Stitching together a thank you for veterans
Published 12:10 am Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Each quilt needs several hours of teamwork before it is ready to be given to a veteran. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
The foundation has even given some quilts to World War II veterans. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
The quilt designs can range from simple to complex. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
President Shelley Lenhausen said that the foundation personalizes each quilt for whichever branch of the military the veteran served under. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
One of the larger, longarm quilts on display during the Quilts of Valor show and tell. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
The Rowan County Quilts of Valor Freedom Piecemakers are a committed group that make quilts for local military veterans. Brad Dountz/Salisbury Post.
SALISBURY — Just because it’s the middle of summer, that doesn’t mean people aren’t making sure that deserving veterans get the chance to feel cozy all year long. Quilts of Valor is a nationwide organization whose mission is “to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing quilts.”
The Quilts of Valor Freedom Piecemakers is Rowan and Davidson counties’ local branch that meet once a month at the Christiana Lutheran Church, but act as a separate establishment. The branch formed in 2021, but the entire organization began in 2003, when founder Catherine Roberts had a dream about her son Nat, who was deployed in Iraq.
“And he was sitting on the side of his bed with his head in his hands and he was just distraught. So since she was a quilter, she came up with the idea to wrap a quilt around him for comfort,” branch president Shelley Lenhausen said. “That is our mission here, to cover every veteran in Rowan County with a quilt of valor and to thank them for their service.”
Every quilt comes at no cost to the veterans who receive them. Lenhausen says all members are each financially responsible for acquiring supplies such as fabric, labels and batting. Member Janet Oliver explains that everyone has a job for the quilts that include doing the binding or being a longarmer, which is someone who uses a longarm machine that is commissioned for larger quilts.
“It is an industrial machine, it has a larger throat plate so you can get more of the quilt in there to quilt it. There’s a huge frame, some have hand guided and some have computer generated where they program it and they quilt it,” Lenhausen said.
Oliver estimates that it takes roughly 100 combined hours to make a quilt and if a single person made one and paid for everything themselves with no outside assistance, it would cost around $400. “Since we can all do this in a combination thing and we have all volunteers doing all of this, we can do that at a lot less cost,” Oliver said. “It’s like a group effort.”
In October, the local branch will be having a “Tea Party” fundraiser, where people can attend and enjoy tea and pastries. There will be a quilt show, themed tables set up, and an opportunity to exchange donations for gifts. All proceeds go towards making quilts for veterans.
According to the Quilts of Valor Foundation’s website, over 350,000 quilts have been awarded since it got started. “We try to match the quilt with the veteran like using the Army or Navy or Air Force,” Lenhausen said. They get their veteran nominees from the Frontier Coffee Shop and a national database where a person can nominate someone if they live in a different area.
This week, the Freedom Piecemakers gave out five quilts at the Franklin Baptist Church. Lenhausen believes every ceremony they’ve had for veterans has been special for those who put in the work. “I cry at every one,” Lenhausen said.
The Quilts of Valor will welcome anyone who wishes to volunteer, whether they have sewing experience or not. The members are devoted to quilting and helping others who deserve the recognition. “We love quilt making. Some people love piecing things together. My passion is actually quilting them, but also giving back,” Lenhausen said.
A few people have veterans in their families, with Oliver and member Norma Calvo both being Army veterans. Cyndy Ward, who has a brother who served in Vietnam, emphasizes it’s the joy on the veterans’ faces when they get their quilts that makes them want to continue volunteering their time and money, no matter how much it costs them.
“It really touches the hearts of the recipients. Unless you’ve seen it, it’s hard to understand how it reaches into their soul and gives them a warm feeling to know that they’re appreciated,” Ward said.
