Arusha-Weavers Sister-Link

What a thrill! "Cultures Coming Together," a quilt made by women of Weavers Mennonite Church in Virginia with fabrics provided by Sister-Link friends in Arusha, Tanzania, sold for $4,100 U.S. at the Sept. 30-Oct. 1 Virginia Mennonite Relief Sale. The quilt in progress appeared on the cover of the March-April 2005 Timbrel (below).

The following article by Gloria Diener appeared in the relief sale program book.  A comforter also made with Arusha Sister-Link fabric appears in the Charlotte 2005 photo album. It was part of a raffle which raised funds for MW USA's International Women's Fund scholarships and Canadian Women in Mission's support for Latin American women theologians.

African Kaleidoscope: Quilted Batiks Blend Two Cultures

Mennonite traditional quilt patterns and tiny stitches emerge from Arusha traditional batik designs and bright dyes. American women from Weavers Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Va., join African women from Arusha Mennonite Church in Arusha, Tanzania, in a vision of sacrificial giving. On both continents, experience and energy sit side by side, visions mingle, and dreams stretch across an ocean. Strangers become sisters, sharing one faith, creating one quilt, contributing one gift.

"Pieces of fabric from Harrisonburg and Arusha came together to create this design," says Yvonne Martin, 44, member of the quilt committee at Weavers Mennonite Women and designer of the "African Kaleidoscope" quilt that will be sold to benefit the church in Arusha and HIV-AIDS victims in Tanzania. Yvonne is sitting on the edge of her sofa as she describes the ways in which fabric, design, and women have come together through the project. "We've become sisters," she explains.

Two years ago, the two women's groups were connected through Sister-Link, a [ministry] of Mennonite Church USA that works with Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonite Mission Network, [and other agencies] to build relationships and strengthen the global church. Edith Shenk, former associate pastor at Weavers and current church worker with MMN in Musoma, Tanzania, provided a person link between the two groups.

The relationship began with small exchanges. "We sent e-mails, prayer requests, and photos of our groups to each other," Yvonne recalls, "and we made an effort to learn to know each other by name. We also made a commitment to pray for each other." At Christmastime, the women exchanged small gifts. "We sent things like soaps and lotions," Yovnne explains, "and they sent us batiks they had designed and dyed."

There was something about holding the batiks in their hands that made the faraway friends seem like sisters, and the fabric generated an idea among the women of Weavers. They wrote their Arushan sisters and asked whether it would be possible to purchase batiks from them to create a quilt to sell and send the profits to aid the ministries of the Arusha group.

Not long after the quilt idea began to take shape, a Partners in Mission team sponsored by Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions traveled to Tanzania to do a work project. When the team, including three members from the Weavers congregation, returned home, they brought with them 15 lengths of fabric, each approximately 45" by 84", designed and dyed by the Arushan women.

"From the very beginning, our entire congregation has been involved in this project," Yvonne notes. "The team presented the fabric to our women's group during the following Sunday morning worship service, and we all experienced a holy moment."

Integrating the African fabric into one quilt posed a challenge to the Weavers women. Two experienced relief sale quilters, Brownie and Gladys Driver, asked the two younger women on the quilt committee, Yvonne and Jan Kauffman, to take on the task. "I felt uncertain," Yvonne says. "This was only the second full-sized quilt top I've ever pieced, but people cheered me all along the way." She smiles. "It especially meant a great deal to me to have Brownie and Gladys's support."

Since each of the 15 African fabrics were different, and since the patterns were "bright and busy," Yvonne asked for time to just "think about it for a while."

"I'm not naturally drawn to busy designs, and I wasn't sure I could envision something that would work well," she explains, her fingers stroking the edge of the quilt. She and Jan began the task of designing the quilt by asking "lots of people for ideas! We carried the batiks to fabric stores and looked at lots and lots of quilting magazines" in an effort to generate ideas.

Eventually the women selected a batik with a circular design for the dominant fabric, "probably because I've always had a geometrical mind," Yvonne says. "Then we chose fabrics made here in the States that would blend well with the colors in the batik. We wanted to emphasize the blending of color and design of the fabrics; our creation was a celebration of the way in which we women who have never seen each other, we felt our differences were blending in this effort."

The Africa quilt was blessed with a mini miracle during the process of its creation. Yvonne experienced a disappointment when she realized she didn't have enough of the batik she'd selected as "just right" for the inside sashing (fabric that runs just inside the outside border). She had just begun shopping for other options when Edith Shenk returned home from Musoma on a short leave.

"Edith came to our monthly sewing meeting and said, 'The women from Arusha wanted to send you one more piece of fabric.'" Yvonne's eyes grow a bit misty. "When Edith pulled the fabric out of her bag and showed it to us, I realized they'd sent a piece of fabric almost identical to the one I'd run short on.

"Really," Yvonne muses, "our interaction with the African quilt has pulled our entire congregation together. Something about its story brought experienced and inexperienced quilters together and made us all willing to give extra hours so we would have it ready in time for the sale."

Little did Yvonne know when she began working on the quilt how much the design and process, the story and the gift, would tap within her a new passion. "Quilting [for the relief sale] just catches your heart," Yvonne says, "perhaps because it's a sacrificial gift -- you give so much of your self and your time in designing and piecing and quilting.

"I believe that sacrificial gifts are the best gifts," the mother of two children continues, "because ultimately that's what Christ gave us, a sacrificial gift." She pauses for a moment, then adds, "That's something I think Christians should do -- give sacrificial gifts, until it becomes a way of life."

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We were deeply saddened by the news of the Oct. 19, 2005, robbery and beating of Arusha leader Hellen Bradburn (pictured with MW USA executive director Rhoda Keener).  Please keep her and her family in prayer.

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