Thelma Childers has always enjoyed sewing. She spent years making Halloween costumes for her daughter. But it wasn’t until she retired from accounting that she caught the bug for quilting.
“Sewing gave me a creative outlet,” the Charleston resident explained. “I wandered into a quilt shop 15 years ago and the rest is history.” She jokes that as a former accountant, she counts everything. “In 15 years, I’ve made 356 quilts, and I count the number of pieces I’ve sewn too. Once I got the quilting fever, I couldn’t quit.”
“I sew every day for relaxation and I have so many quilts,” she said. Childers makes and donates one each year for the SBL Health Foundation’s Holiday Festival auction and one for her hometown library to auction. I’ve given many away to family and friends too, and they don’t need or want anymore.”
When she and her husband, Steve, learned about Sarah Bush Lincoln’s plans to build a hospice house, they were eager to get involved. “This is such an amazing addition to our community and we wanted to support it,” she said.
Childers approached the Health Foundation about making and donating lap quilts to hospice patients at Willow Breeze, Sarah Bush Lincoln’s new hospice house. “I thought quilts would be a welcoming touch for the hospice patients and something the families would keep and take home.”
Hospice Manager Jenn Roberts and Health Foundation Director Amy Card were happy to accept Childers’ generous offer. Quilters are a small community, so Childers approached fellow quilters and church quilting groups to solicit their help. So far Jan Booker and Childers have delivered six newly completed lap quilts. They want others to join in and are happy to accept knitted and crocheted lap quilts too.
Quilters are not limited by pre-determined color selections or design, but the size should be 40-inches by 65-inches. Childers has made and donated two patriotic quilts for veterans who may be at Willow Breeze as well.
Quilts will be professionally cleaned before they are distributed to hospice patients. For more information email willowbreezequilts@gmail.com. For information about Willow Breeze, contact Hospice at 1-800-454-4055.
Willow Breeze is expected to open later this fall.