Thumbstall Quilt Guild members have been making Kid Comfort Quilts. for children of the 10th Mountain Division’s deployed service men and women, almost since the program began 6 years ago. This month we received another group of pictures that we will fashion into quilts.
For this project my “kid’ is only 2-1/2 months old and has a brother who is 2 or 3. I hope these quilts can bring them some measure of comfort.
A Quilt for William
As I usually do, I went to my stash to see if there was any fabric that might be appropriate and found a half yard of Blues Clues fabric that I had used in an Ami Sims Picture Play Quilts for one my grandchildren. I had just enough to make the inside border of the Kid Comfort quilt. What a perfect find. Now to finish it – I just have to add the binding. I can hand sew the binding while watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympics tonight.
Operation Kid Comfort actually began at Fort Bragg in North Carolina in 2003. A toddler, who really was missing his deployed father, took comfort in carrying around pictures that reminded him of his father. A resourceful grandmother, Ann Flaherty, came up with the idea of putting the pictures on a quilt that he could easily keep with him both day and night.
With the help of Lynne Grates; executive director of the Fort Bragg/Pope Air Force Base, N.C., Armed Services YMCA and Clitha Mason, the arts and humanities director; Ann founded Operation Kid Comfort. Now 6 years later quilts are being made by individuals, guilds and at quilt workshops throughout the country.
This must be the 4th or 5th quilt that many of us in the guild have made for this project. I think I speak for every member when I say to military families, “We support you.”