Though many have set aside their needles and sewing machines, the former members of Granny's Quilts of Love are still blessing children at Arkansas Children's Hospital through an endowment set up when the organization was retired.
Quilters and many supporters of Granny's Quilts of Love gathered Saturday for a reunion, five years after the organization was retired.
When the Granny's Quilts of Love sewing group retired in 2017, the quilters and sewing ladies had made and donated 26,176 quilts, 7,832 pillows and 7,539 caps as well as donating many books and toys to the Arkansas Children's Hospital, according to Lisa Crowder, speaking at the reunion Saturday.
"These gifts of love blessed thousands of children and their families at ACH," Crowder said.
Granny's began in 2001, when Crowder's daughter, Lindsey Drue Crowder, 2, of Bentonville, was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.
Lisa's mother and Lindsey's grandmother, Mary Margaret Webb of Pea Ridge, made a quilt for Lindsey. The quilt was admired by other children at ACH. Webb then made 60 quilts, and it became apparent that these quilts, in bright colors and kid-friendly themes, were a great source of comfort to the children.
Webb and Lindsey's fraternal grandmother, Margie Crowder, began recruiting others to help make quilts, and Granny's was born in 2004.
"We want these quilts to remind the children how much they are loved, and to give them a sense of security as they fight a life-threatening disease," member Alice Crabtree said.
The Friendly Stitchers of Bella Vista joined Granny's Quilts of Love around 2009. More than 30 women from Pea Ridge, Bella Vista, Rogers, and Bentonville together contributed more than 7,000 volunteer hours each year to make Granny's a success.
Once the Granny's "retired" they took the balance of the money that the group had and created an endowment fund to benefit the patients of the Arkansas Children's Hospital. The value of the Granny's Quilts of Love Endowment in January 2022 was a little over $140,000, Crowder said.
"This endowment will continue to grow in value and at the same time provide funds that help the families of ACH by providing cash assistance for gas, bills, groceries, etc. Even though the Granny's are no longer sewing and donating items to ACH, they are still helping patients in a very tangible and long-term way," she said.
Tax deductible donations are still appreciated and may be mailed to Arkansas Children's Hospital notating that the donation goes towards the "Granny's Quilts of Love Endowment."
Proceeds from the annual dinner and auction, held during August at Pea Ridge High School, went toward the purchase of fabric and batting for the quilts. At monthly meetings, the members measured and cut materials, which the ladies then took home and sewed together into the quilts.
When a community member made a trip to Little Rock, completed quilts were delivered. Pea Ridge Mayor Jackie Crabtree, who made frequent trips to Little Rock as part of his duties, was a regular deliveryman.
Continuing the ministry of providing quilts to children in Arkansas Children's Hospital, Stitched With Love was organized in 2018. Members hope to fill the void left by the retirement of Granny's Quilts of Love.
Former Granny's members Linda Pitts and Cinda Wooldridge incorporated Stitched With Love, which still makes quilts for children at ACH.
TIMES photographs by Annette Beard
Beth Crowder and Lisa Webb Crowder, daughters of the two founds of Granny's Quilts of Love, were at the reunion Saturday, Aug. 27. For more photographs, go to the PRT gallery at https://tnebc.nwaonline.com/photos/.
TIMES photographs by Annette Beard
Donna Beaver holds up a gift basket from A Perfect Choice as one of the visitors holds up the winning ticket for the door prize drawing. For more photographs, go to the PRT gallery at https://tnebc.nwaonline.com/photos/.
TIMES photographs by Annette Beard
Kelsey Parmenter Smith and J.C. Beaver were two of the special visitors at the Gray's Quilts of Love reunion Saturday. For more photographs, go to the PRT gallery at https://tnebc.nwaonline.com/photos/.