Group Sews T-Shirt Quilt for Late Veteran's Family

Story originally published by The Courier 

The Ohio Bluffton Scrap Artist Quilters are known for making quilts and sending them to veterans in Texas; they've been doing it for several years, in fact. However, their charity hit close to home when they were put in contact with the local family of late veteran Tommy Dawson of Arlington, Ohio, through their local veterans service office.

With a group of 25-30 people, the quilters got to work on creating quilts out of some of Tommy's old T-shirts. Because of the abundance of fabric and shirts, the group was able to make a total of five quilts-one for each member of his immediate family. Each quilt evoked nostalgia, said Tommy's daughter, Emily.  Some of the T-shirts in the quilt include Ohio State University-themed pieces, a shirt he wore during his time as a coach for his sons' sports teams, and a black-and-white shirt that Tommy "wore to everything."

Tommy served in Japan, Kuwait and near Mount Fuji developing communications systems during his time in the Marines before he developed Still's disease and had to leave the forces. Though he was sick, he never stopped being an involved parent. "Anything he did, it was for the kids, with the kids," Bill Dawson, Tommy's father, told The Courier.