NASHVILLE — If busy hands make a busy mind, then a quilter and turban maker from Woodbine Baptist Church, located here, has been busy for several years by surprising people in her church and community with hundreds of handmade gifts.
June Hutchison, age 80, serves as the Woman’s Missionary Union Mission Action ministry project leader and plans monthly projects for the women at Woodbine Baptist.
Hutchison, who also serves as the records secretary for the Rachel Class in Sunday School, was taught how to piece quilts at an early age by her grandmother. Over the years, she has continued her craft and gives away her handmade gifts.
Miriam Stovall, Hutchison’s Sunday School teacher, recently suggested that Hutchison’s spirit of giving was born out of the losses that June suffered in life with the deaths of family members.
Hutchison’s teenage son Steven died 42 years ago in a house fire on the same day that her father Hershel Whitfield died of cancer; her husband William died 11 years ago from cancer; her daughter Sharon Brown died three years ago from cancer; and her son-in-law Jerry Brown died of an unexpected medical condition two weeks later.
When asked how she was able to continue to be cheerful and giving after several devastating family losses, Hutchison replied, “I want to show people that you can survive and be happy with God’s help and strength.”
“Over the years, her angelic hands have crafted stunning patchwork lap and couch throw quilts for the Adult 3 and Adult 4 women and other women at Woodbine Baptist,” said Stovall.
“June has made quilts for grandchildren, great-grandchildren, a few men (like the pastor) and pets (like a grand dog.) She makes the quilts out of scraps.
“She has also made and delivered over 500 turbans for cancer patients in oncology clinics all over Nashville. The turbans are made out of donations of hat materials from Sunday School members and individuals.”
Mary Beth Walton, secretary for Woodbine Baptist, remembers the hat making began with June sewing the “Rhoda” hats to take to the office of her husband’s cancer doctor.
The hats got their name from the fashionable character of Rhoda on the former “Mary Tyler Moore” television show, “Rhoda” eventually got her own spin off television show. Hutchison remembers she saw the machine-made hats in a local department store and learned how to make the hat pattern.
“The oncologist’s office told me that they could use all the hats that I could make,” Hutchison said.
When Hutchison’s daughter became ill with cancer, June made “thank you” quilts for her daughter. “My daughter was unable to write her thank you notes so I made quilts for church members that helped us,” Hutchison added.
According to Walton, Hutchison is known for making surprise quilts for the church’s homebound members. Hutchison made a quilt for Walton’s mother and lined it with a sheet Walton had given her.
“We even had one Sunday years ago when everybody in the church brought the bright quilts that June made for everybody,” said Walton.
Hutchison remembers the day, because they gave her a birthday party before the services.
“We spread the quilts out on the pews, and all the quilt patterns were different,” noted Walton. “Her different styles of quilts reflected each person’s interest.”
