Roses surrounded with sqares Table Runner with reversible backing: TriState Relief Sale

Roses in 3 inch Squares
Table Runner can be reversible
Binding in black and white stripes.

Size:  12 Inches x 42 Inches

Made by:  Valerie Kvamme of Pequot Lakes, MN






To be Auctioned in Live Auction in:  TBD

Date of Auction:                                 TBD

Quilt Throw: Appliqued Daisies: TriState Relief Sale

Flowers in red, green and purple are machine appliquéd.

Size:  42 inches by 30 inches

Project of:  Love Joy Piece
Made By:  Valerie Kvamme of Pequot Lakes, MN
Machine Quilted by: Jane Motzko, Browerville, MN
Funded/Donated by:  Marlys Wiens, Edina, MN

Flowers 

Quilt will be available at:  TriState Relief Sale

Live Auction Date:           July 2019

Squares and Bars: Quilt available: Throw 41" x 58" Texas Sale

Quilts will have yellow binding - it's partially attached at time of photo.

Made by Lady Bug Quilters
Machine Quilted by Jane Motzko
Donated by Marlys Wiens
Love Joy Piece - Minnesota

Rio Grande Mennonite (Texas) Relief Sale - February 10, 2018

Quilts donated through Love Joy Piece

For Details about Rio Grande Mennonite Relief Sale - 

Please see www.mcc.org/get-involved/relief-sales

Name:  African Jungle
Size:   41.5" by 41.5"

Name:  Painters on Point
Size:  34" x 46"

Made By:  Ladybug Quilters, Bloomington, MN

Quilted by:  Jane Motzko, Browerville, MN

Donated by:  Marlys Wiens, Edina, MN

Name:  Tractors
Size:    36" x 53"
Fabric:  Flannel

Made by:  Ladybug Quilters, Bloomington, MN

Name:   Log Cabin in pink and white
Size:     41" x 55"
Tied Comforter

Made by:  Ladybug Quilters, Bloomington, MN

Name:  Squares and Rectangles
Size:  43" by 60"
Machine Quilted

Made by:  Ladybug Quilters, Bloomington, MN

Peace Traveling Quilt

With the importance of Peace to MCC's story, MCC asked for a Peace Quilt.  To incorporate the vision of peace, we asked individuals around the world to make a "Peace Block".  There were no requirements on size or color, as we wanted the creator's interpretation.

Peace Quilt Blocks from donors from around the world were received and have been logged separately in the blog.

A Fiber Artist and friend, Diane Swallen, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, heard about my challenge of creating a "Peace" Quilt from a variety of artists was a challenge she wanted to talk and work through with me.  I had started the center panel with the three blocks on point.  With receiving two stained glass window doves in opposite directions, they needed to be in the center.  Working with the stained glass theme, additional sashings around the blocks with hand died Cherrywood Fabrics allowed the bright blue and yellow block to placed between the two peace doves to form a panel of three blocks on point.  To add to the global participation, the administrative staff person at the MCC office in Calcutta, India, provided the tatted objects which are in opposite directions and are appliqued to the open areas near the top.  Viewing the quilt close, the  Peace Blocks are surrounded by blue nautical fabric with oceans and directions listed on the fabric.

At this point in the making of the quilt center panel, the quilt's purpose was already in use.  The Peace Panel was requested and hung at Judson Church in Minneapolis, MN, in celebration of Peace Sunday.

From there, Diane, focused on the block above the doves with the Peace symbol of various colored hands and we surrounded them with the gold and patchwork. Placing of the various types of Peace blocks brought the theme of Peace to us as we tried to place and balance the blocks and surround them with 3 different shades of golds or the nautical blue fabric.

The Peace Quilt has been quilted by the MCC Quilt Room at the Materials Resource Center in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, under the directly of Connie Lapp.  While North American Relief Sale meetings in Pennsylvania, Connie had the quilt placed on the quilt frame for Relief Sale volunteers to participate in the process of having the quilt made ready for the Amish ladies to come and quilt.  The pictures do not include ladies quilting out of respect for the Amish faith.  Earlier that day, the room had been filed with ladies quilting.

The quilt has been bound in the gold fabric and is available by requesting from MCC office in Goshen, IN.

Blessings,
Marlys Wiens

Education Traveling Quilt Story

Education Traveling Quilt

To celebrate the Education/Global Family Program, a Traveling Quilt was made from gifts of silk scarves made from the parents of children funded by the MCC Global Family Program near Darjeeling, India. During a Learning Tour to India, a number of locations were visited and the thankful parents adorned the visitors from North America with a number of silk scarves (10 to 15) to each individual showing their appreciation for all the supporters of the MCC Education Program. It was clear that both the children and the parents understood the sharing that was being received.

(Ayesha Kader Thank you Marlys for your marvelous work on quilts - this is surely a special one for me too. I could not imagine that the yellow scarves which is called 'kha-da' a tradition to welcome guests with blessings could be used so beautifully. I will tell the project manager of Nepali Girls Social Service, Darjeeling about this and to other MCC staff. God bless.  (February 1, 2014).  Ayesha was once a participant in MCC's Global Family Program and now the Supervisor for the MCC Global Family Program in India!)

Due to the frailness of the silk scarves, strips were made of the scarves and woven into blocks for the Traveling Quilt. The strips were stitched together allowing the color of the various gold scarves to bring a beauty to the block. After visiting all the precious children, angels needed to partner with the silk blocks.

The red fabric of the Angels in the other blocks is also from India, the plain colored fabrics are donated hand died fabrics from Cherrywood Fabrics of Brainerd, Mn, and the purple fabric is “Northern Lights” purchased at a quilt store along the “North Shore” of Lake Superior in Minnesota.

The view of the Pacific Ocean - inspiration!

Due to timing issues and the need for the quilt at the Oregon MCC Relief Sale, the quilt was designed, made and quilted at Pacific Beach, Washington.  In haste to catch a plane to Seattle, the backing for the quilt had not been purchased.  As we (my cousins and others) were at the ocean to create charity quilts, Ione offered to go through her fabrics to find a backing for the MCC Global Family quilt.  When she came across a yellow fabric with the red polka dots and the name of the fabric was Joy, Love, Peace, we knew we had the backing fabric for the quilt.  It was exactly the correct yellow and red for the front of the quilt!

Oregon Relief Sale - next to the Tractor for Auction

The first Relief Sale to utilize the Global Family Quilt was Oregon!  James Wheeler, the MCC Global Family representative had the vision and together the goal was accomplished.

While the quilt was on loan to the Twin Cities MCC Relief Sale in October of 2013, Judson Memorial Baptist Church hung the quilt bringing awareness to the Relief Sale and celebration of Relief work in Thailand.

The quilt was designed and made by Marlys Wiens of Love Joy Piece, a project of the North American MCC Relief Sale Board.

NA MCC Relief Sales looks for organizations the Traveling Quilts can be used throughout the United States and Canada to promote their stories and fundraising.

Health Traveling Quilt's Story

The creation of the idea for the Health/AIDS quilt started the day after the Mennonite World Conference in Acsention, Paraguay.  One of the sessions included various denomination world leaders on a panel discussing how  they could, which included Methodists, Catholic, Lutheran and Mennonites work together around the world. The session brought an awareness of how we all live in the world and need to work together to address the needs of the world.

At the Conclusion of the conference, a Sunday, my travel partner and she was also a pastor from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, Ruth,  went for a walk on the streets of Ascension.  In Ascension, people did not travel and do things on Sunday as it is a "Day of Rest" so the streets were extremely quiet.  As we walked to observe some graffiti or a painted story on a building wall, two other young gals did the same and then they started taking pictures.  As I realized they spoke English, I offered to take a picture of them with their camera.  In response they asked where we were from and why we were in Ascension.  We had all been at the Mennonite World Conference, only they came from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.  My long time friend worked at Conrad Grabel and so I mentioned I had a friend from Waterloo.  By this time, my travel partner was realizing who we were talking with and tried to guide our conversation as the woman I was speaking to had been her child's music teacher at Conrad Grabel and Ruth respected her highly.  But I continued on putting the puzzle of friendships together as Carol told of a Professor at Conrad Grabel had encouraged her to write a song to bring awareness to the global issues surrounding AIDS.  His research had showed that every four seconds someone dies from AIDS in the world. After a sometime of encouragement by the Peace Professor at Congrad Grabel, Carol received her song with every a beat of every four seconds.  Carol Weaver and I soon realized we had the same friend, Lowell Ewert.  Ironically, Lowell and I grew up a half mile apart as children on farms near Delft, Minnesota, and through my life my nick name was "Neighbor".  How fitting that Lowell wasn't their but through friendships, a neighborhood developed their on the streets of Ascension.

During North American Relief Sale meetings in Iowa City, Barb Schrag and I sat and she had a vision for me to make a Health/AIDS quilt.  It was one of those moments when you don't say "no" as there is just an air around that I knew this was about the work of MCC and I needed to figure out how to raise funds for the children of the world who didn't have their parent(s) which meant they didn't have education and probably enough food.  So, I went back to Minneapolis with a purpose - but how?

Shortly after while at a South Minneapolis Quilters meeting, I won a door prize of fabric and was told, "If someone can figure out what to do with plain colored fabric, it's Marlys".  Yes, there was my answer and the Minnesota Shop Hop fabric had included some linear fabric for the sashings between the solid colored Kona fabrics. Due to my work schedule, quilting at home is limited and when I headed west to quilt with my cousins at the Pacific Ocean, the fabrics went in the suitcase and a pattern would be developed.  From the smaller picture above you can see the quilt started with the yellow (lighter) color at the top and the purple (heavier) colored at the bottom.  And yes, there needed to be four colors in the quilt and somehow I had envisioned an EKG on the top color (which was yellow).  That just didn't work for numerous reasons.  Then the answer came, the quilt needed to be "upside down" to symbolize the "Upside down" worlds the people live in who have lost family members from AIDS!  Once I gave the quilt the new direction, it all worked and the EKG was added with bright green bias tape.

Once Connie Lapp at the MCC Resource Center Quilt Room received the quilt, she also questioned how to have the quilt hand quilted.  They had never quilted something like this but in her search; you can see the beautiful simple hand quilting that has bound the quilt together.

The Traveling Health/AIDS Quilt is available by contacting Les Gustafson Zook a the Goshen MCC office.