DUNCANSVILLE — Stitched with reverence, care and a lot of love, the Patriotic Piecemakers of Pennsylvania have presented about 300 red, white and blue Quilts of Valor to area veterans during the past three years.

Richard Brantner, the mayor of Martinsburg Borough, has nominated numerous veterans to receive a Quilt of Valor, sized 60 by 80 inches, and large enough to fit a twin bed.

He’s also received a quilt for his service on the USS Suribachi, an ammunition ship, as a member of the Navy which he served from 1965-67.

His quilt has a place of honor on a quilt rack below a photo of the USS Suribachi in his home.

Melissa Court (left) and her mother, Eileen, hold up one of the finished quilts. Mirror photo by Patt Keith

“There are no two quilts alike,” Brantner said. “They are beautiful and they do excellent work and do it to honor veterans. It’s very commendable what they do.”

Founder Connie Shaw said they have a waiting list of about 30 veterans, with priority given to the oldest service members. While quilts are not required to be red, white and blue, the patriotic colors are popular with recipients.

The Quilts of Valor Foundation was founded by Catherine Roberts, the mother of Nat, who was deployed in Iraq. According to the foundation website, Roberts had a vivid dream of a despondent soldier sitting on a cot in utter despair. “I could see his war demons clustered around, dragging him down into an emotional gutter. Then, as if viewing a movie, I saw him in the next scene wrapped in a quilt. His whole demeanor changed from one of despair to one of hope and well-being. The quilt had made this dramatic change. The message of my dream was: Quilts = Healing.”

The foundation awarded its 350,000 quilt in 2023, less than a year after presenting the 300,000th quilt, the website states.

For Shaw, creating the local chapter was a way to honor her husband’s father and others who served in World War 2.

Vickie Butler (blue shirt) and Melissa Court work with dueling long arms. Mirror photo by Patt Keith

“I read about Quilts of Valor and knew I had to do something,” she said, as other volunteers pieced quilts together in her quilt shop on the first Saturday earlier this month. “I love giving to the veterans to thank them for their service.”

The Patriotic Piecemakers have awarded quilts to veterans in Blair, Bedford, Cambria and Huntingdon counties.

Seven women gathered on this particular day, each performing a task necessary to complete a quilt for a veteran or a soldier who is still serving. About 20 volunteers help regularly in various ways. Some people buy and donate fabric, others donate the batting and still more work in their home stitching quilt shops together. Helen Seidel of Altoona sews at home and donates quilt squares to the Patriotic Piecemakers. She and her husband have also nominated veterans to be awarded the quilts. A pair of Greensburg women donated about 2,000 sewn quilt blocks and others have donated fabric and backing.

Others show up on the first Saturday each month to Connie’s Collectibles and Quilt Shop, a small business operated by Shaw and her husband, Eric Shaw. Some sew pieces of fabric together to form a quilt square and then create a quilt topper. Other members run the quilting machines called “long arms” to mate the toppers to the batting and backing to create the “quilt sandwich.” Additional sewers finish the quilt with binding, which is hand stitched.

Vickie Butler of Duncansville and Melissa Court are working on the long arm quilting machines on this particular day.

Nancy DeLozier (left) and Connie Shaw work on one of the Quilts of Valor. Mirror photo by Patt Keith

“I like to do it all,” Butler said. “Each step is fun, but this is where the three layers of a quilt come together.”

Melissa Court confidently grips the two handles of the long arm controller which starts with the press of a button. She makes loops upon loops of white stitching. She prefers to direct the stitcher herself in what is called a “free motion design” instead of selecting a design preprogrammed into a Pro-stitcher program on the machine.

“I have a lot of fun with it. I can just let my imagination go,” Melissa Court said. “I enjoy working with Quilts of Valor because I like giving back to the veterans. I like saying ‘thank you’ for the service they have provided to our country.”

Shaw can tell from looking at a completed quilt who manned the long arm for each quilt as each quilter has a distinctive pattern to her artistry. Melissa Court is known for her double loop patterns.

In all, Shaw estimates that nine volunteers spend an estimated 100 hours to create each unique quilt. Each quilt must meet certain standards, according to the website, with an adult-appropriate color and pattern.

Karen Richardson of Portage has been volunteering for Quilts of Valor for about a year and quilting for nearly three.

“I never do the same pattern twice,” she said. Today, she’s learning how to put a tar pattern together for a quilt’s center square.

In a corner of the room, Nancy DeLozier of Duncansville sits quietly at a sewing machine creating quilt squares. DeLozier started sewing as a young child and making quilts nearly as long.

Additionally, each quilt has the recipient’s name, military branch and years of service sewn into the label that states its been made by the Patriotic Piecemakers of Pennsylvania, the name the volunteers voted on when the chapter was founded.

Founding member Eileen Court of Duncansville served two years in the Air Force during Vietnam, working stateside in obstetrics providing care to servicemen’s families. Her daughter Melissa Court is also involved in Quilts of Valor. Each quilt recipient is afforded the opportunity to talk about their service to 40 or so people who attend. For Vietnam veterans, the ceremony is especially moving.

“I know how badly Vietnam soldiers were treated when they came home,” Eileen Court said. Incidents of being spat upon, derided and an overall lack of appreciation makes the quilt award ceremony especially significant for these veterans.

Quilt recipient Bob Hampton of Spruce Creek also received a quilt in recognition of his 28 years of service in the Air Force. Like Brantner, he doesn’t know who nominated him.

“I hadn’t heard of the program before I received one,” Hampton said. Hampton, 82, is a member of the Martinburg chapter of the Destroyer Escort Sailors Association, also known as DESA. Hampton, who volunteers to help veterans at the Hollidaysburg veterans home, said he’s nominated many residents to receive the quilts. Sadly, some veterans have died before receiving it and others feel undeserving, Hampton said.

“Every veteran deserves one,” Hampton said. “These ladies are wonderful and do a great job.”

In an age replete with other leisure activities, Brantner said “it’s so commendable (the quilters) donate their time. They could be doing something — anything else. There’s not enough good things to say about them.”

Mirror staff writer Patt Keith is at 814-949-7030.