“Why do I quilt? For the love of the vets.”

It’s all there, in the utterance. His passion is focused and straightforward. A deep love that’s both the root of his peculiar undertaking and the reason why the Vietnam veteran and former U.S. Navy diver Dennis Joynt and his wife, Lynn, spend the bulk of their time and thousands of their own dollars to weave “things” to give to embattled veterans … free of charge.

A unique (but lovely) mission: hand-making quilts that run anywhere from $200 to $300 apiece and take up to 24 hours to finish, all within the modest confines of their Cheyenne, Wyoming home.

A home they recently purchased in large part due to the size of its basement — an area they utilize to house their old-fashioned, long-arm quilting machine (it’s about 14 feet in depth).

“It’s hard to put a price on something. The price is written on the [Vietnam Veterans Memorial]. Look at these 53,000 dead. Look at the people who came back in body bags,” Dennis Joynt told a reporter with the Wyoming News. “The price of the quilt is written on the wall.”

The story of how an old grizzled serviceman biker became an avid quilter, however, needs a little more exposition than a ten-word quote.

Back in 2008, Dennis had a received some money from his parents right around Thanksgiving. In his possession were also a number of patches, with no way for them to get stitched onto his beloved, veteran-centric motorcycle vests (he annually rides in the Run for the Wall, a bike event that concludes at the memorials in DC). So, he decided to take the dough and purchase a sewing machine.

Two years later, on a a whim, he used the apparatus to produce his very first quilt: a gift to his granddaughter.

“[His wife] said, ‘You don’t quilt.'”

“And I said, ‘Yes, I do.'”

Not long after he found himself at a vets home in Kansas on visit for the American Legion, where he made a keen and fateful observation.

“Nobody had a quilt,” he said.

When he got home, he and Lynn went to work, and between them sewed about 50 quilts for the former service members at the facility. Then they joined “Quilts of Valor”, an organization that provides quilts (as symbols of gratitude) to members of the military community.

The nonprofit also regulates the quality of the cozy pieces, making sure they’re all 100% cotton, the correct size, among other important characteristics.

Since taking up the form, Joynt has also discovered that the process helps alleviate symptoms of his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

“To me it’s calming — it’s soothing. I can daydream and concentrate on other vets.”

He also stresses though that it’s a pastime they’ve undertaken together, as husband and wife — a craft and a journey that’s been fulfilling to not just him.

“It’s not her project and I’m excluded. It’s not my project and she’s excluded. We do it together.”

“Quilting has been a lifeline to both of us.”

Currently, they’re working on 20 quilts that’ll eventually be handed over to those involved in a local VA’s mental health program.

To donate to Quilts of Valor, call Marilyn Lanham at (307) 635-9246. You can also email Linda Herget at linda.herget@qovf.org.

 

Photograph: Blaine McCartney with the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.