QuiltMakers of Boyertown sending "home" over to the troops

Plan sewn up to ship 100 quilts to troops

By Brandie Kessler - The (Pottstown) Mercury via Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Oct 18, 2009 8:25:58 EDT

BOYERTOWN, Pa. — Hundreds of hours of tedious work, huge heaps of colorful fabric and an endless amount of love and gratitude were sewn into 100 quilts crafted by members of the QuiltMakers of Boyertown, which will be on their way to troops serving in Iraq in the near future.

"I just thought it would be something from home," said Bobbie Dewey, a member of the group based less than 40 miles northwest of Philadelphia, whose own home is in nearby Pottstown.

A small "something from home," Dewey explained, can mean a great deal to a soldier when he or she is in a war zone hundreds of miles away from their friends and family members. She knows firsthand just how far that distance spans, as her sons, Geoffrey Ostrowski, 21, and Matthew Ostrowski, 24, served in the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively.

Having previously made Christmas stockings to send to one of her son's units when he was serving in Afghanistan around the holidays, Dewey said she had the idea for a QuiltMakers project: make 100 quilts to send to service members to give them a touch of the comfort of home.

"When my son came home from Afghanistan, I saw this red and white thing in his bag," Dewey said. "It was his stocking. He said 'I'll never get rid of it.'"

Dewey realized that a stocking that meant so much to her son, who had family at home waiting and praying for him, might mean as much or perhaps more to a soldier who did not have a strong support system at home.

"There are some boys over there who don't get the letter every day from mom or sister," she said.
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Plan sewn up to ship 100 quilts to troops