Quilting, A New Skill...

Binding, batting, feed dogs, half-square triangle... the vocabulary of quilting sounded strange to the ladies of the Naomi Center.  A team of master quilters from CBF Heartland had arrived to teach a week long workshop of quilting fundamentals.  Children ran in and out of the room as the air conditioner struggled to perform in the 97 degree heat. This did not deter the Naomi ladies who proved to be quick learners and eagerly embraced measuring, cutting, and piecing together the materials for a quilted table runner.  They learned how to put colors and prints together to coordinate a pieced top.  The week was more than quilting it was a

sharing of community as the day began with a devotion, moved to learning the basics of quilting, and sharing lunch together.  Also daily an American woman shared her faith journey through a talk show interview entitled "The Naomi Show" with the theme, "We Are Women, God Loves Us!"  Each Naomi woman was celebrated as their vibrant colored table runners were finished and a new project was started.  Some of the master seamstresses took the basic quilting skills and quickly adapted them to expand their projects into small blankets with fancy stitching.  This week was an opportunity for women from two different

cultures to bond in the togetherness women so enjoy. It has helped the Naomi women to expand their skill levels to aid in their abilities to support their families.  It was jokingly said, "The Naomi Center can become the go-to place for quilted products in Romania."  While that can be a goal for the future, the present day goal of helping women to know God loves them for who they are was certainly fulfilled. 

Now, who needs a quilted table runner?  We have some beautiful ones!