Members of the Missouri River Quilt Guild, based in Jefferson City, delivered 21 quilts for military veterans in long-term care at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital on Friday.
The 130-member nonprofit guild includes crafters of all skill levels - from beginning quilters to masters, member Suzanne Boes said.
The quilters regularly present quilts to the veterans at the hospital, she said. But they also provide quilts to new homeowners who receive their homes through River City Habitat for Humanity. They give smaller lap quilts to veterans who participate in Central Missouri Honor Flight, and they make quilts for babies in intensive care at University Hospital.
The tiny quilts cover the babies' isolettes (formerly known as incubators). They provided more than 80 of the small covers this summer, said Susan Wilson, another member of the guild.
"Those are kind of fun," Wilson said. "They cover the isolettes so they are kind of dark. The bright hospital lights are blocked."
The organization has also made quilts for the Jefferson City Rape and Abuse Crisis Service, Special Learning Center and other recipients, Boes said.
"When we sew for an organization, we meet with their representatives and find out what size quilts they want," Boes said. "VA quilts tend to be twin-size because the beds are smaller."
Susan Wilson, who is chairwoman of the guild's community service committee, said the guild has two functions - education and philanthropy. Members of the guild gather to learn more about the craft and share their experience. Each of the members makes quilts for their own purposes, but they all participate in making quilts for charitable causes.
The quilters usually purchase their own materials, batting and other supplies. Occasionally, the nonprofit steps in to help with some purchases. To do that, it has a fundraiser each year. Quilters cooperate to produce a large quilt that is to be raffled off.
This year's quilt has waited about a year to be given away. It features three flowers, geometric patterns and a flower/butterfly border, all using a sort of watercolor scheme.
Tickets to win the quilt cost $1 each or six for $5. For tickets, call Boes at 573-680-5608, Wilson at 816-646-9054 or Sharon Clark at 573-690-4815.
Clark is a liaison between the VA hospital and the guild. Working with the activities director at the hospital, she chooses quilts the veterans might like from those the guild has made and delivers them to the hospital. In the past, she would be able to take the quilts to the veterans' rooms; but, with the pandemic ongoing, she cannot enter the hospital, so she leaves them with the activities director.
"When I was there every week, I would take them about once a month," Clark said. "Because the patients change."
Some of the patients go home. Some are moved to other facilities. Some die. There is turnover, she said.
The guild has delivered quilts to the hospital since shortly after forming, Clark said, and has probably given more than 200 quilts to the veterans there.
Quilts she took to the hospital Friday ranged from patriotic quilts sporting red, white and blue designs to sports quilts featuring the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs. She took geometric quilts in muted colors and some in bold patterns. There were even a few quilts that had feminine patterns.
Clark explained the veterans at the hospital aren't all men. More and more women veterans are arriving there.
The guild really wants the veterans to use the quilts, she continued.
"We ask everyone to make them so they are washable," Clark said. "We tell the guys, 'Do not take this and put it in a box in a closet.' It does make their rooms look so much less institutional."
This story was updated at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, to fix and incorrect name.