CUBA CITY– Stella Franck’s sewing talent is being put to good use in Cuba City. She has been donating quilts to Faith Lutheran Church for the past five years. The quilts are then shipped around the world, annually, through Lutheran World Relief. This year’s donation of nearly 130 quilts will take place in September. The church will be open to the public on Saturday, Sept. 9 from 10 a.m.-noon to view the quilts. On Sunday, Sept. 10, the quilts will be blessed during the church service and then sent to Madison, Wisconsin, before traveling around the world.
The donation is part of the God’s Work, Our Hands initiative. Peace Lutheran Church in Belmont, Wisconsin, and First English Lutheran Church in Platteville, Wisconsin, will be participating, as well. “Collaboratively, as a church, we need to do more than just be the church inside,” said Barnes. “We have to reach out to the people beyond our doors. And these quilts will mean something to them. They mean something to us here. We can talk about a lot of things that we need to do, but this is something we have to do every year.”
Both Barns and Franck are pleased these quilts will help those in need. “I always felt for people who are homeless,” said Franck.
A note is attached to a few of the quilts asking for communication from those who receive the item.
Franck makes approximately 150 quilts each year. “And, she’s gone through two sewing machines,” laughed Barnes. The church replaced one of the machines that was no longer useful.
“It’s my pastime,” said Franck.
Quilt materials are donated. “She tells us what she needs and we go out and get it,” said Barnes, noting Lands’ End has donated cases of sheets. “We’ll never be without sheets to make them with.”
Franck, a member of the Cuba City church, grew up in Oxford Junction, Iowa. She graduated from Maquoketa High School and later attended college in Dubuque, Iowa. She spent a couple years teaching at a country school, before farming with her husband. Most recently, she moved to Dubuque and then Cuba City, after the passing of her husband.
