Shirley flipped her wig. Dora almost made everyone pee in their pants. Devoe lost it. Diann strutted her stuff. Renee led the band. Brenda kicked up her short little legs. Diane sailed away. Connie jumped up and down. Cheryl kept us all on track. And I realized something very profound last Saturday ... this lovely bunch of coconuts are all sisters of my heart.

As members of the St. Matthew's UCC's Ladies' Spring Fling committee, we try to treat ladies to an afternoon of good food and entertainment with an inspirational message at our annual event. I am blessed to work with a talented, creative and dedicated core group of gals. Each one brings her own talents to the mix. Every time we meet, the ideas just percolate and bubble up.This last year, many of our brainstorming meetings were heavily laced with recollections and memories of our mothers and grandmothers and the quilts they made. We decided to celebrate quilts and our Pennsylvania Dutch heritage. "Quilted Together in Patterns of Faith" became our theme.Our skit was titled "Quilted Dreams." Channeling the spirits of our grammies, we dressed as they did, circa 1955. You know, flowered house dresses, aprons, stockings rolled down around our ankles and gray hair.The skit began with eight friends coming to Aunt Dinah's house for a quilting bee in 1955. Having quilted together for years, they know each other's families almost as well as they know their own. They have shared all their ups and downs. They know all their hopes and dreams. Or do they?As they quilted, they talked about the dreams they may have had over the years that either became fulfilled, or not.Aunt Dinah (Connie Moretz) wanted to win Best of Show at the West End Fair for one of her quilts. We mimicked the Miss America contest … announced Aunt Dinah as Mrs. Quilter 1955, crowned her, draped her in a quilt for a robe, gave her a bouquet of bolts of material as she proudly wore a Best of Show ribbon. We sang, "There she is, Mrs. Quilter" as she paraded around the room waving and throwing kisses.Sadie (Diane Huber) dreamed of traveling around the world. Wearing a sailor hat, she "boarded" a cardboard cruise ship she had made, and as she "sailed" across the stage we sang "Sailing, sailing, over the bounding main." We held up travel posters from around the world as she sailed past us.Aggie (Diann Bittenbender) had always wanted to lead the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as the head drum major. She twirled her baton to the "Stars and Stripes Forever" in majorette boots. She got through the whole routine perfectly, only dropping her baton at the very end. Not bad for a "70-year-old grannie."Mammy May (Dora Tartar) would have liked to have been a comedian, so she gave a belly laughing stand-up comedy act.Ellie (Devoe Breinich) only wanted to be acknowledged as a good mother. Two children presented her with a HUGE softball trophy with the words, "#1 Mom" on it, gave her a bouquet of flowers, kissed her on each cheek as we sang "M-O-T-H-E-R." She said, "I always heard God had a sense of humor, but this is ridiculous," as she stood and showed she was very pregnant with a change-of-life baby.Velma (Renee Keiper) thought it would have been wonderful to have an all-girl band. She led the world renowned The Bustenhalter Maidels Band (The Girls Brassiere Band) of kazoos, washboards, soup kettle drum, wash tub bass and a pillow whacker, as we played and sang the "Schnitzelbank Song." Jennie Rose Huber was hilarious as she held up each of the items. The audience joined in the fun.Hannah (Shirley Brotzman) would have liked to own her own bakery. So assistants handed out our homemade quilt cookies to the audience. But she stole the show when she accidentally knocked her wig off and couldn't get it back on straight, and Devoe said, "Hannah, you flipped your wig." Everyone got lost in a giggling fest.Stella (Brenda Dorshimer) had a dream of being like a Rockette. We quickly changed into black-and-white costumes and did a dance routine we found on the Internet. (Look up Black and White Tights Dance and you'll see our routine. I think our Pretty Polka Prancers were way better. Well, at least funnier.)As Sarah, I wound things up saying I only ever wanted to be a good Christian, talking about how quilting is a lot like our faith in God. We finished working on a quilted wall hanging titled "Sisters of the Bible" that Brenda and Connie made and we all took a turn at hand-quilting it. I explained what the five baskets meant, and when I cut the final thread, the ladies revealed the wall hanging, which we raffled off. We closed with the Quilter's Patch Prayer.Quilts are like friends: They both give comfort.If I had one wish for women everywhere, it would be this: In this crazy quilt of life, I hope you all have, or some day find, sisters of the heart to share it with. I have.