Tuesday, June 7, 2016

–Homegrown Grassroots–

Anita Smith and her group of volunteer quilters opened up their quilting circle to us last Wednesday. They were very gracious and patient in teaching our local vets children how to make quilts for our local veterans. 

Anita Smith says, "We have all been working diligently to get quilts finished to be able to present them to our local island Veterans. What is special about these quilts is how many people are involved in making them. We counted recently and there are 8 to 14 different hands that have touched these quilts. The hands have been from children and adults, some who are experienced and some who aren't. Hands have bought and donated the fabric, cut it, sewn it, pressed it, and sewn it some more to create an amazing design. From there, someone machine quilted the pieced fabric, batting, and backing together, sewed on the binding, washed the quilts when finished, made labels for each one and even created custom labels for the bags. We then find a veteran to present this handmade quilt to and they receive this amazing gift that was made with so much love and care. All these hands want that Veteran to know, that someone on the island cares that they served this country and that they want to honor them now that they are home. We are not funded by any organization to make these quilts. All the fabric, batting, and supplies have been donated. The Deer Lagoon Grange has donated the space for us to use to sew. Without these donations we could not do what we are doing right now. This is what is so amazing. this is the 'grass roots' of true Whidbey Island hearts, giving to our Veterans."

If you are interested in joining VeTSDC on our next trip to Langley, or would like to see this group come up to Oak Harbor, feel free to send us a message on Facebook, or send email requests to: Jendayi.Stafford@vetsdc.org


Anita Smith and her group are willing to come up to Oak Harbor and work with veteran kids and their families in making quilts for our local vets. The children who partook last Wednesday in Langley absolutely loved participating in this activity and VeTSDC hopes to bring this experience to more children here in Oak Harbor!
     
                                      
                          


                                                   

                                                   





                                      





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