On April 3, 2003, the last page of the Catholic Courier contained a promotion for the publication’s annual “Milestones” issue. Some people most likely skimmed over the advertisement without reading it, while others filled out and sent in the form it contained, asking for the names of people celebrating marriage anniversaries of 25, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70 or more years.
Mary Colasurdo, however, reacted to the ad quite differently. Instead of focusing on the information it contained, she noticed the colorful, patterned border gracing its top and bottom edges.
“I thought, ‘gee, that would make a beautiful quilt,'” said Colasurdo, a member of St. Michael’s Parish in Newark.
Colasurdo, 90, cut out the border and glued the two strips of paper side by side on a thin piece of cardboard. Using that, she made a template for a quilt, which took about three weeks to create, she said.
“There are five different pieces in that quilt. Each one had to be different,” Colasurdo said.
Once she had samples of the different pieces, she laid them out to make sure she liked how they looked before putting together one strip. From there, Colasurdo pieced the quilt together strip by strip, laying the quilt out on her bed when she was finished to get a good look at it.
After that, Colasurdo bought and added polyester fill and backing, then took it to a friend of hers to do the quilting. The whole process took about seven months, Colasurdo said.
When the quilt was finished, Colasurdo decided to donate it to the annual auction at Newark’s St. Michael’s School. Colasurdo has been quilting since 1976, and many of the quilts she’s made have benefitted either her parish or the school. The quilt she donated to the school auction last year raised $500, she said, and she is currently working on a quilt that will be donated to St. Michael’s Christmas bazaar in December.
This year’s school auction was held April 24, and the “Catholic Courier quilt,” as Colasurdo dubbed it, raised $350.
“I was happy I could help and enjoy helping,” said Colasurdo, whose children and grandchildren attended St. Michael’s School and whose great-grandson, David, is currently in fifth-grade there.
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