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Cliff Buchan
News Editor
How do you find ways to thank military personnel who return to Minnesota with bodies scarred by bullets and bombs?
JoAnne Benoy has found a way 70 times and it keeps happening with handmade quilts that show appreciation and gratitude to those who have sacrificed.
The Scandia woman is now near the end of her third year of crafting quilts as part of the Quilts of Valor program. She has made 70 so far with some help from friends and fellow quilters and plans to do another 25 quilts — at least — in the year to come.
A quilter for many years, Benoy said she was inspired to help returning wounded war veterans after reading the story of Army Sgt. John Kriesel of Vadnais Heghts who lost both legs to a bomb in Iraq. That was in December of 2006.
By early 2007, Benoy had crafted her first quilt in his honor and more were to follow.
“My heart went out to him,” Benoy said, recalling her emotions when she learned of Kriesel’s sacrifice in the war against terror.
“I felt called to do it,” she says of her project.
Benoy quickly became affiliated with the nationally-based Quilts for Valor program which serves as a clearinghouse for where quilts are needed and provides guidance and instruction to quilters who are helping the program.
Catherine Roberts founded the movement in 2003 when the first quilt was delivered to a wounded soldier at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
While Benoy is part of the national movement, all quilts made by her hand are going to wounded Minnesota veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
To date, some 66 military personnel from Minnesota have died during the conflict in Iraq, with more than 500 from the state wounded. Three state soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, according to military records.
Partnership
Benoy says she has found many willing and able friends who pitch in on a regular basis to help.
The local partnership also involves Silver Lane Quilting, 4869 N. 208th St. (next to Kwik Trip). The shop acts as a relay station for moving completed quilts from local quilters to their destination via Quilts of Valor state officials, or on to the sewing rooms of long-arm quilters who are often needed to complete the final package, Benoy says.
Benoy often finds help from fellow quilters of the Comfort Quilters, a group that has met for nearly a quarter of a century at Forest Hills United Methodist Church in Forest Lake. The group’s quilting activities center on projects for the church and community, including the quilts for wounded veterans.
When Benoy isn’t working on the quilts at her home, she is getting help from Lil Truax, Donna McCarger, Lois Werhan, Sue Dugdale, Arlene Fredricksen, Kay Bergerson, Rozanne Foster, Jeanette Shipp and Joyce Betz.
You'll often find JoAnne Benoy in her sewing room of her home in Scandia where she spends hours and hours working on quilts which are presented to wounded troops who are from Minnesota. (Photo By Cliff Buchan)
Shipp has used her sewing skills to make the pillow case that is used to package the finished quilt.
The quilts are crafted for men and women and the theme of the quilt is often patriotic with red, while and blue colors the rage. To fuel her creativity, Benoy will on occasion craft a quilt that has an outdoors or sports theme.
“They volunteer to do this,” Benoy says of her quilting pals and the long-arm quilters who are needed to finish a quilt when a home sewing machine is no longer suitable.
Help welcome
Benoy says she would welcome other quilters who would like to join the effort. Some members of the Memorial Quilters, another area club, have taken up the cause, she says.
Help from the public is also appreciated. On average, each 50-inch by 60-inch quilt costs about $50 to $70 to make, depending on the fabric.
“People will remember me with fabric,” she says of the donations that come to her home or the Methodist church in Forest Lake.
“Don’t waste your red, white and blue fabric,” she says with a smile.
Her fabric closet at home is well-stocked, but Benoy says she welcomes donations and makes regular trips to fabric shops to buy supplies and material.
Monetary donations to help with the cause are also welcome. They may be sent to Benoy at 21835 Manning Trail N., Scandia, MN 55073.
Benoy can’t say for certain how much longer she will continue the Quilts for Valor effort. She probably makes 50 large quilts a year, including those for club projects and wounded veterans. She has goals of completing another five quilts this year and 25 in 2010 to push her total to 100.
But with U.S. forces involved on two fronts, she knows there is a good chance that more Minnesota troops will come home scarred.
When will she quit? She responds musingly:
“When I run out of fabric. When will that be?”
Information about the national Quilts for Valor organization can be found on the Internet at www.QOVF.org.
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