God's Gifts
Piecemakers make quilts to benefit church

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
April 28, 2005

MANNING - The Piecemakers at Sacred Heart Church in Manning have been piecing together quilts to help out the parish.

The Piecemakers group has been in existence since 1988 and have made over 180 quilts over the years.

According to Helen Hiethoff, a member of the Piecemakers, a group of ladies were asked to make a quilt for the 1981 centennial for the town. She added that because of this group of ladies working together more interest grew in quilting.

In the beginning, the Piecemakers invited a woman in to teach them how to quilt - how to make a square and how to make it even on all sides.

The group sells the quilts to benefit the church and help with different projects. The group meets every Tuesday morning in the church hall to work on the quilts.

"We charge so much for each quilt that is made," said Imelda Kerkhoff, one of the Piecemakers. "The money goes back to the Sacred Heart Church in Manning."

The most recent project that the Piecemakers helped with was the purchase of a Yamaha clavanova keyboard for the choir. The group has also made quilts for organizations to use as fundraisers.

"We bought eight tables for the parish hall when we first started," said Kerkhoff.

In 1994, the Manning alumni all-school reunion committee bought fabric for the Piecemakers to make a quilt. The group made the quilt and donated the labor. In 2002 and 2004, the group donated quilts to the New Hope Village, where every other year they have a quilt sale.

Along with Hiethoff and Kerkhoff, the other members of the Piecemakers include Lila Handlos, Virginia Struve, Mil Horbach, Dolores Herbers, Rita Dentlinger, Hermanette Tank, Margaret Kroghan and Rita Stangl. At one point the group was as big as 13 but currently is down to about 10 ladies.

According to Kerkhoff, it has been pretty much the same group since the beginning. They would like to recruit new members so that the group can continue into the future.

"It is kind of a social time for us," said Hiethoff. "We are retired and enjoy being together. Quilting has been a nice outlet for us. There is also profit for the church in it. We like to give a little something extra for the church."

They have remained a group on the basis that they all enjoy each others company as well as the quilting, noted Kerkhoff.

"We all enjoy quilting," said Kerkhoff. "We always felt that when we did something, it would go back to the church."