No, Mission—100! is not a message from NASA! It is a mission that a Marcus resident, Faith Specht was on! She wasn’t going to let the COVID-19 pandemic get her down but decided to do something to keep busy. This was when she decided to make 100 quilts to keep busy.
It was Sunday, September 18, 2022 that as we went to the Fellowship Hall at Faith Lutheran Church following church services that we saw a quilt on a table with a card that said “100” on it. It was time to inquire more about this “100”. The quilt was her accomplishment of making 100 quilts!
Gordon and Shirley Roese took 10 quilts to the Homeless & Disabled Veterans in the Sioux City Area in October of 2020.
December, 2021 Faith took 10 quilts to the Midwest Christian School at Peterson, Ia.
Then in January, 2022 Faith took 20 quilts to the Gospel Mission; 20 quilts to the Salvation Army and 10 quilts to the Soup Kitchen.
February of 2022, Faith took 10 quilts to the Orphan Grain Train in Ida grove, Ia. She sent 5 quilts with Pastor Alan Cummins to leave off at Tyson’s in Storm Lake, Ia.
She made one quilt for the Clausen family following their house fire. 12 quilts were left at Faith Lutheran Church to be given out when the need arose.
Now it is Christmas time (2021) and 5 more quilts were made. She finished with 2 quilts that were described as “personal” to accomplish her Mission—100!
I knew she had quilted years before her 100 Mission. She helped when the ladies of Faith Lutheran met once a month to make quilts many years ago. The quilts they made were sent to quilt auctions—some in our area and others as far away as Des Moines. (Getting these quilts to these auctions that were at a distance did pose a problem at times.) Now the ladies do not quilt so the aforementioned is a memory!
The quilts that Faith made for her mission were pieced squares (10 1/2”) on the front with many having a solid back. The squares were all in line with not one of them out of place! She used colorful string to tied them off. The quilts were 60” x 80”, so they were not small quilts to make the 100! The Christmas quilts came from material that Mert Hanson (from St. Paul’s at Remsen) gave to her. (Mert was a quilter that died unexpectedly just shortly after giving Faith that material.)
Not in the 100 number are the many, many quilts Faith has given to kids graduating, relatives (for no special reason), and friends well before the pandemic. She has a Picture Book of all these smaller quilts that she gave to the aforementioned.
Congratulations Faith on your Mission—100!