Charitable Groups Benefit From Quilts Of The Heart

By Nancy K. Crevier

Four members of a newly formed quilting group, Quilts of the Heart, are putting their hearts into creating quilts for children ages 5 to 11 at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford, and for the Quilts of Valor Foundation, which provides handmade quilts to service men and women who have been injured in war.

Jane Conroy of Trumbull, Peegee Brenton of Oxford, and Lana Patane and Debbie Delollis, both of Sandy Hook, began meeting October 1 at Newtown Quilts on South Main Street, where Ms Patane teaches quilting classes. Between them, the women have more than four decades of quilting experience.

The idea for a charitable quilt-making group was that of Ms Patane and Julie Price, owner of Newtown Quilts.

“Julie wanted to use the shop to give back to the community, and just through word of mouth the other women have joined,” said Ms Patane. Ms Delollis is a neighbor of Ms Patane’s, and Ms Brenton and Ms Conroy had taken classes from her and were excited about the opportunity to use their skills to bring joy and comfort to others.

“It’s also a nice way, in this economy, for people to break into quilting, and get some free quilting lessons and pointers, too,” said Ms Price. “That is, so long as they don’t mind leaving the fruits of their labors behind.”

The women have completed the front and back of one 58-by-72-inch quilt for the Quilts of Valor and were preparing on Wednesday, November 12, to send the quilt out to a special longarm quilter off-site. The longarm quilter stitches together the top, bottom, and filling of the quilt. The quilt will then be returned to the quilters, binding added all around the edge of the quilt, and it will be distributed through a chaplain at one of numerous Veterans Hospitals around the country.

They are already at work on two more Quilts of Valor comforters, all of which follow a patriotic red, white, and blue theme. The quilt finished earlier this month, for example, is made up of half-square triangles of various patriotic-themed fabrics paired with a star pattern fabric of red and navy backgrounds forming banners from corner to corner across the quilt.

Ms Patane and Ms Price donated the material for the quilt. The other quilts, including those for the children at The Hole in the Wall Gang, consist of scrap material purged from the women’s own private stashes, donations from community members, and from Ms Price. “It’s a great way to use leftover pieces of material,” said Ms Patane.

The only requirement for the Hole in the Wall Gang quilts, said Ms Patane, is that they be “joyful.” The two quilts that are nearly finished for the children definitely meet that requirement, with bold patterns of primary colors and cartoonlike figures dancing across the fabric selections that Ms Conroy and Ms Delollis worked diligently on piecing together and ironing this past week. “I have quilted for nearly ten years,” said Ms Conroy, “but this is really a pleasure to work on.”

Ms Delollis agreed that the Quilts of the Heart group added a new dimension to the love of quilting.

Over the next several months, said Ms Patane, Quilts of the Heart will “make as many quilts as we can.”

Quilts of the Heart volunteers meet in the shop studio at Newtown Quilts. Class space is limited, so quilters who wish to volunteer with the group should contact Julie Price at 304-2041 to reserve a place.