Hervey Bay Quilters Group president Patricia Foster (back right) and project coordinator Noreen Mayes (left) present quilts to St Stephen’s Hospital Pastoral Care Manager Sandra Keay.
St Stephen’s Hospital patients will feel more comfortable during their hospital stays, thanks to the donation of 21 lap quilts lovingly stitched by members of the Hervey Bay Quilters Group.
Group president Patricia Foster and charity quilt project coordinator Noreen Mayes recently delivered the bundle of beautiful quilts to Stephen’s Hospital in Hervey Bay.
Destined for children, teenagers and adults, the quilts feature a wide range of colours and visual effects from ballerinas and zoo animals to traditional patchwork designs.
St Stephen’s Hospital General Manager Amanda Cruwys thanked the ladies for the group’s generous donation saying the quilts would help the patients to feel more comfortable.
"These colourful quilts offer a real sense of comfort in the unfamiliar hospital environment,” Ms Cruwys said. “Patients will feel more relaxed, which reduces anxiety and helps improve their well-being.”
About 58 members of the Hervey Bay Quilters Group created the machine stitched lap quilts during their monthly charity days over the past few months.
Ms Foster said group members had donated most of the cotton fabrics from their personal collections.
“After a public call for donations, we also received material from about eight people in Hervey Bay.
“Our members chose the patterns – we didn’t stipulate anything in particular.
“They love making the quilts. Most of us are retired and we’ve all given quilts to our families already so we want to make them for other people.
“With many of our ladies, their grandchildren are now teenagers or adults and they don’t have anyone else to make them for.”
St Stephen’s patients who receive quilts are able to take them home after their stay in hospital.
Contact: Jocelyn Watts, Communications Officer, St Stephen’s Hospital, 074120 1334 or 0403 191 958