Plains man makes quilt for wounded soldiers

ne Sanders County man has decided to use his artistic skills to help wounded soldiers returning from the war in the Middle East.

Kenton T. Pies of Plains is working on a patriotic quilt that he plans to send to the Veterans Administration hospital at Fort Harrison in Helena for military men and women who had been wounded during the war. From there, the 50-inch by 70-inch red, white and blue quilt may go on to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., or another military hospital. Pies finished the quilt last week and displayed at his church, the Plains Bible Chapel.

Pies' quilt resembles an American flag with red and white stripes and a red heart among a blue field of stars. He said he designed it so that when the quilt covered a person, the quilt's heart would be over the person's heart.

The 75-year-old U.S. Army veteran first got the idea a few months ago at a quilting workshop in Polson, where he met Peggy Olson, who, along with several other residents of Lake County, were making quilts for injured military men and women. Olson said they got the idea from the Quilts of Valor Foundation, a nationwide organization that gives quilts to wounded soldiers and sailors. Olson also let Pies use her high powered sewing machine for portions of his quilt. Some of the materials were donated to him by a Missoula quilt shop.

"I've wanted to know what God wanted me to do with my talents and this is one direction to go," said Pies, who served as a draftsman with the Army for three years during the 1950s. "I think there's going to be a demand for this kind of quilt because it's something that hasn't been done before," he said. "I've had much favorable reaction to my design." He guessed that he's got between 25 to 30 hours into the project.

Pies started on the quilt about a month ago and did most of the work on his own sewing machine at home. Some of the work was done by hand by him and his wife, Barbara, who also helped him complete the binding, which will have to be done by hand, too. Barbara Farrington of The Quilting House in Thompson Falls also helped him with the quilt on the store's long arm quilting machine last Wednesday. Farrington said a group of Thompson Falls residents have made quilts for the soldiers.

In 2005, Pies retired from Kenton Designs, a mason and sign-making business in Seattle, after 55 years. Pies' business included rock, metal and wooden sculptures. He was commissioned to make signs for several Red Lion Motels. He's lived in Plains for almost two years. In early December, he offered Plains Town Council to help come up with a theme for signs or artwork for the town. He gave council members five ideas, such as mountain lodge, western or horse themes.

Pies has been a designer most of his life, starting as a youngster in Wisconsin. He doesn't recall how many things he's painted or carved, but he believes he's done more than 100 rock sculptures. He started dabbling in quilts once he retired, but had watched his wife quilt and wanted to try it someday. The soldier's quilt is his fifth piece, but he's won awards in Thompson Falls, Plains and Missoula with all four of his previous wildlife quilts of various sizes, including a first place at the Sanders County Fair. He also plans to display quilts at Clark Fork Valley Hospital's art exhibit.

He's planning to make a 3-D buffalo quilt and is experimenting with leather quilting, which he wants to make with a "Code of the West" theme. He already has a mock-up drawing of it on his wall at home. Pies said he's excited about quilting and has a lot of ideas in file folders. He picks up ideas for designs and techniques from quilt magazines, books and photographs. He plans to add quilts to his Web site. He would like to put together a combination text/coffee table book someday to document his life's works of art.

"I'm a life-long designer, so it was natural for me to switch from canvas to fabric," he said. "I just had to learn the technique."

He wants to make five other quilts for the returning military, with slightly different patriotic themes. However, he's looking for people to help with donations of materials or funds for the materials. "Since it is for our great military personnel I don't intend to make money at it, but I need all expenses covered," he said. Pies said he's donated the work, design and travel to the quilt, which he said would be commercially valued between $1,000 to $1,200 for the first quilt. "I need to find a way to produce many of these. I can't afford to front all these expenses. I'm sure if God wants me to do this, He'll provide a way, but I'm inquiring to get the process rolling," said Pies, who changed his first name from Tom to Kenton in 1954. "We need to do a lot more for them because they're losing their limbs and their friends."

Pies said that art is his life and he plans to continue doing it in retirement. "Maybe I'm busier now," he said, "but now I'm busy doing fun things."