QUILTING GROUPS DONATE HANDIWORK

Wanda Fitzpatrick and the Sewing Ladies of Bethany Baptist Church don't brag about their handiwork. Instead, they keep watch for anyone who might need their help -- and a warm blanket.

Everything the sewing circle quilts has been donated to relief efforts through the American Red Cross, Birthright and the Safe House for Women or to the Missouri Baptist Children's Home campuses in Bridgeton and East Prairie.

"Everything we make we give away," said Fitzpatrick, who organized an effort Tuesday to donate quilts to the Red Cross.

The quilts are "utilitarian," said Fitzpatrick. But many will be used by people who have nothing else, so the intricate designs and patchwork sewing patterns don't always matter, she said.

"They've lost everything in a fire or they're just without," Fitzpatrick said.

The donated quilts likely will be used by disaster victims in Southeast Missouri, said Mary Burton, executive director of the local American Red Cross chapter.

The Red Cross gets assorted donations on a fairly frequent basis, she said. "Since we operate on a shoestring budget it helps us make those donated dollars go as far as possible," Burton said.

The ladies have "been blessed with material" that has been donated by church members or others in the community, Fitzpatrick said. "We don't take any money, not even from the church."

Earlier in the month a woman went to the church to vote in an election and saw the women sewing by hand. She went back with a sewing machine, Fitzpatrick said.

Southwestern Bell Telephone Pioneers also have donated quilts to world relief efforts through First General Baptist Church.

Dolly Jewel, a church member, said the quilts would be used "where the need is the greatest." The quilts were to be donated to Church World Service. The quilts likely can be used by tornado victims in Georgia since many will stay in the United States.

Women at the church have often quilted for the program, but this year they combined their efforts with the Pioneers group to provide quilts.

The church also participates in Blanket Sunday, which provides new blankets to people in need.