Morinville – Fourteen quilts passed hands Sunday afternoon from local quilters to Sturgeon Victim Services who will use the colourful craftwork to help the healing begin. Loose Threads Quilting Club member Shelley Faganello said the group wanted Victim Services to be the first recipient of the quilt donation to let victims of crime and tragedy know that local quilters and the community cares about them and that they are not alone.
“These are going to be quilts that are going to be used to heal community members,” Faganello said. “They are going to be used to help them cope with difficult situations, with traumas, with whatever they’ve been through.”
The act of caring is something Faganello and her fellow quilters believe is an integral part of the art form. “I think that is one of the things that’s come down through quilting throughout the ages is that they are something put together with care, a lot of time, and a lot of love,” she said. “So anybody that’s receiving these is receiving those aspects with it as well.”
Sturgeon Victim Services Program Coordinator Donna McPherson was pleased to receive the donation and also feels the quilts will assist with healing.
“Like the quilts, all in different shapes, sizes and colours, so are the victims that we deal with,” McPherson said. “At any given time anyone can become a victim of crime or trauma. You don’t know when it’s going to happen. It is so important that people are feeling comfortable and they are wrapped in that warmth, [and] that they know there are other people that are caring for them as they are going through their tragedy or dealing with their trauma.”
McPherson said the quilts will be greatly used in the detachment to help comfort victims. “In our detachment we have a room that is set up like a living room,” she said, noting the room provides a more private and serene setting than the normal activity of the police station in Morinville. “These quilts will go into our soft room and any time we have a victim who may be there, we can certainly wrap them up in all the love you’ve put into creating them.”
The quilts were made and donated by members of the Morinville Public Library’s Loose Threads Quilting Club as well as other area quilters. Faganello said the club has been existence for just more than a year. Starting with just four members, the club now has approximately 12 ladies who attend the meetings and gatherings regularly.
