The new alphabet quilt hanging in the Children’s Room of the Centreville Regional Library doesn’t just strike a chord with children – the adults love it too.
“It’s beautiful,” said Jerilyn Tolson, assistant branch manager of the library, as she pointed out words stitched in gold thread on each of the letter squares.
Quilters Unlimited dedicated the alphabet quilt to the Centreville Regional Library on Saturday to help the library promote Emerging Literacy, a program that encourages children to read by providing them with colorful and interesting reading environments.
The quilt, composed of 28 squares and four borders, took 11 volunteers from Quilters Unlimited almost 110 hours to complete. Marilyn Moser, a volunteer from Haymarket, spent more than 40 hours stitching the finished pieces together.
“The children stand up in front of it and sing the ABC’s,” said Jane Ferguson, children’s services manager of the Centreville Library.
In her job, Ferguson looks for ways to promote Emerging Literacy. “We want to give children enthusiasm,” said Ferguson. “We want to give them a love of reading.”
Ferguson turned to Quilters Unlimited, which provides quilting workshops at the library. In December, she asked the group if it would be willing to create a quilt for the Children’s Room, and the members instantly agreed. “They were more than happy to do it,” said Ferguson.
Ferguson offered to put together a fund-raiser to pay for the materials, but Quilters Unlimited declined, and provided all of the materials themselves. “We really value our relationship with the library,” said Jeanne Coglianese, one of the volunteers.
“It’s about community,” said Marianne Stana, president of the Centreville Chapter of Quilters Unlimited. “They reach out to us, and we want to reach out to them.”
In a show of appreciation, Tolson passed out thank you gifts from the library during the presentation Saturday. “I thought the quilt was done so quickly,” said Tolson.
Quilters Unlimited is currently creating a quilt for the neo-natal unit at Fairfax Hospital, and is finishing up on a quilt for the Dedication Ceremony at Colin Powell Elementary School on June 9.
Quilters Unlimited meets on the second Thursday of each month at Colin Powell Elementary School. Its 31st Annual Quilt Show will be held on June 4-6 at the Dulles Expo Center.