MOUNT PULASKI — A riot of colors, a variety of designs and a lot of love have gone into the lap quilts fifth- through eighth-graders at Mount Pulaski’s Zion Lutheran School are making for the Central Illinois Economic Development Corp., the county’s community action agency.

“Some have made one and others are on their second one,” said Mary Pope of Mount Pulaski. “They’re in different stages.

“It’s amazing some of the colors they pick out. I can’t believe it. But they all look pretty when they’re done.”

Pope, an avid quilter herself, is overseeing the project along with her daughter, Jean Davis, who teaches at Mount Pulaski Zion Lutheran.

Davis brings the students to her mother’s home each Monday and Wednesday morning for a 45-minute quilting session.

They cut and sew, sandwich fluffy batting between the quilt tops and linings, tie the quilts with thread and hem the edges.

And nothing goes to waste. Besides the thin strips of trimmed batting that Blake Collier tied around his neck like a scarf, then stuffed into his T-shirt to make “muscles” Wednesday, the scraps were taken back to school and given to another student who is making pillows.

“We don’t waste anything,” Pope said.

Pope anticipated that not all of the students would finish their quilts by March 19, when they will be delivered to CIEDC headquarters in Lincoln, so she pieced some extra tops and cut backs and batting.

“They still have to put them together and tie them and hem them,” she said. “They will still do the finish work.”

And they’re doing all of the work on other pieces. The group plans to present at least 10 quilts.

Students working on the project are Ryan Amidon, Lesley Wilham, Elizabeth Allen, Sylvia Klumpp, Blake Collier, Brandon Hickey, Shanyn Gibbs and Hannah Riedle.

And no, the guys don’t get teased for quilting.

Davis doesn’t allow it.

“We try to stay mission-minded,” their teacher explained. “We try to support different projects and this is just one of the projects we offer to the kids.”

Davis said the school also supports the Lincoln/Logan Food Pantry, Ronald McDonald House, St. Jude’s, the Christmas Angel Tree project, Cows for Kids (which buys cows for African families) and Support our Troops (which pays for packages to be mailed to military personnel).

“On Friday nights, we visit the residents at Vonderlieth Living Center,” Davis said. “They love that – everyone loves that.”

The fact that Davis added the quilting project to the other service projects this year should come as no surprise.

Her mother and her aunt, Alice Lessen of Emden, made and donated 600 lap and baby quilts last year in their own service project, which has spanned more than a decade.

“My sister comes every Tuesday,” Pope said. “We make mostly lap robes and baby blankets. We’ve been doing this a lot of years. Our blankets have pretty much gone everywhere.”

“Everywhere” includes the Appalachians and a mission in Wisconsin.

“Wherever there’s a need,” Pope said. “Head Start in Lincoln and WIC Baby Love in Decatur. I just delivered 12 quilts to Decatur this morning.”

Although they occasionally get donations, Pope and Lessen usually pay their own costs for the project.

“We’re pretty much self-sufficient,” Pope said.