Woman finds comfort in comforting others
Carol Buffington makes quilts for those serving in the military
It all started when Hauser Lake resident Carol Buffington decided to send a homemade quilt to her son, Eric, who was serving in Iraq last Christmas.
“Many of the servicemen never receive anything from home, so Eric asked me to send extra things,” Buffington says.
Buffington did just that and found bringing comfort to soldiers also brought comfort to herself.
After her son returned home, Buffington decided she was going to continue to sew quilts for the men and women serving in the military.
“It makes me feel like I am doing something that counts,” says Buffington. “It is a small way to give back to our soldiers for the sacrifices they make for us.”
Buffington learned to sew at the age of 9 for 4-H. Her mom was an avid seamstress and felt it important that Buffington also learn. She has been sewing “up a storm” ever since.
“I recently purchased a new Pfaff – my other machine bit the dust after 26 years,” Buffington says with a chuckle.
Buffington, who worked as a drug and alcohol technician at Kootenai Health, left her job to help care for her terminally ill father. Then seven years ago her youngest son was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and Buffington searched for something to keep her mind busy.
That’s when she started quilting. Buffington searches for fabrics, sews, quilts and sometimes gets help from an aunt in Oklahoma. Her last quilt was pieced together using Crown Royal whiskey bags donated by a liquor store.
A few months ago Buffington presented a quilt to Staff Sgt. Justin Coons of the Idaho National Guard. Coons returned home to Hayden from Iraq after serving on a security team, completing numerous combat missions, and receiving a Combat Action Badge and Bronze Star.
She is currently working on a patriotic-themed quilt that will be given to Sgt. First Class Stanley VanDoren, who recently returned home from Iraq. VanDoren was stationed with the Readiness NCO Brigade Support Battalion Company B145 from November 2004 to October 2005. He is an Idaho National Guard squad leader with the 116th Engineering Co.
Buffington says quilting is a “labor of love.”
“Hours of work and tons of love go into every quilt,” says Buffington. “My hope is that they bring comfort and healing to those who receive them.”