Stafford quilting project gets USA lift for Ukrainian families

Bridgett Naylor from the USA has helped Janet Markwell from Stafford make quilts for Ukrainian families in the Midlands

A transatlantic partnership between two quilters has seen hundreds of spreads donated to Ukrainian families arriving in the West Midlands.

The project was launched by Janet Markwell who runs a Stafford quilt shop visited two years ago by Bridgett Naylor while on holiday from Oregon.

Keeping in touch via the store's newsletter, Ms Naylor learned of the scheme and decided to help.

On a trip back to Stafford to see family, she brought extra suitcases.

Three were filled with quilts she and her friends in America had made for the project, with the items contributing to a total of 200 that have been distributed locally.

"I loved her spirit and enthusiasm for quilting," the American national said of Ms Markwell, owner of The Corn Patch in Eccleshall.

"We ended up with 27 quilts; I had eleven people in our quilting group [making them]," she added.

Some of the quilts display the colours of the Ukrainian flag

Ms Markwell said: "When I first heard what was happening in Ukraine, obviously everyone's very devastated and feeling very helpless."

She said the idea to create quilts for refugees came from making scrubs for nurses and healthcare workers at the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

"That had helped people feel they were doing something positive," Ms Markwell explained, adding she hoped the quilts were like a "hug for Ukrainians fleeing war who have nothing".

The quilts have been given to families in Stafford, Stoke, Shropshire, Walsall, Sutton Coldfield and also Bath.