For Susan Heidtke, quilting literally runs in her blood.
A lifelong member of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Jackson, Wisconsin, she is carrying on a tradition three generations strong. Susan’s mother Janet sewed with St. John’s after she was married, and her grandmother before her, Louise Hill, sewed with Hephatha Lutheran Church in Milwaukee.
For as long as she can remember, someone in her family was sewing, and usually for Lutheran World Relief.
Louise Hill (left) was a quilter for LWR and passed on the tradition to her daughter Janet who in turn shared it with her daughter Susan. (Susan and Janet in right photo).
Three generations of steadfast support
“I remember going to my grandmother’s house and she always working on a quilt, always making doll dresses for me,” Susan says. When Louise couldn’t sew anymore with her sewing group, her daughter Janet started with her own church, and then five years ago, Susan.
During COVID lockdown, Susan discovered a quilt top that her grandmother had started, all sewn by hand. After her grandmother had gotten sick and couldn't finish it, her mother sewed on it as well. It was still not completed when Susan found it.
“I also found the small squares that my mother and grandmother had cut and used, and I finished it,” Susan says of her now prize possession — a lap quilt sewn by three generations of women.
Susan Heidtke’s three-generation quilt.
Susan lives in her childhood home and the family farm, a stone’s throw from St. John’s. Every other Monday, she gathers at church for quilting and fellowship.
Like their members, St. John’s has a rich history of partnership with LWR. Founded more than 160 years ago, they began supporting LWR through clothing and donation drives in the 1960s. Susan recently found some old church records and was astonished at what she found, including a donation receipt showing a $40 gift to LWR in 1983. In addition to the church's quilting group, the congregation makes about 50 Personal Care Kits a year.
Love of others brings service with fellowship
Susan speaks as much about the benefits of fellowship that she’s received since joining the church’s quilting group as the service they are providing to others. One member, Arleen Ziemer served as a true inspiration for the group, making nearly 100 quilts a year by herself alone. She passed away last year at the age of 98.
Quilts from St. John’s members ready for blessings.
In her group, everyone does something a little different. Some cut squares, some lay them. Some handle knotting, her friends Barbara and Beth do a lot of sandwiching and binding. Susan calls herself the “ironing girl.”
“Our group makes around 75-150 quilts a year and we have some extraordinary members who love to serve," Susan says. “It’s a wonderful fellowship opportunity and we’re helping others."
“And when you think that ordinary fabric of all different sizes and shapes can create these beautiful patterns and be sewn into these gifts of love for people dealing with loss all over the world, it’s very touching,” she continues. “The quilts that went to the ship in Baltimore, for instance. We see that we can help people locally too.”
Loving God by loving your neighbors
Every morning Susan reflects on a Bible verse, one of her mother’s favorites.
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23 NRSV)
"I think it says a lot about LWR and the work you’re doing and the help we’re giving you through quilts and kits,” she says.
Another favorite is Matthew 22: 37-39. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
The quilters of St. John’s are doing just that.
“I think my mother and grandmother would be very pleased that I’m continuing the tradition,” Susan says. “They would be touched that I like to do it and happy that I’m serving others.”
