Quilters Make Donations - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Quilters Make Donations

They've been spreading North Dakota warmth around the world for years.

And just recently, the Oak Valley Quilters of Velva made a donation that's actually helping them continue their philanthropy.

Jim Olson reports on the men and women who donate their time to keep others comfy.

There are many steps to produce a quality quilt. Ironing.

"I iron everything that I cut."

Selecting.

"I just take what is there and make it into as nice a design as I can."

Sewing.

Pinning.

"I pin the edges so they're ready for sewing."

And so much more.

And for this group of women - and men - it's a labor of love.

(Donna Holte, Oak Valley Quilters) "They've gone to Hurricane Katrina, to Haiti when they had problems, we also give them locally - last year to the flood and the homeless and domestic violence."

Many people in need have received quilts prepared by the Oak Valley Quilters. They meet in the Velva Oak Valley Lutheran Church every Monday to ply their trade. And these days, they're using some special material to provide the backing for their quilts. Bedspreads.

(Donna Holte, Oak Valley Quilters) "They needed new bedspreads."

"They" are the residents at Velva's Souris Valley Care Center. The quitters decided to donate thousands of dollars to buy dozens of new bedspreads for the care center. And then one of the quilters realized the old spreads still had life left in them.

(Donna Holte, Oak Valley Quilters) "Don't throw the old bedspreads away because we can use them in our quilting. That's what they did, they got the new bedspreads, and they boxed up the old ones and brought them down to us and that's what we're using on the backs of our quilts."

And so now, every Monday, the quilts being created here have a special connection - to the care center that was both the recipient of the group's philanthropy, and the provider of a key part of new quilts.

(Kaylene Kitelinger, Souris Valley Care Center Administrator) "It's nice - the community giving to us and we're giving back to them. And it gets spread out even across the world."

(Donna Holte, Oak Valley Quilters) "We have quilt tops of every color of the rainbow so we can pretty much match up and make some pretty nice quilts out of them and they're nice and warm because the bedspreads are quilted."

Nice and warm for whomever might receive these made-with-love pieces of prairie art from the heart of North Dakota. In Velva, Jim Olson, KX News.