Mother, daughter donate dozens of quilts made over years

GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) - Shortly after Chris Lewis’ daughter Jennifer was born, her mother gave her the material and pattern for a quilt, showed her how to put it on a quilting frame and assisted as she hand-stitched the pieces into a king-sized blanket.

Chris has been making quilts ever since - although she’s upgraded to using a sewing machine.

After 40 years of quilting - often with Jennifer’s help - she didn’t know what to do with all the quilts they were making, so they started donating them.

“When you have a surplus of quilts you don’t need anymore, the least we can do is give them to those who might need them,” Chris told the Gillette News Record .

In the last few years, Chris and Jennifer have given eight quilts to the Gillette Area Refuge Foundation, a few to the American Legion Post 42 and to the VFW Post 7756, and more than 30 to the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office, which places them in patrol cars for deputies to give to those involved in car crashes.

“They are providing something that we and the community really appreciate,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Kevin Theis. “In emergency situations, like traffic crashes, people can be left out in the cold and they need something to stay warm and to comfort them during this difficult time.”

Chris and Jennifer work on the quilts on weekends, especially in the winter when they spend more time inside. Jennifer buys the fabric and cuts the pieces, while Chris stitches them together. When they’ve made a few, Chris brings them to work with her at Western Water Conditioning where Theis picks them up.

“She has done this for years without recognition,” said Ross Derksen, who works at Western Water Conditioning and has seen the dozens of quilts Theis has picked up from the office. “She is donating her time and her work and doing such a selfless thing without ever expecting any sort of recognition.”

Chris and Jennifer never know who receives the quilts they make. All they know is that people are using them, which they said is enough for them.

“I look at it this way. For them to have a need for a quilt, there has got to have been a tragedy of some kind,” Chris said. “It is not a good time when you pull a quilt out of the trunk and hand it to someone, so if they can have a little color . that’s what it’s all about.”

Jennifer sees the quilts the same way.

“On TV, you see all those dull gray blankets officers give out during crashes and stuff, so this is about bringing color to a dark situation,” she said.