Middletown kids take comfort in quilts

Quilters donate 863 quilts in a month|

There’s nothing like a cozy quilt – especially after you’ve lost everything you own in a fire.

Broadway Quilts in Sonoma collected 863 quilts and distributed them to youngsters in Middletown in Lake County many of whom lost everything in the recent Valley Fire.

Gery Rosemurgy, Broadway Quilts owner, said, “Our original goal was to give quilts to the children in three schools in grades kindergarten to second grade – about 345 quilts. Because of the overwhelming support, we have expanded our program to include third graders, the two preschools and hopefully the Christian School. We also are planning to provide extra quilts so that as families find housing and do return home, there will be a quilt waiting for them.”

“Quilts are still coming in through today, then we’ll zip them up to Middletown so that the children have quilts before the holiday,” said Rosemurgy last week.

According to Rosemurgy, hundreds of contributors have been supportive in this effort. Sonoma resident Kathy Miller, of Michael Miller Fabrics, donated fabric and quilts from her New York design office.

“Quilters came into our shop to retrieve that donated fabric to make a quilt for a child,” said Rosemurgy. Additionally, Broadway Quilts has received quilts from places throughout California including San Jose, Danville, Concord, Walnut Creek, Simi Valley, San Fernando Valley, Merced and throughout the Bay Area. Quilts have also come in from as far as Texas, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota and New Jersey, and New York, as well as Canada. 

“This project started for the Lake County area public school children when the school district head reached out to me on Oct. 12. It’s amazing to me how quilters from around the country and the world rallied to donate more than 800 quilts in a month.” said Rosemurgy.

Four carloads of quilts made their way to Middletown. The quilts were spread on the floor of the school library and the children were allowed to come in and pick their own quilt.

Rosemurgy said one class had a child who was absent, so the teacher asked the children to think of what the child would like. They said “bugs” so the class set out to find the perfect quilt for her.

“This was amazing. I put this out on my email list on Oct. 12 and set a Nov. 18 deadline so the kids would have something for the holidays,” Rosemurgy said.

“Broadway Quilts would like to thank everyone for their contributions and heartfelt efforts,” she said.

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