Veterans appreciate donated quilts

Alexandra Weldon spent a recent Saturday morning helping others.

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"We're sewing quilts for the soldiers. Maybe the soldiers get cold," said Alexandra, a fifth-grader at Evans Elementary School and a member of Girl Scout Troop 20268.

Girl Scouts joined with members of Pieceful Hearts Quilt Guild at Jeff's Sewing and Vacuum on Washington Road to make quilts for veterans at the Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home.

The day was the culmination of months of preparation.

Patty Lennon, the membership director at the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia, a Scout leader and quilter, wanted to help Angie Faircloth, another quilt guild member, who has taken quilts to the nursing home for about five years.

At first, Lennon got her own troop involved, but it soon mushroomed after she mentioned it in an online quilting forum. She started creating packets filled with cloth squares and sending them to Scouts all over the world, according to Lindsey Rivers, the communications director.

The girls would stitch the patches together to form a quilt top, which members of Pieceful Hearts would finish.

For the Oct. 25 event, quilt tops had come in from Canada, Maryland, Delaware and parts of Georgia.

Three Scouts attended the quilting session at Jeff's, and six members of the guild spent their time teaching the girls how to quilt.

Pat Hinkle, a guild member, said they finished five tops that day. The goal is to donate 100 finished quilts.

Faircloth wants all of the nursing home veterans to have one of the quilts, which are made with patriotic fabrics.

Kim Morris, a quilt guild member and former employee at the Charlie Norwood Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta, said the quilts are well-loved by the nursing home veterans.

"Before I knew of the guild, I saw the veterans with their quilts. They'd bring them with them to the hospital," she said.

When staff would change the patients' bed linens, the veterans were always concerned with the quilts and would ask staff members to be careful not to take their quilts away, she said.

Faircloth said additional quilting supplies are needed. They need batting and 100 percent cotton fabric. Call Faircloth at (706) 868-5271.