Are they Wounded Soldier Quilts, Warrior Quilts, Soldier Quilts, or Veterans' Quilts? It doesn't matter! The ladies are supporting our service personnel!
The quilters make the tops from their stash or donated fabrics. The tops are then longarmed at Forever In Stitches and returned to the quilter to add the binding. The finished quilts are then delivered for distribution to the warriors and veterans. Each recipient chooses their own quilt.
From our involvement, it all started about five years ago when snow-bird Betty Fiser started donating quilts to the wounded service personnel at Fort Hood during her winter migration to sunny Texas. Fort Hood is the first stop for soldiers wounded abroad, hence the name "Wounded Soldiers". When the snow-bird flew North for the summer, Betty brought the bug back to her "small group" in Ohio and the Bluffton Scrap Artist Quilters Club. Quilts were delivered to Fort Hood during the next winter migration by Betty and Arlene Derringer. Then, every year when Betty winged her way back to Ohio, quilting would start anew.
From the beginning we longarmed the quilts at no cost as long as the batting and backing were purchased here. About two years ago when things were ramping up, we offered to shift gears a bit and let the club start longarming their own quilts for free under our supervision if they bought the backing and batting here. We had a training session for Arlene Garmatter and Sharon Stiles who have since quilted on Saturdays. Sometimes Ruth Grihalva kicks in too. Today, for example, Ruth and Arlene quilted 8 quilts! What a team!
Earlier this year the Bluffton Post of the American Legion made a donation to The Bluffton Scrap Artist Quilters Club to fund 20 quilts for veterans to be distributed at the Veterans Administration hospital in Dayton.
The ladies are now in quilters' heaven, busily quilting their passion! This year there will be about 50 quilts distributed between Texas and Dayton, thanks to the efforts of our quilters!
If you are interested, there are three ways you can assist:
- Attend The Bluffton Scrap Artist Quilters Club's garage sale August 18 & 19, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Heavenly Stitches, 2696 Greely Chapel Rd, Lima, Ohio. Members donate fabric, notions, books and other quilting items to the sale in addition to non-quilting items such as cookbooks. Last year they made about $300 and this year should be much more.
- The Bluffton Scrap Artists Quilters Club is happy to accept monetary or fabric donations for their Soldier Quilt Fund. If you are interested, please contact Lin Rumer at 419 358 0607.
- Join the Bluffton Scrap Artist Quilters Club. If you are interested, please contact Lin Rumer at 419 358 0607. Or, encourage your quilting organization to create soldier quilts for your local veterans.
