Thompson Aline Barlow has been quilting since the mid 1970s.

“It’s something I just picked up, just to have something to fill my time,” she said.

Barlow has quilts on display in every color and theme one could imagine, in her living room in Calhoun. For the past few years, she has been sending them to children being cared for at T.C. Thompson Hospital in Chattanooga.

The idea to share her quilts came after hearing a telethon benefiting T.C. Thompson on the radio.

“I wanted to do something to show I was thinking of them,” Barlow said.

She creates quilts designed to bring a smile to the faces of the children, featuring trucks, butterflies, sports themes and ballerinas.

Barlow creates these warm squares of comfort on her 1950 model pedal operated Singer sewing machine.

“A lot of quilts have been made on that sewing machine,” she said.

Barlow, who was one of 16 children, learned to sew from her mother.

“She used to make string quilts and sew across the back, I thought I could do the same thing using strips,” Barlow said.

Her method is unique in that instead of the traditional square, she uses strips of fabric, which are then sewed together to create a square shape.

This year Barlow has made 101 quilts; about half of them have been sent to T.C. Thompson, and the other half went to a nursing home in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Barlow makes the quilts out of pure benevolence, but she does admit she likes hearing from the kids.

“Every now and then I will get a thank you note, and that is nice,” she said.

Barlow also thinks of the staff at T.C. Thompson, with each package of quilts she ships to Chattanooga, she also sends a packed of pincushions she makes by hand.

Barlow, who is in her mid 80s, says she will continue making quilts for the children as long as she is physically able to do so.

“As long as I have eyes to see and hands to sew,” she said.