After the 9/11 attacks, Country Home magazine asked its readers to send in red, white, and blue quilt squares to raise money for charity. It was an inspirational time to be on staff at the magazine. Getting the mail each day was a joy: Over several months, we received 1,325 quilt squares from all
50 states.
Under the direction of my friend and managing editor Lori Blachford, we enlisted volunteers to stitch the squares into quilts, then auctioned them off on eBay. We raised more than $65,000, which was donated to the Uniformed Firefighters’ Association Widows’ and Children’s Fund. One extra-special quilt is on permanent display at
the Pentagon.