Wrapped in comfort
Quilts made for families who have "lost so much"

By Penelope M. Carrington
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
"Copyright Richmond Times-Dispatch, used with permission."

Saturday, November 11, 2006
Edition: Final, Section: Home & Garden, Page E-1

Richard Linn lost his son, Karl, a Marine, in an ambush in Iraq thousands of miles from the Linns’ Midlothian home on Jan. 26, 2005.

More than a year later, a quilt arrived.

Infused in each stitch were the empathy and admiration of quilters determined to wrap similar Virginia families in a patchwork memorial to their fallen servicemen and women.

“It’s like my baby blanket, which my wife threw out about 10 years ago,” joked Linn in a lighter moment during a tearful first meeting with members of the Friendship Circle Quilters.

“It gave me something to hold on to.”

The quilters, whose chapter is part of the Richmond Quilters’ Guild, began the Virginia Memorial Quilt Project during the summer and, as Veterans Day approached, gathered at a member’s Midlothian home to discuss the project. Linn’s arrival was a surprise to members who hadn’t met anyone from the 22 families they’ve made quilts for.

Each of those families, plus more than 70 others on the quilters’ list, lost a loved one in Iraq or Afghanistan. “By them going over there, they made it possible for us to stay here and be free and go to our quilter’s meetings,” said project co-chairwoman Mary Biggs of Rockville. “Our lives go on like normal, but these people’s lives have been tragically interrupted by the loss of a child” or other loved one, Biggs continued. “We want to give them something to hold, cuddle and think about.”
Quilts, Richmonder Joan Farina added, “are hand-me-downs that you don’t throw away like a basket of fruit.”

One quilter usually chooses the fabrics and pattern for a quilt, and one or more members take on assembly and finishing duties, from cutting the fabric into shapes needed for the quilt’s blocks, to quilting, binding and hand-stitching the label bearing the service member’s name, age, rank, hometown and date of death. Each quilt is twin size or larger and worth about $500. But “you can’t put a price on it,” said Mechanicsville resident Lou Daniel.

“It’s just so heart-wrenching to be able to do this for a family who has lost so much,” she said. Daniel wept as she spoke - for the families and for her own firsthand experience with losing a loved one suddenly. Her granddaughter died in a car wreck eight years ago. Daniel’s daughter, Betty Jones of Beaverdam, said she made her daughter a quilt years before she died. Jones said she knows the group’s quilts aren’t the same, but the intent still counts.

“It’s just a real loving feeling to have a little something,” Jones said. Joann Holcomb, who runs the Needle and Thread Quilt Shop in Hopewell, said quilting is love. “It has to be when you’re taking fabric and cutting into tiny little pieces and then sewing them back together,” she said. Kaitlyn and Justin Edwards, ages 16 and 14, respectively, also felt compelled to volunteer with the project. The Moseley residents said their father told them about the project, which will continue as long as there are casualties. The Edwardses don’t quilt, so they help with mailings seeking donations.

“I’ve always admired how [the soldiers] are so brave and courageous and that they are able to do what they do,” said Justin Edwards. “It wasn’t something I wanted to put down or put off,” his sister said. “It just made me feel special because I was doing something to help someone else.” The group sat in rapt attention as Linn, recipient of the group’s fourth quilt, spoke about his son and his family’s loss.
“He really impressed people with the depth of his character.

He’d cheer people up by saying something silly or off the wall. He just had a way about him,” Linn said. “Even though he was 20, he had a good head and a good heart. I don’t know if I’m more proud of him or I miss him more.” Nearly everyone was speechless when Linn was done.

“Getting a thank-you face to face and... to hear his story about his wonderful child makes this even more rewarding,” Biggs said. Linn, who put the quilt in his son’s room with his medals, said he is the one who is thankful. “People have kind of appeared out of nowhere to support us,” he said. “It never ceases to surprise me that people in the area haven’t forgotten... that’s part of what keeps me going.”