser was held at New Covenant Mennonite Fellowship. In 2022, the auction remained at that location, and Swailes said that organizers were pleased with the move. “The new location is working out great,” she said. “There is plenty of room and easy access from Fairmount.” See Fairmount pg 4
A stitch of Whimze
Toward spiritual health BY ANN MEAD ASH
CON
BY ANN MEAD ASH
Linda Binder in the Ephrata sewing workshop where she creates Whimzes and more
When Linda Binder was growing up in Bowmansville, she learned to play the piano and the organ, and around the age of 11, she learned to sew in 4-H. Her musical talents led Linda to become the organist at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Holland for more than 40 years. The latter talent also led briefly to a job in a sewing factory, which inspired Linda to go to cosmetology school and open Studio 1 Hair and Skin Care Center in New Holland, a shop she ran for more than 30 years.
Veronica Jimenez, lay counselor, volunteer prison chaplain, and author of the Sound Mind Awareness curriculum, is known for the classes she teaches at churches and recovery houses and for her counseling ministry. Jimenez’s journey to this place, however, has been hard-won and filled with twist and turns. Originally from the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, Jimenez suffered abuse from an early age. “I learned shame and rage very early,” Jimenez recalled, noting her situation created the “perfect storm for mental
See Linda Binder pg 3
IN NEED OF FURNITURE TODAY?
illness.” “I wasn’t a healthy kid,” she said. “My heart, soul, mind, and spirit were all affected.” When Jimenez was a teenager, her anger became such an issue, she was sent to live in a girls’ home for a year. “That’s where I developed a heart for the incarcerated,” she said. Around age 11, Jimenez remembers attending a Metro World Child Sunday school run by pastor Bill Wilson. “That’s where I first heard that God has a son named Jesus who loves children,” said Jimenez, who noted that at that time the grace of God first touched her life. “I still lived in a bad environment, but I learned to pray,” she said. See Veronica Jimenez pg 2
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