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Retired travel guide’s quilting becomes a ministry

Fabric artist Cathy Gunstone recently made two quilts that were included with those made by the Three Tee Quilt Guild, when 100 quilts were sent from Burien to Oso after the mudslide on March 22.

Cathy Gunstone shows one of her quilts.

“We depend on our abilities and strengths from life experience to identify what brings us joy and what we are good at doing,” she said. “My creative expression and love of quilting, color and design is something I can do.  I have made it part of my ministry.”

Baptized at Fauntleroy UCC in 1944, Cathy said her father was a church architect, who designed Fauntleroy’s building. 

From her UCC roots, she spent 35 years in Presbyterian churches and returned to the UCC five years ago, joining University Congregational UCC in Seattle.

After graduating from Colorado College in drama and fine arts in 1966, she earned a master’s in outdoor education and administration in 1968 at George Williams College in Chicago.  Cathy became a camp director for the YMCA and did church youth work for five years at Lake Burien, when she came back to Seattle.

Her current interest in quilting was sparked by her work as a travel professional when Joen Wolfrom asked her to arrange travel for a cruise of quilters.

“I had no interest in quilting, but took 150 quilters on a Caribbean cruise in 1992.  The next year, they wanted to go somewhere else,” Cathy said.

After the first cruise, she was drawn to quilting when she became aware of the work of Caryl Bryer Fallert, who makes contemporary quilts with “mind-boggling designs.” 

That exposed her to a different way of looking at quilting.

“I was hooked by the colors and designs,” said Cathy, who led quilting cruises to the Mediterranean, Baltic, U.S. harbors, the Caribbean, and New England. 

She also escorted groups to China, Russia, Greece and Norway.

For information, email cgunstone@gmail.com.

 

Copyright Pacific Northwest Conference United Church News © Summer 2014

 

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