MOBILE, Ala. — A ceremony on Dec. 20 marked the completion of a project by employees of the Transportation Security Administration and the Mobile Airport Authority to create handmade quilts for combat-wounded service members. The project started this past Sept. 11.

“It is with much honor and respect that we prepared these quilts for our brave service members,” said Gail Linkins, federal security director at Mobile Regional Airport. “It was very rewarding for the more than 60 people who worked on these quilts to know how it would make service members feel to get something like this from home.”

TSA employees at MOB and the Mobile Airport Authority were organized into teams to design, cut and sew fabric into seven patriotic-themed quilts which will be presented to the Quilts of Valor Foundation.

The sewing was done with a machine that was used in Iraq by Andrew Johnson, MOB assistant federal security director.

Johnson, a sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, used the machine to sew on patches for fellow service members while deployed in Iraq.

Since its formation in 2003, the Quilts of Valor Foundation has provided nearly 14,000 volunteer-made quilts to the nation's service members. Information about the foundation may be found online at qovf.org.

Visit tsa.gov for more information about the TSA workforce.