Abingdon ladies sew 'love knots' for children entering foster care

ABINGDON, Va. – The little quilts are draped by the dozen: traditional patchwork patterns, printed characters on colorful cotton, simple flannel tied with bright yarn.

Each goes out to a child in need – and each contains the love of a dozen grannies.

They sit together Tuesday mornings, a group of Abingdon ladies with no official name, working to make the world a better place one stitch at a time.

“So many of us don’t have the physical ability to do a lot of the charity work that’s needed,” said Connie Waters, a 77-year-old retired nurse who’s been making
the small children’s quilts, dubbed “love knots,” for years.“I can do this from within my home, and I know that a child is going to feel loved.”

She’s been amazed, she said, by how many organizations are needed to serve children removed from their homes by the state.

This group’s quilts go to an agency that helps Southwest Virginia children entering foster care. Each child receives his or her own quilt, sometimes after being pulled from a home with nothing but the clothes he or she is wearing.

“We’re not the only group doing this, but the magnitude of it is just unbelievable,” Theresa Brabson, a retired property manager, said as she used a sewing machine to piece together colorful squares. “I think children need to know that there are people out there that really care about them and want something better for them.”

Tom Casteel, director of social services for Washington County, said the number of children in foster care has increased substantially in the past few years,
primarily due to growing substance abuse problems in the region. No place in Southwest Virginia is immune to this troublesome trend, he said.

“Abingdon … we live on our history and our tourism and that kind of thing,” said Ann Mathews, a librarian who works on the quilts. “All that’s wonderful, but behind those white picket fences, there are major problems just like anywhere else.”

Troubles are real life, Mathews said, but the other part of real life is people like the Theresas and Connies of the world who keep on sewing anyway.

A quilt can’t solve the big-scale problems for children caught in the middle, Casteel said, but it can help them feel like they’re not alone.

“Other than the obvious physical comfort that it [a handmade quilt] might provide for them, I think that it’s a symbolic message that people in the community care about the children of the community,” Casteel said. “I think it’s a wonderful thing.”

Brabson said the quilting group at the senior center is an offshoot of a larger organization, the Wolf Hills Quilters, who meet monthly at a church east of town and donate full-size quilts and other handmade items to a variety of organizations serving children and the needy.

A knitting and crocheting group also has begun to meet with the quilting group at the senior center each Tuesday, using donated yarn to make hats and other items.

“Somebody asked me the other day who this hat’s going to be for,” Janet Woolwine said as she worked on her knitting. “I said somebody that doesn’t have one.”

Madeline Dean, assistant director of the senior center, said the quilting group takes its work seriously – and will discuss for days what materials to use and
spend a week looking for the right shade of binding.

“They could be in the next room playing Mah Johngg, … but they’re not. They’re in there working,” Dean said.

“[The children who receive the quilts] should know that some lady sat here and loved them so much that they took their free time and made these quilts,” Dean said. “Some of these ladies have arthritic hands and it’s very hard for them to hold a needle, and they’re up in age, but they still see it’s important for someone to know they’re loved.”

Waters said she wants each child “to feel the love that’s in that quilt.”

Five years ago, Waters said, it was a relative’s children who lost everything when their home was destroyed in a fire. Giving each child his or her very own quilt brought them joy on a terrible night, she said.

“When a child has lost everything, they need something to cuddle up with,” Waters said. “To me, it [a blanket] covers a lot of problems.”

dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701