Area quilters answer call to Red, White and Blue Challenge

(Photo contributed) Della Brouillette of Le Mars displays the quilt constructed by Shirley Hettwer for the local Red, White and Blue Challenge, with Karla Less looking on. Local quilters constructed 30 quilt tops to be sent to the American Hero Quilts project in Vashon, Wash. [Click to enlarge]

Local quilters will provide 30 injured military service men and women "hugs" as part of the Red, White and Blue Challenge's American Hero Quilts project.

Becky Wiersma, of Le Mars, learned of the project -- providing quilts for injured soldiers at Fort Lewis' Madigan Army Medical Hospital in Washington state and other military hospitals -- through quilting friends on the Internet.

The quilt donations were started by a woman and her quilting group in Vashon, Wash., in 2004.

Saturday, several of the local quilters gathered at the Le Mars Arts Center to see the finished products.

Area quilters taking part in the project are:

From Le Mars - Shirley Hettwer, Sandi Reiber, Diane Jones, Gracie Holtgrewe, Jackie McMillan, Carol Weidauer, Ruth Barker, Della Brouillette, Pat French, Terri Schroeder and Becky Wiersma; from Remsen - Myrt Hansen; from Merrill - Diana Clark, Marlys Britton, Karla Less; from Akron - Linda Popken; from Hinton - Janet Wiener; and from Hawarden, Gerry Day.

Two members of the local Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) organization, Peggy Powell and Myna Byrd also attended the Saturday showing. The DAR provided donated red, white and blue fabric for the project. Other fabric was donated by Jane Vincent of Unique Fabrique in Le Mars.

Karla Less, of rural Merrill, read about the project in March and the destination of Madigan Army Medical Hospital in Washington state.

"My daughter Dena (Bridgford) was stationed in Seattle at the hospital," Less said. "It caught my attention and I decided it was something I wanted to participate in."

Less, who took up quilting a few years ago, found a star quilt block among her patterns and took off.

"I liked the pattern," she said of her completed quilt top.

She was one of the few quilters able to attend Saturday's viewing of the quilt tops.

"It was just fun to see all the different ideas for quilts. Each one was great to look at," Less said.

"I'm sure the recipients will enjoy them," she added.

"I love to quilt," she said. "That's what I do when I probably should be doing something else."

Della Brouillette, of Le Mars, is more comfortable operating her long-arm quilting machine than putting a quilt top together, but when her friend Becky Wiersma asked for volunteers, she knew she'd be making a quilt top.

"Becky and I often work together on quilt projects," Brouillette said, giving the example of the annual Life Skills Auction. "She puts it together and I quilt it. My speciality is not setting squares and triangles together."

She made an exception for this project. Brouillette made a simple quilt for the Red, White and Blue Challenge using 20 fat quarters. (A fat quarter is a piece of fabric 18x22 inches in size, or a quarter yard of material.)

"Everyone was so interested in doing the quilts for the service men and women because they do so much for us," said Brouillette said.

Quilting for her family has kept Diane Jones busy. she took on the project as a challenge for herself and found most of her fabric in her collection at home.

"It was a bit of a challenge because I not done a quilt with red, white and blue fabric before," Jones said.

"I really enjoyed doing it. The challenge was getting a quilt top done in a short period of time," she said. "Since it was going to veterans, that made it kind of special for me."

"I think our service men and women really do a lot for us and this is just a small way to pay them back," she added.

"Once you start quilting, you get hooked," Jones said. "My husband can't understand why I cut the fabric apart and then sew it back together again."

"Sometimes the quilt colors give it pizazz, and sometimes its just ok. These quilts are something from the heart," Jones said.

The quilt tops will be sent to American Hero Quilts where they will be quilted and prepared for donation to the service men and women recovering from injuries

"Each quilt sent to American Hero Quilts represents hours of love and shows the recipient that Americans do care about their sacrifices. These gifts go a long way towards helping heal and are a great way to show our appreciation. Even one quilt makes a difference," said Wiersma.

"The group that met Saturday took more fabric to make quilts and plan to get together again on Sept. 22," Wiersma added.

Wiersma added the American Hero Quilts group sends out about 125 quilts each month to service men and women not only at Madigan Army Medical Hospital but also other military hospitals.

"Thanks so much for giving a wound service man or woman a hug when they really need it," the organizers wrote in an e-mail to Wiersma.

The local DAR group is also challenging other quilters across Iowa to get involved in the project.