January 7, 2008

Bluffton woman’s legacy provides comfort and warmth for children

By The Associated Press & News-Banner Staff

Two dozen quilts that a Bluffton woman meticulously pieced together in the last months of her life have been donated to a group that provides handmade blankets and quilts to seriously ill infants and children.

Carol Vore, who died of cancer at age 68 on Dec. 4, knew her time was growing short in August when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Having previously battled throat cancer, she knew her prognosis was bleak.

Mrs. Vore, survived by her husband, Don, of Bluffton, was a longtime quilter and she felt a sense of urgency to get as many quilts as possible made while she still could sew, her relatives said.

Over the last four months, her sewing machine had put in countless stitches as she pieced together colorful squares of flannel, cotton and fleece.

While making them, she read on the Internet about Project Linus, a nonprofit group that provides handmade blankets and quilts to seriously ill, grieving or traumatized infants and children.

Vore decided to devote the rest of her days to making quilts for Project Linus.

And the sicker she became, the more intensely she worked to complete more quilts, said her son, Steve Vore, who lives in the Upland area.

“She went crazy making quilts,” said Steve Vore, who’s wife, Cheryl, and his sisters — even the grandchildren — also caught the Project Linus bug from Carol Vore.

Now, the legacy of her last months will be wrapped around young sick children facing surgery, enduring chemotherapy or recovering from a major trauma in their lives.

On Friday, the Vores delivered 16 quilts to Project Linus’ Fort Wayne office. Another eight are on their way as soon as some finishing touches are made.

“Her only regret is that she did not feel well enough the last month to complete more quilts,” Steve Vore said, adding that he plans to donate stacks of her fabric pieces.

At Thanksgiving, the Vores realized that, although she had always made quilts for others, she’d never made one for herself.

So the children and grandchildren secretly put together a special quilt — a soft green one — for their mother and grandmother.

That quilt was to be a Christmas gift, but Carol Vore’s health was rapidly declining and they gave it to her early.

“It brought her a lot of comfort the last few days,” Cheryl Vore said of the quilt.

After his mother’s death, Steve Vore sent an e-mail to Peggy Albertson, chapter coordinator of Project Linus in Fort Wayne, offering his mother’s quilts.

“I’ve never received such a letter,” said Albertson, who remembers the emotions she felt when reading of Carol Vore’s love of quilting for others. “I know how much the blankets mean to these children, but they will never know the story behind them.”

In 2007, the Fort Wayne chapter of Project Linus delivered 11,761 quilts to northeast Indiana children. In 2008 and beyond, Carol Vore’s legacy will wrap love and care around scores of other youngsters.

“How very honored we are,” Albertson said, “that she chose Project Linus for a project she poured so much of her heart into.”

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