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Of course, the stitching, monumental as it is, is not the full task. When the top and side bands are stitched, they are sent to Julia Rouse in Rocky Mount to be sewn into cushions.

Their plan for what?

When Troy Burton came on board as the new site manager in 2005, the stitchers introduced him to the project. Ever looking toward the future, he asked, "What's your plan for replacement?"

The man is lucky to be alive today.

The intention was to have the cushions out on permanent display. But visiting schoolchildren's inquisitive fingers usually carry the fruits of their play, and these colorful cushions are impossible not to touch.

So the cushions are stored in pillowcases and kept in acid-free boxes in the loft.

The cushions are taken out on request for weddings.

Gordon recalls a time she arrived before a wedding to have a peek at the handiwork on the pews -- and discovered that all the cushions had been turned over, brown side up. The wedding director had decided that there was too much color, or some darn thing, on the needlepointed side.

Over time, stitchers went on to new homes, both temporary and eternal, and today five stitchers remain.

"We have watched people die, we have watched people be born, married, divorced, widowed," Green says. "The thing that holds us all together is the project. We come together to stitch."

The remaining core stitchers -- Green, Gordon and Stallings, along with Sally Sandifer and Lynn Ennis, who is curator at the Gregg Gallery of Art & Design at N.C. State University -- are working to complete the final four cushions.

The general consensus?

"They'll be done when they're done," Green says.

'Stitches in Time'

To keep a record of the work, 10 years ago the stitchers designed a book titled "Stitches in Time." Modest in size at 6 inches square and 20 pages long, the beautiful little book is a marvel of detail. It gives the history of both the chapel and the project.

Gorgeous fold-out pictures depict each of the three cushions that make up each of the four triptychs, along with a diagram identifying each bit of flora and fauna with the common name and the Latin name. It records the person honored with each cushion.

Of the 500 copies printed, one remains.

And here we come to the taters of this meaty story. To help raise money to reprint the book, the Mordecai needleworkers are planning a bonanza yard sale.

Here's another reason the work has taken 23 years: Needlewomen also dally with cross stitch, knitting, crocheting, tatting, crewelwork, embroidery, quilting.

That adds up to a lot of craft supplies in the bottoms of drawers and the tops of closets.

The women are clearing it all out, to sell May 17 on the Mordecai grounds.

And when the final cushion is done, what will the women do?

Green laughs long and hard.

"I will stitch for myself," she says. "For 15 years, all I stitched for myself was Christmas ornaments for the family.

"It's been a real commitment for a lot of people," she says, "I sit in awe of the whole project."

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