quilts

“I am a ‘Martha.’ I am not someone who gets up in front of people and makes a big deal of my faith,” explains Ruby Nelson. “I prefer to help, to be in the background. I will let others do the work in front of people.” Ruby recalls, “My mother was a preacher’s kid. She had a very quiet and deep faith. It was more like a river than a storm. I guess I followed in her footsteps.”

Ruby is a long-time member of Christ the King. “When our family moved to West Chester in 1974 we were looking for a Lutheran church near our new house. We found this community worshipping in a school and felt an instant connection. People were welcoming and kind and they had kids the same ages as ours. We had no family nearby; Christ the King became our chosen family.”

“I was very busy with my vending business, and when my husband Gaylord and I sold it and retired in 1992, I was looking forward to giving more of myself to Christ the King.” Ruby was invited by Adele Gims to start a quilting circle at the church. “Adele’s mom had a saying - 'You have to help yourself to take care of others.' I was helping myself and taking care of others by making friends and making quilts. In the beginning, we only made thirty quilts a year. Now we make over 100 each year. We send 60 quilts to Lutheran World Relief, and the remaining quilts are given away locally. We are proud of what we do.”

​Ruby continues to sew quilts with the Mary Martha circle on Tuesdays. “We always think about who is going to get these quilts and how they will be blessed by them while we are sewing. It feels really good to share our faith in this way.”