Decatur group quilts for WWII veterans

DECATUR — Wanda Stickles and the Rock Springs quilters want Central Illinois Honor Flight World War II veterans to keep warm.

Their production of 65 lap quilts goes to Honor Flight headquarters in Effingham.

“What a blessing they will be for somebody,” Stickles said.

“I started making them and couldn't stop,” she confessed. “We used quilt scraps.”

Every colorful lap quilt is different. Some have a military theme. Some have a patriotic theme. There's a Navy seals quilt and a Lincoln theme.

“Every other year we do a quilt to benefit a worthy cause,” Stickles said. “This is a good year for Honor Flights.”

The other quilters are Kathy Pratt, Mary McLemore, Sarah Altevogt, Louise Holman, Esther Carlson, Brenda Galo, Rosetta Hendrickson, Earline Inman, Maxine Schroat and Millie Xanders.

The quilters gather at 9 a.m. Wednesday. They recently made pillowcases for the military.

“A quilt is the warmest thing in the winter (and) the coolest thing in the summer,” Stickles once was quoted. “It's not the material that matters; it's the love that made it.”