64 Women Spend a Year Making Needlepoint

Sixty-four women of the Manti and Ephraim Stakes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made a special tour of the Manti LDS Temple the day before its open house for the public began.

The women toured the building in reverential awe--until they arrived in one special sealing room just off the entrance to the Celestial Room. There, the quiet tour participants did a strange thing. One by one, they turned the chairs over. Reverent hands fingered needlepoint diamonds of sea-green. Ninety-five pieces of exquisite needlepoint were examined in minute detail. Names on the back of the chairs were sought and noted. Then, once again, an almost-awed silence settled in for a moment.

The 64 women had spent a creating the 95-pieces of needlepoint covering the chairs and altar in the sealing room. Sixty-four pairs of hands had meticulously stitched the special design prepared by Florence Jacobsen, interior decorator for the Manti Temple.

Mrs. Jacobsen said this particular needlepoint project was unique within the church. She thanked the women who had turned her design into upholstered works of art wrought in fine Persian yarn.

Helen Dyreng, Stake Relief Society President, echoed Mrs. Jacobsen's praise. "A great deal of love, care and pride was sewn into each article by wonderfully dedicated women," she said.

Mrs. Marjorie Tibbs, Stake Homemaking Counselor, was chairman for the project. Mrs. Lily Jane Miller was project co-chairman and a supervisor. Mrs. June Cos, Manti, and Mrs. Colleen Nielson, Mrs. Bonnie Olson, and Mrs. Barbara Bailey, all of Ephraim, were project supervisors.

"As we turned the chairs over, looking for our names," said one of the needlepointers, "I thought, 'I wish my Grandma could be here to see this.' Then I realized, she probably was."

"Concern, sacrifice and a high quality of artistic handwork are the earmarks of this project," Mrs. Dyreng assured the women.

[Editor's note: The above article was printed in a newspaper. The item, as printed, was taken from a photocopy of the original article. I was unable to determine which newspaper carried the original article nor who was author of the piece.]