Senior Center Donates Quilts Of Valor

By Nancy K. Crevier

Members of the Newtown Senior Center Quilters are preparing to send out nine special quilts this week to wounded servicemen and women of the US Navy. Terry Curry, Luella Dwyer, Sylvia Krug, Marianne Posser, Ida Reiske, Doris Travis, and Newtown Senior Center Director Marilyn Place began designing and piecing together the quilts in January 2009, as part of the ongoing Quilts of Valor project the quilters support.

Quilts of Valor started in Delaware in 2003 as the project of a mother of a soldier and has spread nationwide, distributing more than 15,000 quilts to date to injured service persons as a means of honoring and giving tangible comfort to those wounded in war. Most of the recipients of Quilts of Valor are veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but quilters can donate quilts for veterans of other wars, too.

The Newtown Senior Center Quilters group is registered with the national Quilts of Valor Foundation, and each quilt is registered with the foundation as it is completed.

While many of the quilts are crafted with a red, white, and blue or other patriotic theme, some reflect outdoor and nature themes that would be of interest to those in the service. A label sewn to the back of each quilt identifies the Newtown Senior Center Quilters as the sewers and the date on which the quilt was finished, and identifies the Quilts of Valor long-arm quilter who stitched the top, filling, and back of the quilt together.

Every quilt is packed in a coordinated quilted case, also made by the group, for presentation to the recipient by the area service chaplain at its destination. The nine quilts sent out this month will be distributed at a VA hospital in Washington state, said Ms Place.

The quilts were all crafted from material donated to the Senior Center. “We’ve had wonderful donations,” said Ms Place, “but we continue to need more in order to continue our mission. Donations of 100 percent washable cotton material in colors and designs suitable for either a male or female recipient are welcome. Yardage or larger pieces of material are preferable, said the quilters, but reasonably sized scraps can also be used in a design. The quilters are in need, as well, of 100 percent cotton batting for the inner layer of the quilts. Donations can be brought to the Newtown Senior Center at 14 Riverside Road in Sandy Hook.

The Newtown Senior Center Quilters continue to welcome new members to assist in making Quilts of Valor. “You don’t have to be a quilter to join us,” said Ms Place. “We need people who can cut pieces, choose and sort the material, hand-sew the labels, and to iron. At every stage, each piece needs to be re-ironed, so we especially appreciate anyone willing to do so,” she said. The group meets every Friday morning, at 10:30, at the Newtown Senior Center. For more information, call 203-270-4310.

The nice thing about making the Quilts of Valor, said Ms Place, is the socialization that goes on as the members work together. Plus, she added, “It’s nice to give back.”