SHOHOLA – Pictures do not do it justice!
That is how parishioners of Saint Ann Parish in Pike County describe a family quilt just been completed after nearly one year of work.
“It’s awe-inspiring when you look at it,” parishioner Christine Cancemi said. “It was just a great project to do. It was a lot of fun.”
The quilt project began in September 2022 when the parish held a fall Intergenerational Session. The session focused on Church as family and concluded with each family being given a quilt square to decorate however they wished in a way that would represent them.
Squares were also given out after all Masses in an effort to include everyone in the parish. All of the squares were collected at the end of November.
“The individual squares were amazing. The artistry, the magic, it just all came together,” Cancemi explained.
Cancemi led a group of eight women who spent the next five months planning, designing the layout, ironing, embroidering, quilting, sewing, binding, pinning, praying, and stitching the quilt together.
The other members of the Walker Lake Woman’s Club participating in the project are Karen Batalin, Linda Dubowski, Rita Furno, Jean Gannon, Maryann Muschlite, Pat Sheppard and Kathy Weber.
Drawing on a shared belief in faith and community, they designed a quilt rich in sacred symbols and even included several blank squares that can be decorated by new parishioners or anyone who missed the first opportunity to create their square.
“It was stunning. There are no words to describe it. When I took it up to the rectory office, we laid it on the table and just stood there. It was absolutely amazing how the whole thing came together,” Cancemi added.
In May, the parish held its spring Intergenerational Session, where the faithful continued to focus on Church as family with more reflections and readings. The session concluded with the unveiling of the Saint Ann Family Quilt.
The quilt measures approximately seven feet by nearly 18 feet (84” x 215”). The bright, colorful squares, which are all so different, symbolize how the church family is composed of unique, dynamic, individual families coming together to make one beautiful union to glorify God.
The quilt now hangs in the church as a visible sign of the unity and diversity of the Saint Ann Parish family.