Quilts of Valor aims to 'cover' service members, vets
WILLIAMSON COUNTY - Holding a quilting bee in a fire station may sound a bit unique, but when the Lake Egypt Fire Department offered the use of their conference room for the Quilts of Valor group, the offer was readily accepted.
Ann Collins, who lives south of Crab Orchard, is the organizer of the quilters. She emphasized that anyone who quilts or is interested in learning the art, is welcome to attend their monthly meetings, held at 10 a.m. on each second Wednesday.
Mary Helen McGeevy of the Lake of Egypt serves as the group leader.
June 12 was the introductory meeting that drew a nice crowd.
"Word gets out," said Ann, adding that there are lots of quilters out there. As they arrive, each quilter brings her own sewing machine, iron, and all the supplies they plan to use during the session,
Ann said most of the materials are donated and any one or any group wishing to donate, can call her at 618-694-7484.
Ann has been quilting, "as long as I can remember," learning from her grandmother and mother, as a very young girl. She now holds a quilting session at her home each week and has a quilting business on the side, "Nana's Sew and Such." By the way, she is the owner of seventeen sewing machines, each with a different purpose.
Her mother, Roberta Fox, of Thompsonville, is also a member of the group, and grew up quilting by hand, but has now switched over to machine quilting.
The Quilts of Valor is a nationwide organization, begun by Catherine Roberts of Seaford, Delaware. Her son, Nat, was deployed to Iraq and she had a dream about him and a comforting quilt. With that dream as her inspiration, she began the idea of awarding quilts to soldiers and veterans, calling them Quilts of Valor.
The very first one was awarded in 2003 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center to a soldier from Minnesota, who had lost his leg while serving in Iraq.
The quilting foundation grew, spreading across the country.
The Lake Egypt Quilters have awarded three Quilts of Valor already and will participate in a group presentation, to be held at the Old Soldiers and Sailors Reunion in Stonefort today (Friday, Aug. 23).
The mission statement now reads, "The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover service members and veterans, touched by war, with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor.
Said Ann, "Our group's goal is to cover every veteran from Mt. Vernon to Cairo."
She said not all presentations are made public, since some veterans request a private ceremony.
Carol Chamness, Creal Springs, another of the quilt group, said she is a beginner at quilting.
She first made a quilt, with a football theme, for her son many years ago, and hadn't quilted since.
Following retirement, she has begun again with the Lake Egypt group. "I feel that I am honoring those who have kept us free,"
To learn more, check out lequilters2019@yahoo.com.