Barnsdall Quilters Welcome Soldiers Home With Comfort

What could be more comforting than a comforter? That's the idea of a group called "Quilts of Valor."

They make quilts for returning soldiers.

The quilters meet once a week, and they've produced hundreds of quilts. They say it's something they can do to say thanks from the Homefront.

The ladies in Quilt of Valor get together every week to make quilts. They share good conversation, companionship and comfort.

"We want to comfort our soldiers that are coming back," said Jody Bracken.

Jody Bracken leads a group of three dozen quilters who meet once a week. Since they started back in the summer of 2010, they've produced 255 quilts for soldiers coming home.

"We quilt to honor people that are serving us," she said.

Quilts of Valor from the Heartland is the Oklahoma chapter of the national Quilts of Valor organization. The quilts they make go to the Combat Veterans Center in Tulsa and some to the 45th in Oklahoma City.

"We put a label on each one and a letter inside to tell them we meet each week to tell them thank you," Jody said.

Her favorite response was one addressed to "dear quilting ladies." She said it's easy to learn -- even I could do it, she said.

I'm not so sure..

"The hard part is making sure you have all the little blocks turned the right way to make the pattern come out," one quilter said.

Ah, but what if you make a mistake, I wanted to know.

"Well, you can re-do it, or pretend you didn't see it," was the answer.

The ladies say there's no end to this; they'll keep making these quilts as long as they need to.

"The idea is to show thanks that they are willing to give up a part of their life," said Jody Bracken, Quilts of Valor.

They're giving up a part of their lives to say thanks.

The group is always looking for interested quilters, and of course, for donations to buy more quilting material.

Contact them at jodyngeo@sbcglobal.net.