Fort Hood WTB Soldiers enjoying new challenge of 'threads and seams'

Over at Fort Hood Warrior Transition Brigade's Rough Rider Village, Soldiers are huddling behind the eye of a needle preparing for battle, eagerly waiting to rev up their machines. Slowly and gently, they press the on the foot pedal and immediately, the hard-thumping clunks of the machines turn into a whirlwind of noise.

The conversations cease, and the smiles began.

The Soldiers have just conquered the battle of the seams, the first sewing step in WTB's new quilting class.

"Wow, this is awesome," said Maj. Wayne Williamson, as he inspects his creation, marveling at his first-ever seam. "And it's straight. I'm pretty proud of it."

"Well, you should be proud of yourself," says volunteer instructor, Kathleen Thompson, who reminds her pupils to 'hold on to the two tails under the foot' when putting thread to fabric. "You've never sewn and in 15 minutes on the sewing machine, you already have a great seam.

Forget about perfection. It's the effort that matters, and what compels her to teach others what she has learned in the 25 years she has been quilting.

"It makes me happier that they are trying because every time you try something new, you're moving forward in life," said the professional quilter who needs a crate to haul her quilting business from one duty station to another. "I just love teaching, although it was never my goal," adding that her first students were the three daughters she shares with her husband, Col. Mark Thompson, commander, Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center.

The new class is part of the WTB's Adaptive Reconditioning Program (ARP) that assists wounded, ill and injured Soldiers in their recovery, healing and transitioning. The quilting class is a recreational therapy alternative for Soldiers with limitations preventing them from participating in physically challenging activities and sports.

"Soldiers are always saying they can't go out and do the sports stuff that we offer here, and this is a different thing they can do to get them out of the normal routine and do something fun," said WTB Soldier, Staff Sgt. Kristie Weems. "I think it's pretty neat and a wonderful opportunity to learn something new."

For Williamson, it was just something he wanted to do.

"It was an opportunity," said Williamson who regularly cycles with the WTB's Project Hero cycling club. "If nothing else, I can learn how to sew a seam."

The WTB Soldier, who is the new ARP program manager, said he also had another motive: saving money.

"Invariably, something at the house breaks, and you want to be able to fix it, but you don't know how," he said. "Why should I pay someone to fix it when I could lean a few things and be able to mend and sew stuff on my own?"

Before the class, Williamson said he had never operated a sewing machine, although he would watch his grandmother sew and repair things. He admitted he was apprehensive and afraid of making a mistake at first, but said he quickly got over it.

"Once I got over the angst of feeling like I might screw up, it really relaxed me," he said. "It's just crazy and amazing how much enjoyment I had in creating a seam. It's very soothing, too. I still can't believe my seam actually looked like a seam. Yep, I can handle this."

Thompson has been teaching for more than six years and was exploring new opportunities when the WTB's senior spouse, Paulette Woodall, approached her about teaching Soldiers how to sew and quilt. With borrowed sewing machines from Fort Hood's Apache Arts and Crafts Center, the class was launched late November.

"We wanted to do some kind of quilting, and not just sewing," she said, adding that the class's first project, a mini-table runner, provides the students with practical experience on basic quilting techniques. "It encompasses a lot of things--piecing two layers of fabric and binding together to create three layers, with quilting the actual stitching that makes the design."

Thompson emphasized that when finished, Soldiers have something they can touch and feel.

"Quilting is very tactile," she said, "It's also a distraction because when I'm quilting, I focus on the project and don't have to worry about anything else going on in my life. It may not be museum quality, but it's still art and something I created."

The class brought back high-school memories of home economics to Staff Sergeant Weems.

"It was like a remedial sewing class," she said, adding that she hasn't sewn anything since high school but is taking the class because she wanted to make a quilt.

It also is a distraction for her.

"All you focus on is your fabric and what you are trying to do to it to make that seam straight," she said. "It's been very relaxing and fun."

WTB's next quilting class will be in January.

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