Lisa Hiepe pressed firmly on the pedal with her left foot. The 1955 Singer sewing machine hummed as she slipped fabric beneath the punching needle.
“My husband is a Vietnam Veteran,” she said as she crafted another breathtaking quilt. “I work my schedule around Quilts of Valor.”
She’s not the only one. Beth Hoffman, whose husband and daughter served in the military, sewed together two sides of a quilt on the other side of the room at the Happy Apple sewing shop in Oldsmar.
“It’s a way to say ‘thank you,’ ” she said.
The group of women gathers at the Happy Apple weekly, to church out beautiful quilts. The handmade pieces will be given away to men and women who have served or are currently serving in any of the branches of the United States military. The program is called Quilts of Valor.
“In 2003, a woman by the name of Catherine Roberts made her son a quilt while he was serving in Iraq,” explained Jeannie Dickson. “He loved the quilts and all his friends loved the quilt, so she started making quilts for everyone. I’ve seen grown, tough men, cry.”
Over 10,000 volunteers have helped the Quilts of Valor foundation distribute over 187,000 quilts in 15 years. The idea is to provide some warmth for the servicemen and women who kept civilians safe.
“If it wasn’t for them, would we be here sewing? Not on your life,” said Marcia Satinoff, whose family has deep military roots. “The veterans are one percent of the country and they protect the freedoms of the other 99 percent.”
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