Pieced in Love: Ivy Veinot creates quilts for veterans, children, hurricane victims and more

By Catherine Godbey | Living 50 Plus

Standing in “Fabric Central,” formerly known as Harold and Ivy Veinot’s dining room, Ivy Veinot pointed to the bolts of fabric covering the tables and the folded quilt tops piled next to the windows.

“All of this is donated fabric. The good Lord has blessed and provided us with so much,” the 66-year-old Decatur quilter said. “Our goal is to use these blessings of fabric to bless others.”

Since learning the craft in 2010, Veinot, along with her team of quilters, has given away hundreds of quilts.

Think of Veinot as the captain of the quilting squad. A very organized and meticulous person by nature, Veinot collects, stores and distributes the donated fabrics to volunteer quilters.

The squad has donated bolts of fabric to Project Linus, which gives handmade blankets to children who are seriously ill or traumatized, and made quilts for children at the Scottsboro United Methodist Children’s Home, veterans through Quilts of Valor, families through Sleep in Heavenly Peace, victims of Hurricane Helene and recipients of Habitat for Humanity of Morgan County homes.

“When I started to quilt, I knew I wanted to do something that was not just for me, but for somebody else. I wanted to make some things and give them away. There was something telling me that this needed to be a blessing,” Veinot said. “One of the first organizations I made quilts for was Habitat for Humanity. It still holds a special place in my heart.”

Over the past 12 years, Veinot has gifted 150 to 200 quilts to Habitat for Humanity residents. She has laid quilts in the hands of senior citizens on fixed incomes, couples earning minimum wage, children with special needs, single parents working two jobs and individuals battling terminal diseases.

She calls the quilts “portable hugs.”

Habitat for Humanity, a faith-based nonprofit organization that builds homes for individuals in need, became central to Veinot’s mission after she heard Mindy Thwing, former director of the local chapter, talk about the requirements placed on prospective homeowners. To receive a home, individuals must complete monthly budget classes, homeowner education courses and up to 400 volunteer hours at a build site, at the Habitat ReStore or another nonprofit. They also agree to a monthly 30-year, no-interest mortgage.

Veinot felt a prodding from God to create a quilt for every member of every family receiving a home.

“I can’t build a house, I’m not physically able, but I can certainly give them one of their first welcome home gifts,” said Veinot, who imagines children curling up with the quilts on Saturday mornings or taking them outside for picnics. “For the teenagers, I hope they look at their quilts and remember what their parent went through to give them a safe home.”

Veinot told the story of one boy who received a quilt with fabric featuring jelly beans on a black background.

“The little boy came up to me before the home dedication and said, ‘Are you the quilt lady?’ I said, ‘Yes, do you want to see your quilt?’ When he saw the quilt, he said, ‘How did you know I like black and I love jelly beans?’ Those are the little blessings that keep us going,” Veinot said.

The homeowners also see the quilts as a blessing.

“Receiving handmade quilts from the Quilt Lady, Ms. Ivy, was so special and unexpected. She made one for all seven members of our family, including the soon to be born baby. And they all had a spiritual message buried inside. We had no idea that while we were working hard building our home, she was working hard stitching these gifts,” Keunna Swopes said. “I used to wish that I had a grandmother like I saw in movies that would make me an extra special quilt that I could have forever and God went above and beyond by providing me one in love through her. I am forever grateful.”

In 2025, Veinot and her team of quilters will make at least 19 quilts for Habitat for Humanity.

All fabric that enters “Fabric Central” is used in some way, from the scraps, which become dog beds, to the selvages, which become bags, to the donations of polyester and corduroy.

“The polyester and corduroy, which we can’t use because of our quilting machine, are taken to East Tennessee and the Appalachian Mountains where ladies tie and make them into quilts to sell,” Veinot said. “We use every piece of fabric that we can. I’m not a fabric hoarder, I am a hero for rescuing it.”

Veinot’s interest in quilts began as a child.

“I always loved quilting, even though no one in my immediate family, except for my aunt, quilted or sewed,” Veinot said.

Every time Veinot, who grew up in Colorado, visited her aunt in Decatur, she would go to quilt shops. She bought her first quilt from a local quilter, Rose Brooks.

“She agreed to sell me one for $100. I still treasure it. It’s one of the more beginner patterns, but I still love it,” Veinot said.

Although Veinot carried a fascination with the fabric arts for decades and always wanted to learn the skill, she only started quilting 14 years ago, after closing her data processing business due to the recession and the desire to spend more time with her granddaughters.

“I finally had the time to learn to quilt. Right at that time Quilter’s Refuge, the local quilt shop, was closing. I didn’t have a sewing machine, I didn’t have anything, but I had books. I learned to quilt from books,” Veinot said.

Now, quilts and fabrics fill Veinot’s Southwest Decatur home.

“This happens to all quilters,” Veinot said with a laugh while opening the doors to closets and dressers, all containing fabrics. “There is fabric in every room of the house, except for the bathroom because that would just be gross.”

Harold and Ivy Veinot converted their sunroom into a quilting room with a long-arm Juki sewing machine, use their hallway where they shelter from storms into a design space and transformed an extra room into a sewing room.

“My favorite place in the whole house is my sewing room,” Veinot said. “Harold sits back here with me and we chat and look outside. Other quilters will also come over and we will visit here. There have been many stories, secrets, tears and laughter shared in this room.”

Quilting fills most of Veinot’s days. It has become her life’s work. But she knows her time creating quilts is limited.

“My eyesight is not good. I’ve had 24 eye surgeries. I have had two retina tears, I have glaucoma and I have no peripheral vision,” Veinot said. “I quilt because I know one day I won’t be able to. With the time I have, I want to make and give away as many quilts as possible.”