Austin Reno, 4, sleeps away the afternoon under a new quilt at Lawrence Head Start. Forty quilts were donated by the Kaw Valley Quilter's Guild, and children were using them Thursday for their nap session.

The 20 afternoon preschoolers of the Lawrence Head Start program get comfy and wrap themselves in quilts after lunchtime for a nice nap.

“A lot of love goes into those quilts for our kids, and it’s wonderful,” said Carolyn Kelly, Head Start director.

The quilts are the result of months of sewing and stitching by members of the Kaw Valley Quilter’s Guild.

The guild has about 150 members from Lawrence, Topeka, Kansas City and the area, and its quilters have sewn for Head Start since the early 1990s.

“You have a talent and an interest and you’d like to see it put to use. It’s nice to see something be used for somebody who needs it,” said Julie McEathron, of Lawrence, chairwoman of the guild’s Love Quilt project.

Guild members begin planning the project every December, and members can split up sewing duties or they can work to complete a whole quilt individually, McEathron said.

They use specific kits and donated supplies to create the 40 quilts.

“It really is a group effort,” McEathron said. “One person can start and complete one, but some people don’t like to sew the binding on, so they give it to somebody else to finish. The quilts just magically get done and come together.”

The guild members deliver the 40-by-45-inch quilts at the beginning of each school year – a happy day for the preschoolers, Kelly said.

Because of the quilt program’s years of success and the guild’s strong membership numbers, the Kaw Valley quilters hope to expand their drive to benefit other area charities next year.

The guild’s members meet monthly at Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vt. The Community Children’s Center Head Start program – a free preschool that serves children with special needs or from low-income families – also uses the church.

“The children appreciate the quilts during nap and rest time, and it’s just a great collaboration with us and with our community,” Kelly said.