More than 200 quilts later, the Horse Lake Quilters presented their last Quilts of Valour on Jan. 14. For the past nine years the Horse Lake Quilters have been part of the larger Canadian Quilts of Valour movement to donate quilts to veterans around the country.
"It's sad in a way, but it's satisfying," says Nancy Melville, a member of the Horse Lake Quilters. "Everything has to come to an end sometime."
Through contacts at the Legion and community support, the group has given away as many as 60 quilts to veterans around the South Cariboo. Before, the quilts were shipped to Vancouver and the Okanagan.
"We have tried to give out as many as we can," says Melville.
On Saturday the group presented three quilts to local veterans.
Quilts of Valour started as a way to give back to soldiers and the families of soldiers who had worked or lost someone in Afghanistan. The movement grew so much the quilters expanded their scope to include the veterans of the Second World War through to modern day peacekeeping deployments.
"We were doing it because it was a love of doing quilts," says Melville. "We were helping and some of them were absolutely thrilled, they had never been given anything."
When they first started making quilts for veterans, the group was looking for something to dedicate their quilting energy to. "Most of us have made quilts for our families and made quilts for our grandchildren and we've made enough for our families," says Melville.
Despite the end of Quilts of Valour, the Horse Lake Quilters are already planning their next project – they will be making chemo quilts for the hospital in partnership with the Log Cabin Quilters in Bridge Lake.