Stitch perfect: Creative Hearts Ministry

They “sew like the wind” at Creative Hearts Ministry in Marble Falls, says program founder Mojo Cornelius. About 25 to 30 women show up at the Mission Center in Marble Falls every Tuesday to sort, stuff, piece, cut, iron, count, coordinate, collaborate, and sew in community for community. 

“If you need it and we can make it, we sew it,” Cornelius said. “We have the resources and skill set to do it, so we’re sure going to try.” 

Creative Hearts began in 2006 as a First Baptist Church of Marble Falls ministry, sewing quilts for wounded warriors. Members worked in the fellowship hall at the old church at 501 12th St., which was recently razed. At the end of each day, they had to take down the tables and sewing machines. 

“All we had was a little closet about this size when we first started,” said Shirley Beaussire, stretching her arms out wide. “We brought our own machines and irons. We had one small table and zero material.” 

A year and a half ago, the ministry moved into the Mission Center, 408 Avenue R, where it occupies two large rooms and the hallway on the second floor. The production room alone is a vast expanse that is hard for a new visitor to take in at a glance. 

Rows of sewing machines fill the center of the room. Tables stacked with fabric and sewing notions, irons, ironing boards, cutting boards, project tables, and shelves of sorted fabric line the outer walls. The place hums with activity, conversation, and laughter. Every person a volunteer, every one with a specific job to do.

“One of our volunteers picks the scriptures we attach to everything we make,” said Lisa Bogan, one of the main organizers of the controlled chaos. “We even pick up every scrap of material, every loose thread, and stuff it into bags to make dog beds for the Humane Society.”

The scope of projects and the number of items needed boggles the mind of the uninitiated. Every year, the group tackles a major project for Operation Christmas Box. This year, volunteers are sewing 3,000 pillowcase dresses: 1,000 each in three sizes. They are also sewing 1,000 eyeglass cases that Bogan will take on a mission trip to Honduras from April 25 to May 2.

The trip is a partnership between First Baptist Church and Sight Ministries International to provide eyeglasses and cases around the world.

“Each glasses case will have a scripture: ‘For we live by faith, not by sight’ (2 Corinthians 5:7*),” Bogan said. “We try to have scripture on everything that goes out the door.” 

They provide quilts and neck pillows for Central Texas Veterans Affairs medical centers. Six hundred neck pillows were recently donated.

“Mojo and I had to rent a trailer to get those neck pillows to the VA last December,” Bogan said. “We had 73 lap robes, too. That’s after all the pillows and robes we gave to area nursing homes for their residents.”

Not all the sewing happens at the Mission Center. Some people take kits to sew at home. They bring in the finished product, and Bogan counts them and stores them, ready for distribution. As of March 10, she counted 725 finished eyeglass cases. 

“We should have no problem making our goal of 1,000 by April 23,” she said. “Once the glass cases are done, many of us who have been focusing on that first deadline will shift to working on the pillowcase dresses. We have until November to finish those.” 

Not all of the volunteers came in knowing how to sew. Some learned along the way. Others, even those who can sew, choose to do other tasks, and there are plenty of them.

Tables set up around the edge of the massive room support teams with different duties. At one table, Margaret Willis, who has been with the project since the beginning, 19 years ago, leads a group that sorts and stores donated fabrics and sewing notions.

“We never know what’s going to come in,” Willis said. “It’s like Christmas every Tuesday.” 

Brenda Ortiz came to Creative Hearts Ministry after moving to Marble Falls to live with her daughter. 

“I had to leave all my friends behind,” she said. “I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ I called around and found Mojo. It’s been six years now.” 

Ortiz suffered a bad fall after becoming a volunteer and was unable to participate for a while.

“I was paralyzed, and Connie (Stringer) said to me, ‘We’ll find you something to do until you get better,’” Ortiz said. “The people here, they make you want to come back day after day. They live it, they don’t preach it. They live it.” 

From a rocking chair by a corner window, Ortiz crochets borders around the edges of fleece blankets for neonatal patients. She usually has three or four women helping her, but they have been enlisted to sew eyeglass cases and pillowcase dresses. 

The biggest deadlines come at the end of each year as they prepare items for Operation Christmas Child boxes. Past boxes included jump ropes made from T-shirts, flannel hearts with “Jesus Loves You” on them, pencil pouches, crocheted flying discs, stuffed animals, fabric dolls, blankets, and tote bags. This year, Operation Christmas Child asked for pillowcase dresses. 

“They call them pillowcase dresses because, way back, people used pillowcases to make them,” Bogan said. 

Bogan has been a volunteer for four and a half years. She takes photos each Tuesday and posts them on the Creative Hearts Ministry Facebook page. 

“When I first started, I thought I would stuff dog beds and neck pillows,” she said. “Then, I started to sew simple things. Now, I consider myself a go-fer. If you need it, I go for it.”

“She’s a workhorse!” Willis said. “We couldn’t do it without her.” 

Everyone comes for a different reason. Beaussire, who has been there since the beginning, came because of the Wounded Warrior Quilt Project. 

“I had four brothers in the military with a total of 71 years of service between them,” she said. “I really wanted to be part of that because they all got to come back. That project meant a lot to me.” 

Anna Freeman (no relation to this writer) has only been coming for a year. Originally from Argentina, she moved to Kingsland 35 years ago. 

“I like to sew, and I like to quilt,” she said. “I like to do something for people. This is a good place with good people.”

Nell Thorp is another newbie with a year and a half on the books. 

“I heard about this and thought I’d give it a try,” she said. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.” 

Frances Najera of Granite Shoals is even greener. She came on board earlier this year and started crocheting “in the corner with Brenda (Ortiz).”

“I wanted to learn how to sew,” she said. “They taught me. My passion is to learn how to quilt.” 

While Thorp attends First Baptist Church, Freeman, Ortiz, Najera, and several others do not. Church is not a prerequisite to volunteer with Creative Hearts Ministry.

“Anybody who would like to help can,” Bogan said. “If they don’t know how to sew, we will help them learn. Or, there are other things to do. Some of those who can sew don’t. They help sort, cut, iron, count, whatever we need.”

One current need is someone to teach others how to use the longarm, a large machine that stitches the front of a pieced quilt to its batting and its back fabric.

While some bring their own sewing machines or leave their equipment at the center, Creative Hearts Ministry has purchased additional machines for anyone to use. Stringer makes pieced machine covers for each, some of them based on the personality of the volunteer who uses it most. 

“I’m a retired sailor,” Bogan said. “Connie made one for me that is red, white, and blue.” 

Churches from across the state often visit to learn about the ministry and explore setting up similar programs of their own. 

“We had three come through last year,” Bogan said. “We always send them off with four totes of materials. One blue, one red, one green, and one yellow. We don’t want them to have to start out like we did with nothing.” 

Every November, the group holds a sale of items that have not been given away. The money pays for materials that are not donated, such as batting, polyfil, and specialty sewing notions, including die-cut machines and even sewing machines. They also hold a silent auction for quilts.

The heart of Creative Hearts is not about raising money. The point is to create useful items from donated materials to give to people who need them. Maximizing materials and time takes teamwork and a shared purpose. Teams are set up to cut, piece, sew, finish edges, iron, stack, count, and distribute. 

“We have a lot of hands touching this stuff,” Bogan said. “Our time is donated to be a blessing to others.” 

To donate fabric, yarn, notions, or time to the Creative Hearts Ministry, show up on any given Tuesday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and someone will get you started.

* The scripture on each of the eyeglass cases is written in Spanish: “En efecto, vivamos por fe, no por vista. (2 Corintios 5:7) 

suzanne@thepicayune.com