Buddy Carter settles into the seat facing the sewing machine. Turning the handwheel, he ensures the needle pierces the folded edge of the purple and blue calico fabric. He pushes the toe of his tennis shoe on the presser foot beneath the table. The needle bobs up and down, and the motor gently whirls. Though the wind howls outside and the chilled air presses against the windowpanes, a peace that passes all understanding swells within Buddy’s heart as he slowly exhales. It was in this room — in this very chair — that his wife taught him to continue her legacy.
During the entire 30 years they were married, Buddy was Shirley’s “knight in shining armor,” for it was his job to ensure that all 10 of her sewing machines were oiled and well-maintained. Shirley was a gifted seamstress with decades of experience, so Buddy had never sewn anything using one of her machines. But all of that changed when Shirley’s orthopedic doctor told her she must have shoulder replacement surgery.
“Our quilt closet at the Shelbyville First Church of the Nazarene was almost empty, and Shirley liked to have at least five quilts available at all times. She was like a backseat driver, standing behind my chair, telling me what to do,” recalled Buddy. “She had a lot of physical ailments like arthritis and underwent a shoulder and a hip replacement. But her ministry that everyone called ‘Shirley’s Quilts’ was so important that she wanted to ensure it could continue on without her.”
Decades earlier, the Carters had attended a community-wide Thanksgiving service, and Shirley saw a note posted on a message board at a neighboring church advertising a quilt ministry. Well, of course, this piqued her interest, so she jotted down the number, and that call led to the beginning of “Shirley’s Quilts.”
“Shirley was outgoing, blunt, and loved the Lord and people. She helped anyone with whatever they had going on. Her quilt ministry was a way for her to continue taking care of others, so she was passionate about it. She wasn’t able to do a lot at the church physically, but this gave her a way to stay involved, and it was something she was good at.”
The quilts created by the Carters are unique. Each has a solid white cross in the middle that stretches to all four sides. But the beauty and the time it takes to artfully design the quilts aren’t the only reasons they are so remarkable — the Carters’ entire congregation prays for each person who will receive the quilts. Before Shirley died three years ago, she had personally sewn 3,500 quilts, which were donated through her ministry.
“Our church members give the quilts to people who are sick, have a cancer diagnosis, have lost loved ones, or are struggling and need their spirit lifted. Shirley kept meticulous records of who her quilts were given to,” said Buddy. “Some of the people who received them were in Italy, Germany, Mexico, France, Canada, and all across the United States, with hundreds given out right here in Shelbyville. I can have a day where I am completely flustered with something going on, and I’ll sit down at one of her machines, and all of my worries go away. I’ve sewn several hundred quilts this way, but I’m not sure where mine have gone. Our church prays over them before they are distributed, and I’ve received several ‘thank you’ cards.”
Even though Buddy knows his congregation will pray over the quilts, he said, “I pray over them as I’m piecing them together and as I am sewing them. I pray that whoever receives them will feel a touch from the Lord, and I ask Him to help them with whatever situation they are in.”
Purchasing the cloth, thread, and batting to create thick layers can become expensive when you are sewing hundreds of quilts.
But Buddy said, “The Lord always provides. That’s how Shirley knew she was supposed to keep making them. I have at least 20 totes full of material, so I can probably make 1,000 quilts. The only thing I have to buy now is thread.”
Besides working at the soup kitchen, volunteering with the Helping Hands Ministry at his church, and serving as an elder, Buddy has begun teaching others how to sew. Soon, he plans to teach himself how to use Shirley’s embroidery machine.
Buddy is sowing seeds of encouragement with every quilt and ensuring that Shirley’s legacy continues. GN
