OBI partner provides love in every stitch
Linda Brown makes homemade quilts to donate to OBI.
Video: Watch Linda Brown
MAPLE GLEN, Pa. - A stitch and a prayer is how Linda Brown shows she cares.
"Every child needs to have something of their own," Brown said. "To have something you know is made with love and care is even better."
Brown – known to some as the "Quilt Lady" – has made more than 2,500 quilts that have been donated to Operation Blessing and other non-profits in her area. In her spare time, the 59-year-old mother of four spends about four hours sewing each quilt.
"No two quilts are the same – just like people," Brown said.
Brown started making the quilts, which range in size from small to medium, after her twin daughters started high school in the mid 90s. She had originally taken up the craft after finding an old quilt top in her mother's attic and working to repair it. However, she put her hobby on hold to raise her family.
When Brown got back into creating the quilts, she started by donating them to local crisis pregnancy centers, then later expanded her efforts to include foster children and missionaries. She added Operation Blessing to the list of recipients in 2001 and has since given OBI about 200 quilts to be shipped around the world.
"I keep a notebook of each quilt I make and what it looks like," Brown said. "When I find out where it goes and I add that information to the log."
Brown said she spends about $5 per quilt. She saves money by picking up fabric by the yard that's on sale, then takes the pallets home to see what patterns she can create.
"I think I have more fabric than some stores," Brown said.
On a recent trip to Operation Blessing's headquarters in Virginia Beach, Brown and her twin daughters brought a load of 79 quilts for distribution.
"This is a "mother's touch" for motherless teens," said Juliya Travnikova, an OBI representative in Ukraine who has helped distribute Brown's quilts to several OBI-supported orphanages. "They really feel lack of care and attention, so any present means so much to them."
Brown uses a sewing machine to stitch most of the quilt, but always finishes them off by hand.
"There's love in every stitch," Brown said. "I hope when a child or new mom wraps the quilt around them, they can feel that love."
HOW YOU CAN HELP: Operation Blessing is helping to transform the futures of children like these by providing clean water, education assistance, nutritional feeding programs, medical care and more.
Please make an online contribution toward OBI's orphan care programs today and help us continue to reach those in need.