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Volunteers make quilts for children in need

Late last month, Foothills Crafts members put out a call on social media for volunteers for a community project that would soon come together one quilt square at a time. The goal, to create as many quilts as possible for the Manchester Police Department to give to a child in need during a difficult time.

“We put out a call to the police department to see if they needed quilts for kids that they have to take out of the homes or if there has been a wreck and they want one for every car,” Foothills President Cathy Green said.

That meant the Foothills members and volunteers for the day had 35 quilts to make from scratch.

“It will probably not be all day today, it will probably be an ongoing project,” Green said.

Green said the store, which is a nonprofit, received a warm response from members of the community for the project.

“We have had people donate quilts and batting and the whole bit and then all these ladies came this morning just to work on them,” she said.

Trudy Guthrie said she first heard about the quilting on Facebook along with her neighbor.

“It is a great project to start with,” she said. “It would be wonderful to have those quilts in the police cars, so I think it is a wonderful project with fun people.”

Guthrie said that despite not having any experience as a quilter, she knew there would be some way she could help out.

“They said you can iron, you can cut,” she said. “I can do all those so we are in good shape.”

The first quilt of the day was completed by Misty Lingle and Cathy Hinners. The quilt features a colorful assortment of patches ranging from alphabet letters to dolphins and soccer.

Hinners said the project was definitely something she wanted to be involved in.

“I am a retired police officer and so it kind of stuck a chord with me and just helping the little kids that need it,” she said. “We used to give out teddy bears but now we are going more towards the quilts.”