WINCHESTER — For 17 years, the Scott County Quilters has been making blankets for the Linus Project and Passavant Area Hospital, and this year they hope to create more than 140 quilts.
Jeanine Harbison of Winchester said that last year the Scott County Quilters managed to make 140 quilts for the hospital. The group creates the quilts over three days in January and three days in February.
On Tuesday, the group had a room in the Nimrod Funk 4-H and Community Building with a good turnout of more than a dozen volunteers and club members.
“We heard about the Linus Project and so we started making a few blankets and taking them up there,” Harbison said. “Just yesterday we had 47 done. This is one of our best turnouts.”
Originally, the group made the quilts specifically for the Linus Project, an organization that makes blankets for critically ill children. However, the group discovered that the project does not provide blankets to Passavant Area Hospital, so the group shifted focus to make the blankets specifically for the Jacksonville hospital.
On Tuesday, the quilters along with volunteers set up a makeshift assembly line. Some cut the fabric, others sewed.
The amount of time it takes for each blanket varies, said Francis Brown of Winchester, but ultimately each blanket comes out looking comfy, bright and colorful. Kid-friendly materials are donated to the group who then assembles the blankets, holding onto whatever is left for next year after the job is done.
“We’ve got a lot of volunteers,” Brown said. “They’ll go to the next step and put batting in them, then somebody will sew them together, then somebody turns them, then they’re sewn again… We’re hoping for at least 140.”
Today will be the last day for the group in January, and it will be a lighter half day. However, the group is always looking for new members, volunteers who could help in February, or people looking to make donations to help get the blankets made.
The more volunteers the group can get, Harbison explained, the more blankets can be made for children.
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Those who would like to volunteer or donate colorful materials for future use can call Harbison at 217-742-9288 or Brown at 217-742-3616.
