Volunteers at Cozy Quilt Shop make quilts for fire victims.  Many quilters throughout the area participated either in the store or at home to make these personal tokens of warmth and hope.

Local artist, Pamela Underwood (right), lost her home in Poway. Her friend and fellow artist Jane LaFazio (left) brought her into the store to pick out her own quilt. This one spoke to Pam and she was very pleased to take it home. The person in the middle (Daniela Stout) is truly inspired by the connections that are formed when a quilt made by a stranger reaches another in need.

This Chinese Coin was made by Daniela Stout for a Ramona fire Victim. It is an example of one of the donated quilts.

Joanne Stuebing of Rogue Valley, Oregon lead a team of guild members and long-arm quilters to make quilts for the So California fire victims. They hoped for 20, but completed 50 bed-sized quilts. Joann drove them down to San Diego and gave them to Cozy Quilt Shop a few days before New Years. They will be given to the Crest Relief Committee.

Posted November 2003

Cozy Quilt Shop Makes Quilts for Local Fire Victims

With everything our community has gone through, we at Cozy Quilt Shop consider ourselves lucky that neither our store nor any staff members suffered a loss during the October 2003 fires. In hopes that we can bring a little joy and warmth to some of the people who fell victim to the horrible fires, we have been making quilts for those who lost their homes and we have invited others to join us. And what a great response we have been getting! Through sit and sews at the store and ambitious local quilters at home, we received over 80 completed quilts. We have also received piles of donated fabric and batting. Quilters have again proved themselves to be the most giving of people.

Others far away have also helped. A group of guild members and longarm quilters in the Oregon area joined forces and completed an additional 50 bed-size quilts. Joann Stuebing of Oregon drove them down from Oregon and dropped them off at Cozy Quilt Shop a few days before the New Year's Eve.

With the addition of the Oregon quilts, Cozy Quilt Shop had over 130 quilts to give away to the fire victims.

In the beginning, we asked our customers who knew people that might benefit from a personally made quilt to come in and pick one out for their recipient. We had all kinds of quilts for them to choose from: baby quilts, lap quilts, large throw, quilts and receiving blankets. And the quilts came in many different colors and personalities: bright colors for kids, bright colors for adults, horse, Thimbleberry browns, fleece, scrappy blues, and many more. Some were tied, some are bound. Some came from a designer’s quilt collection, some were made specifically for these victims.

Sometimes the recipient came in personally to pick out the quilt. It was then that I realized a quilt isn’t just a charity blanket, but a show of support, encouragement and friendship handmade by complete strangers. We are giving the very best of ourselves when we give a quilt. I have personally seen how touched recipients can be.

Through our own connections, we gave away about 50 quilts. Then, we donated 32 additional local quilts and the 50 Oregon quilts to Linda Chase's coordinator efforts in the Crest area. The 32 quilts were given away before Christmas and the 50 bed-size quilts will be given away at the Crest Town Meeting on Monday, January 5th.

We want to thank everybody who has been involved in this project. We can’t build the recipients a new house, but I hope we can give them a little taste of home and hope for a new beginning.

Note: This program is no longer active.