OTTUMWA — I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t enjoy a quilt at some point during our four seasons in southeast Iowa.

Winter is the most popular time, I’m sure. A quilt or a lap robe is wonderful for staying warm while you’re watching TV or working at your computer and the thermostat is at 68 degrees.

What I like even more than quilts are the quilt makers. May the good Lord bless each one many times.

Recently Jim Leichty invited me to meet the Y Women, who work on quilts every Wednesday at Julia’s (Jim’s restaurant), 529 W. Main St. After the YWCA closed, he offered the women a work area at one end of his dining room.

Sitting at a two-seater table were Barbara Grindle and Betty Black. Working at a long table near the two-seater were Kathleen Lawson, Helen Luke, Ruth Stocker, Donna Rae Stevens, Francine Lawrence, Shirley Luke and Jane Smith.

That Wednesday was particularly special because the women had invited Agency Fire Chief Mike Holcomb to pick up some quilts to give to fire victims.

“How many would you like?” Jane said.

“Could I have five?” he said.

Jane smiled, gathered up five quilts off the end of the work table and handed them to Mike.

“In January we had a fire at 2 a.m. It was a rental place and a total loss,” he said. “I had to tell them they couldn’t stay there and I gave away a couple of quilts that night.”

Getting warm quilts in a tough situation like that seems like “the light at the end of the tunnel,” he said. “The quilts look nice and the ladies put their hearts and souls into these.”

Barbara said the women had been making quilts since before the YWCA closed.

“Way too long to remember,” Betty said. “The first batch we did at the YW was baby blankets.”

Their quilts have also been given to patients at Children’s Blank Memorial Hospital, Hospice, all the Veterans Administration hospitals, all the nursing homes, the Red Cross, the Homeless Center (twin-sized quilts) and the Crisis Center.

“Since September 2005, we’ve given away 291 quilts,” Barbara added.