By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Quilting with kindness
quilts 1
Turlock Senior Center quilting group members Carolyn Mattos and Jenifer Schaper, Covenant Care Hospice volunteer Norma Mason and quilting group member Liz Ford deliver 18 handmade quilts to Covenant Care. - photo by ANGELINA MARTIN/The Journal

The quilting group at the Turlock Senior Center made winter much warmer for those in hospice care Wednesday afternoon, when they donated 18 handcrafted quilts to Covenant Care Hospice.

It was the at the Fourth of July parade earlier this year when Covenant Care volunteer Norma Mason approached the quilting group’s booth, asking the talented group of seniors if it would be possible to create quilts for hospice care center. The quilting group has made donations to various causes in the past, said member Liz Ford, so they jumped at another opportunity to give back.

“We’ve made quilts for the Children’s Crisis Center, and last year we made a donation to fire victims, so I told her we would be more than happy to do this,” said Ford.

Ford and two other members of the quilting group, Carolyn Mattos and Jenifer Schaper, were joined by Mason over the course of four months to create the large number of blankets – all of which will come in handy for those in hospice care during the colder months, said Mason.

“Quilts are comfortable and warm, and people in hospice…their extremities get cold,” she said. “They like something to snuggle up with.”

The quilting group at the Turlock Senior Center meets once a week, and most of the time, there is plenty of fabric left over after each session. These leftover pieces of flannel, fleece and other soft fabrics were used to create the blankets for Covenant Care, said Ford, and some members, like Mattos, frequented fabric stores to scoop up what they could during money-saving sales.

From there, the process of putting the fabric together to make a quilt typically takes about five to six hours, or four to five days, depending on the complexity of the blanket’s pattern. Ford, Mattos, Schaper and Mason were able to make colorful quilts with prints that can appeal to anyone’s tastes, including a cat-themed blanket and a unique, tribal-print throw.

Mattos pointed out that perhaps the group could have made more blankets if it had more members, and encouraged other seniors in Turlock aged 50 and up to join the Turlock Senior Center.

“If we had more people, imagine the good we would be able to do,” she said.

Samantha Davis, clinical nursing supervisor at Covenant Care, expressed her gratitude to the group of women for their generous gift.

“This means so much to us,” she told the group. “We appreciate the time it took to make them and thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”