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A St. Mary's tradition

The women meet twice a week through the winter quilting tops that they make individually in their homes.

The tradition was brought to the area by pioneer French, German and Polish women who not only made the quilts for their beds but sewed and stuffed the ticking. They spun the yarn and knitted the socks and sweaters for their family.

Getting together to piece and quilt a bed cover grew out of neighborhood sewing bees.

The women organized as a group about 1928 but the history of quilting for church support goes much further back. In 1989 an antique dealer presented a signature quilt to the Leelanau Historical Society Museum. The center block features an embroidered outline of St. Mary of the Assumption Church with the inscription St. Mary's Church, Provemont, Michigan  1904. (Lake Leelanau was once called Provemont) The quilt consists of 25 blocks embroidered with over 600 names.

Monks in the middle ages espoused that to work is to pray. These ladies work prayerfully and include attendance at the Mass and recitation of the rosary part of their quilting day.

Proceeds from the sale or raffle of their creations are donated to the church and school. Several quilts are on hand for the Annual Dinner and Festival in August

The St. Mary Quilters received recognition from the State of Michigan after they were commissioned by the Folklife Museum of Michigan State University to design and make a quilt to be quilted at the 1989 Festival of Michigan Folklife. The quilt was designed and appliqued by Laura Couturier and is on display in the MSU Folklife Museum.

They were the first group to be honored for perpetuating a traditional folk art. The proclamation plaque is mounted along the choir loft stairs in St. Mary of the Assumption Church.

The 1904 quilt was the incentive for our cornerstone centennial quilt of 1993. The blocks were done by several members of the parish and the names of past and present parishioners were embroidered on them.

Most recently the St. Mary Quilters were commissioned by the Gaylord Diocesan Council of Catholic Women in 1998 to assemble blocks from each parish in the Gaylord Diocese and quilt them as a part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the diocese. The finished quilt was displayed at the council's spring meeting and will be housed permanently in the diocese.

Quilts done by the St. Mary Quilters can be found throughout the United States and in some foreign countries.

If you have a quilt top you would like quilted or a special design quilt you would like the St. Mary Quilters to do for you or would just like to talk about quilting write a message to MLKsisterlu@juno.com