“Every child in a Habitat for Humanity home receives a quilt.” That is the goal of the Welcome Home Quilters, a group of volunteers that sews quilts for Habitat families. The group, coordinated by Pam Ponting, meets on the first Tuesday of every month from 10 am to 3 pm at the Quilted Angel shop in Petaluma.
Just as the homes that Habitat for Humanity builds are constructed from donated materials and labor, so are the quilts. “We have about 50 volunteers in the Welcome Home Quilters,” explains Darlene Mola, director of family services for Habitat. “Some donate fabric or quilt blocks, some come to our work days and sew, some sew at home. Some people just come and help any way they can, even if they don’t know how to sew. It really restores my faith in humanity!”
Darlene finds the quilt project especially rewarding because it involves the younger members of families who receive homes. “The home construction involves only the adults because they are the ones who must contribute ‘sweat equity’ to acquire the homes,” she said. “When we dedicate a house to a family and present the quilts to the children, they get so excited. They just can’t believe that the quilts are theirs to keep.”
Creating quilts for the families is no small task because some families have five or six children, and the quilters try to learn about each individual so that the quilts reflect each child’s favorite colors and interests.
The Welcome Home Quilters sew fundraising quilts, too. Pictured here is a colorful “habitat quilt” that consists of so-called orphan blocks (leftovers from other projects) combined with bright stars to make an eye-catching quilt that will be raffled off next August. In another picture here, Darlene and two volunteers, Pascale Webb and Barbara Kleckner, are working on a quilt that will be raffled in June at the Sonoma Golf Club tournament.
If you would like to donate fabric, quilting materials, or “sweat equity” to the Welcome Home Quilters, or buy raffle tickets for the cheerful habitat quilt (five tickets for $1 or 6 for $5), contact Darlene Mola at Habitat for Humanity, 1301 Farmers Lane, #303, Santa Rosa, CA 95405, 707-578-7707 x104. Go to the Habitat for Humanity website for information about this wonderful organization: http://www.sonomacountyhabitat.org/.
