After countless hours, the Crowder Softstitchers are putting the final touches on their quilt, Rays of Sunshine.

“Last year, the members took home as many of the quilt blocks that they wanted to quilt and then brought them back here,” said Judy Carter, a member of the group. “They were hand-stitched.”

Rays of Sunshine is an oversized queen quilt, with yellow and green being two of the main colors on it. Once the blocks are complete, they are brought back each Tuesday to the United Methodist Church Christian Life Center, where volunteers have been working on the final touches. They hold their meetings at the Crowder College Longwell Museum on the first Thursday of the month.

“The main purpose for the quilt is it is our main fundraiser,” Carter said. “We do a lot of community service projects in the area.”

Some of the projects that the guild participates in include“Shop with a Cop,” nursing homes, school supplies, Ronald McDonald House, Help Center, books for Crowder College, the Neosho-Newton County Library, SFE at Crowder, the Food Basket Brigade, Crosslines, Operation Home Front Quilts, phone cards for soldiers in Iraq and pet pads for the Joplin Humane Society.

“We have a lot of fun doing these quilts and fellowship,” Carter added.

Carter said that after the quilting is done, then someone would take the quilt home with them for its finishing touches.

The quilting guild began back in the 1980s.

Carter started quilting with the group a couple of years ago.

“I have made quilts for each one of my children,” said Carter. “They are heirlooms now because they are all hand done, and I am now staring on quilts for the grandchildren. It is a good outlet for your creative urges that you have.”

Once completed, the quilt will be shown throughout the area. Tickets are $1 for one or six for $5. It will be raffled off in late February or early March 2009 at the annual quilt show at Crowder College’s Longwell Museum.

For tickets on the quilt, contact Carter at 472-3897 or other Softstitchers.

In conjunction with the quilts, the guild has provided some unique historical items at the Neosho-Newton County Library.

The display is of quilts, books, thread and other items of interest. It is also in recognition of National Quilt Month for March.

In the past shows, each of the quilts shown at the annual show are unique.

“It seems to me, if you do all of it by hand it just means more,” said Carter. “I have a quilt that my great-grandmother made. The blocks are the size of postage stamps and quilt is a full.”