Small Town News

Quail Country Quilters donate quilts for charities

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A lot of people have closets full of quits and blankets that sit around collecting dust.

But there's plenty of people throughout the Verde Valley and Central Arizona that aren't taking them for granted this year.

There's a group of ladies in the Verde Valley that love to quilt. They've been doing it for more than three decades collectively as members of the Quail Country Quilters, but while they love to quilt, they also love to help others.

This year, as they do every year, members of the group have been working hard to create special quilts to give to charity groups.

These dedicated crafters created more than 30 quilts of many different colors and patterns. They were split up among the Light Heart Foundation, a charity which looks after the elderly in assisted living homes; the Verde Valley Sanctuary, a shelter for abused women and children; and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The group didn't have far to go since it holds most of its regular meetings in the VFW post in Cottonwood; the group took the quilts to injured servicemen and women at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Prescott.

Like many transplants to the

Verde Valley that had taken up quilting as a hobby, Fey Celmer found Quail Country a welcoming group of folks with similar interests. With nearly 100 members throughout the Verde Valley, Celmer said that the regular meetings are a wonderful way to learn different techniques for quilting and to share ideas.

"I decided this was something that I wanted to get involved in," Celmer said.

While learning new things about the hobby is nice, the Christmas charity quilts are truly a labor of love, said Carolyn Hounshell, a member who joined the group shortly after moving to Cottonwood three years ago.

A quilt may seem like a small thing, but it can make all the difference to someone who wasn't expecting it, Hounshell said.

"It's almost like a security blanket," Hounshell said. "When they get it they feel like they've been wrapped in love ... they can feel the love we've put into it."

VFW Post 7400 Commander Don Finney can vouch for how appreciative the patients at the VA hospital are for the quilts.

"[The quilters] are a great bunch of ladies," Finney said. "They always manage to give us some [quilts] to take down there."

"We do it for all of them," Hounshell said. "For the guys coming home in wheelchairs ... we want them to know that somebody cares about them instead of just ignoring them."

For those interested in possibly quilting with the group, there's no super secret initiation. Celmer said the group's regular meetings are always open to guests. The group meets on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at the VFW Post on Aspen Street in Cottonwood. A few members in Camp Verde also often get together for informal quilting gatherings when there's no official meeting.

There's often special guests brought in to talk about different aspects of the world of quilting, professional and amateur.

Recently the group was visited by Pat Knoechel, sister of Eleanor Burns, a household name in quilting circles. From appreciation of the art to learning the applications of different fabrics and patterns, Celmer said the group always tries to keep things varied and interesting. And it's not all quilts, all the time. At the next meeting, the group plans to learn how to make jackets out of otherwise boring sweatshirts, Celmer said.

"It keeps us busy," Hounshell said.

The next meeting is set for 9:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 14 at the VFW in Cottonwood, 705 E. Aspen Street.



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© 2010 Cottonwood Journal Extra Cottonwood, Arizona. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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