It began as a simple request from her husband for a homemade quilt that quickly turned into a quilting passion for Chief Hospital Corpsman Sybil Magrill.

"I started quilting around 2010 when my husband bought me this fancy sewing machine and asked if I could make him a quilt," Magrill said. "I went down to the local quilt shop in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and signed up for a class."

While Magrill was still learning how to quilt, she saw the owner of the quilt shop present a special quilt to one of her Sailors during a reenlistment ceremony. This is when she was first introduced to the Quilts of Valor Foundation.

The Quilts of Valor Foundation presents quilts to service members and veterans who have served in war zones as a way to help comfort and heal them by recognizing their sacrifices in a quilt. Magrill is a member of the Tidewater Quilters Guild, which supports the local Not Forgotten Quilt of Valor Chapter.

When Magrill was heading out for deployment in 2013 with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, she figured quilting would be a great way to fill her spare time. Word got around that Magrill was on deployment sewing quilts for the foundation, and complete strangers from around the country sent her boxes of fabric to help make quilts. She said the quilts made while she was on the deployment were donated to the group, and that is how she got involved.

The latest quilt Magrill has been working on is for her fellow Naval Medical Center Portsmouth chief, Chief Hospital Corpsman James Barrier, who is reenlisting and transferring.

"When we present the quilts we try to do it in conjunction with a special event if they have one coming up," Magrill said. "I thought it would be great to do this for him, he is a great chief who takes care of his Sailors."

Donating these quilts that she spends hours putting together is personal, because she has also been deployed to a combat zone.

"I've been there, I've been boots on ground, and I've seen my guys jump over an IED (improvised explosive device) to save a Marine who just lost his legs," Magrill said. "And then I've held them while they cried afterwards because they can't believe they've just done something like that and the adrenaline has worn off."

She explained that the quilts were originally sent over to hospitals during the height of the war so the staff could wrap the injured service member in a quilt.

"The staff would transport them with a quilt," said Magrill. "When they woke up, they would have this quilt that was like a hug from home," she added. "Somebody, a complete stranger in the United States, cared enough about them to make sure they knew they were loved when they were wounded."

Now, she says, "we are trying to focus on our service members locally, to say thank you."

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