LONDONDERRY -- The truth is, sewing isn't exactly senior Gina Marie DeCola's favorite pastime.

Still, stitch by stitch this past semester, the Londonderry High School student's quilted creation began to come together, one fabric scrap at a time.

“I wasn't really into this at first,” she admitted on Friday, as she held a threaded needle between her teeth like a seasoned seamstress. “But I was surprised to find out I could make something so pretty.”

Even more surprising, perhaps, is the fact that DeCola and several of her classmates in teacher Ann Gonyea's Family and Consumer Science class aren't keeping the finished products for themselves.

DeCola's quilt, made with the help of sophomore Brianna Cantone, will be given away at the end of the semester.

For the past decade or so, Gonyea has encouraged her students to pay-it-forward by making quilts and pillowcases for those truly in need of one of life's simple comforts.

While attending an educational conference many years back, Gonyea learned that the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Committee was seeking handmade quilts to distribute to children suffering from HIV and AIDS.

She was intrigued.

“We've probably made over 100 quilts over the years,” said Gonyea, noting that her students have also sewn pillowcases for use in children's hospital wards.

Over the past several years, Gonyea's students have been sewing quilts to be used by the local homeless, particularly children who have been affected by poverty.

At the end of each semester, the quilts are brought to the Manchester YWCA, where they're distributed to those who need them most. The quilts' creators will never get a chance to meet the folks whose lives they've touched.

The students learn to quilt by hand and with the use of a sewing machine.

“I think it's important for them to learn about giving back,” Gonyea said. “They're also using skills they can take with them as adults. They're using their own creativity by picking out their colors and fabrics.”

With quilting whiz (and school guidance counselor) Carolyn Ferguson on hand to offer some pointers, this semester's class of 10 students began working on the quilts in early spring.

On Thursday morning, three quilts were near completion, including a bright blue and yellow one with prints of Peanuts characters splashed all over it.

Junior Courtney Buswell finished the sports-themed child's quilt she plans to donate and is now working on a bubble-gum-pink quilt she said will eventually adorn her college dorm.

“I didn't think (quilting) would be this hard,” she said with a laugh. “But it's really cool to be able to help someone in need.”

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April Guilmet may be reached at AGuilmet@newstote.com.