Friday, January 30, 2009

Get in Touch With Us!

If you or your group is interested in being involved in the Camouflage Quilt Project, please contact:
Linda Wieck (say "wick") at (920) 627-3460
e-mail: linda.camoquilt@gmail.com

Linda Wieck is willing to speak to your group or do a sewing workshop on making the quilt. Let us know!

What On Earth is a "Camo Quilt?"

One of our most-asked questions is, “Doesn’t the military provide them with a quilt?” The answer, sadly, is no. Military-issued sleeping bags are bulky and hot and must be carried inside their back-packs. Our Camo Quilt is so popular because it's made from the same camouflage material as the uniforms. That means it can be used in the open, tied to the outside of a soldier's kit, leaving precious room inside for personal items.

The camouflage quilt is a small quilt measuring approximately 45” x 72”. The quilt folds in thirds and rolls up like a sleeping bag. It is lightweight and has cotton batting so it breathes better in the extreme heat. These quilts are slept on and slept under; they protect the soldiers from the harsh elements they face, both cold winter nights and hot daytime sun. They are even used for pillows. Any person serving in the military and deployed to the Middle East is eligible to receive one of these quilts!

Each quilt is packaged with a cool tie and a hand-made card. The card gives information about the volunteer group and is signed by some of the volunteers. This gives our quilts a very personal touch! There is no charge to the soldiers for the quilts. We just ask that the person requesting the quilts cover the cost of shipping.

Linda and her volunteers have made and distributed over 1,000 quilts to Soldiers and Marines!

Click on the "running tally" category tag for updates on the total number of quilts made so far!

The Camo Quilt Story.

The first camouflage quilt was designed and made by Linda Wieck in April of 2006. Her son-in-law, Todd, was being deployed to Iraq and asked her to make him a quilt to take along. His specifications were that it be small, made from camouflage cloth, and it needed to have cotton batting.

While Todd was at Camp Shelby, MS for training prior to being deployed, other soldiers in his unit saw the quilt and wanted to buy one. Todd asked Linda if she could make each of them a quilt and they would pay her for them. She scrambled to finish all 48 before they left for Iraq in July of 2006.

After the local newspaper published an article about her work, one of the readers asked Linda to conduct a workshop to train others to make the quilts. The first one day workshop was held in April of 2007 at a local banquet hall and was fol-lowed by 3 additional week-long work-shops. Hundreds of volunteers helped at these workshops. All the money needed for materials and supplies were donated so the quilts could be given to the soldiers free of charge.

As the need for more quilts grew it became clear that an occasional week-long workshop wasn’t going to be enough to keep the orders filled. We needed a large, ongoing source of committed volunteers to sew quilts. One of Linda’s volunteers is a Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML) member and felt that LWML could help meet that need!

At the South Wisconsin District (SWD) Lutheran Womens Missionary League Fall Retreat, the Camo Quilt Project was presented as an LWML Human Care project.

In order for us to move forward with our project and produce a larger number of quilts, we needed to have a suitable facility where we could permanently set up a workshop. At minimum we needed a warehouse to receive and store the large bolts of cloth (up to 400 yards!)

The 200 LWMLers brought it before the Lord in prayer and God answered that prayer the following week. Glacier Transit and Storage-GTS of Plymouth WI donated a facility for our use. Not only is there a loading dock and storage space but we have an entire facility large enough to set up a dozen sewing machines with a separate room for cutting . GTS has donated this area for as long as we need it including the heat and electricity. Praise God for His wonderful provision!

Now we have space for volunteers to drop in and work! We'd love to see you, so stop by and say hi.