- October 10, 2024
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The Quilters by the Sea donated 120 quilts for veterans at the Emery L. Bennett Veterans’ Nursing Home on Monday, Nov. 6.
It was an effort the 22-member group of local quilters began in March. The Quilters by the Sea meet every Friday at the Prince of Peace Catholic Church at 600 S. Nova Road in Ormond Beach to sew quilts for charity. Thanks to two other local guilds — Racing Fingers Quilt Guild and Friends of Jack — the quilters were able to exceed their goal of providing a lap-size quilt for each of the veterans at the nursing home.
"It's a good feeling," said Edna Sambrook, president of the Quilters by the Sea. "And I think the best thing is when we pick a person or group of persons that deliver the quilts, they actually see the people that they're giving them to."
It was Vice President Patti Paige's idea to donate quilts to veterans this year. She was happily surprised that they were able to meet their goal.
"I didn't think we were gonna do it," Paige said. "One-hundred-and-twenty is a lot."
They were blessed that other quilters in the area pitched in to make patriotic quilts, she added. All of the quilts delivered to the veterans featured the colors red, white and blue.
The Quilters by the Sea has been active since around 1999. Sophie Bastan, 93, is the group's oldest member and one of "the original girls." So was Paige.
Bastan said the group was founded thanks to a woman named Susan Greenberg who moved to the area and wanted to join a quilting group, but was unable to find one in her neighborhood.
"I've learned a lot about quilting, with all the girls that I met through quilting with the different quilting groups," Bastan said.
Sambrook joined the group in 2012 after her husband died. She wanted to give back to the community, she said.
Fellowship is also a big part of the group.
"Socializing is a very big thing and we all enjoy talking to everybody," Sambrook said. "Everybody's working on something different. A lot of the ladies will bring in their own quilts to do, whatever they're working on, as well as working on charity quilts."
To learn more about the quilters or to join the group, drop by their meetings on Friday at Prince of Peace. The group meets from 9:30 a.m. to noon in the Prince of Peace office building.
