Photo by Ellen Ferrera
Debbie Preston with the “Friendship” quilt she made for her husband.

•July 31, 2019•
By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

Debbie Preston has made more than 300 quilts since 2005, and all of them have gone to charities such as Dove, the Fire and Police Departments, American Legion and the Health Department.
Some have traveled around the world to children in Africa and beyond but always only for charities.
It all began, she says, with her grandmother, “She made quilts, and I taught myself to knit and crochet. I began quilting seriously in 2005 and made a quilt for my mother-in-law, Thelma Preston,” Prestion recalled. “When she died, the quilt came back to us.”
She showed the lovely, time-worn quilt her grandmother made for her and continued, “I wrapped my young son in this when he was upset or afraid or sick and he told me it always made him feel better. I told him that was because Grammy sewed love into every stitch.”
Her grandmother’s quilt had the “wedding ring” pattern and reminded me of the treasured quilt I have from my grandmother who made it with such love even with crippled hands. Grandma’s pattern was called “flower garden” and was made from pieces of her chintz dresses. We then shared tearful memories of our grandmothers and their quilts.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.