Quilts for Children
Contact: Rachel Nobel, Administrative Support Services Manager
667-2995 ext 223
racheln@childandfamilyopp.com
Date: 1/26/2010
Sedgwick - On December 10th Joan Thelwell of the Hancock County Quilters Guild visited the Child and Family Opportunities, Inc. Peninsula Early Care and Education Center in Sedgwick with a very special gift. All of the 13 pre-school aged children attending the center sat in a circle waiting in delighted anticipation to see what Joan and her fellow guild members had made for them. One by one, the children's names were called and a beautiful handmade quilt was presented to each of them. Some of the exclamations heard from the children were "Firetrucks!" "Whoa!" "There's kitties and dinosaurs and everything on it!" and "I love it!" All of the fabric used in the quilts was age appropriate, child themed, and bright and bold colors. Each quilt was personalized with the child's name.
For Joan, and the other members of the guild, the excitement and joy expressed by the children was well worth the 208 hours of work that went into making all of the quilts. In fact, this is the 3rd year that Guild has donated the resources, time, and creativity to provide quilts for the Head Start/child care at Sedgwick. This wonderful idea is actually part of a larger movement between local quilting groups, and Child and Family Opportunities' local Head Start/child care centers. Joan Thelwell had gotten the idea for making quilts for children from Judy Rittmeyer whose Stonington Quilting Group has been providing quilts for the Head Start in Stonington for over 6 years. Judy Rittmeyer shared that creating and donating quilts to the Stonington children is one of the highlights of her year. "The best part is seeing the children's faces when we come." At the Stonington Center the annual event is celebrated with a tea party with juice in china tea cups. Children who received a quilt in the past years make sure they bring them to show again.
"We really appreciate all of the time and work the Quilters Guild have devoted to creating beautiful quilts for the children at our center," shared Kate Byrne, lead teacher at the Sedgwick Center, "they have enjoyed snuggling up in their quilts to look at books and rest. All of the children were eager to show their parents, who were also very excited."
The large picture includes, From Left to Right: Brady Hutchins (3), Thomas Fowler (4), Kya Eaton (3), Jasmine Black (4), Brenden Eaton (3), Evan Hasselbrack (3), Damon Gillen (4), Rylee Dorr (3), Jordan Gove (4), and Maerea Snow (4). Not pictured: Teagan Powell (4), Joseph Snow (4), and Torrin Eaton (7).
Jordan Gove (4) from Sedwick standing in front of his beautiful quilt.
Jasmine Black (4) from Blue Hill with Joan Thelwell.
