COVINGTON, Ga. — A Newton County woman has become a super hero in a small way by helping Atlanta’s annual science fiction-themed convention DragonCon raise funds for area charities.

Covington resident Melissa Feuer takes donated scraps of costumes worn during DragonCon and other sci-fi-related memorabilia and creates cloth items to benefit the convention’s DragonCon Superheroes program that raises money for local and national charities.

“I think it’s a fun thing,” she said. 

Many participants in DragonCon choose to create their own unique and colorful costumes for the annual Labor Day weekend event that typically draws 80,000 or more to downtown Atlanta. 

Cloth is left over from the construction and sewing process and Feuer uses some scraps convention costumers send her to create unique quilts she sends to convention organizers to auction off.

DragonCon attendees also donate the six-inch fabric squares from their collections of sci-fi-themed items, she said.

“It’s kind of a collaboration,” Feuer said. “It’s not just me. It’s a community thing.”

This year, Feuer said she created a twin-sized quilt, quilted throw and coverings for four pillows. The money they bring will benefit DragonCon’s 2021 charity Big Brothers & Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta.  

DragonCon is a 35-year-old Labor Day weekend tradition that annually brought more than 80,000 participants pre-pandemic to five downtown Atlanta hotels. After organizing it as a virtual event in 2020, about 40,000 were expected this year amid numerous required precautions against COVID-19.

Active participants routinely dress up in costumes of their favorite sci-fi or comic book characters; hear from legendary science fiction actors and authors; discuss favorite movies and gaming with experts; search among hundreds of collectibles, and even march in an annual costume parade.

Feuer is a longtime Atlanta-area freelance graphic designer who moved from Atlanta to Covington with her husband after his employment as an engineer with a Newton County industry. 

“Quilting is my hobby,” she said.

She said she has attended and participated in past conventions, while her husband is a musician who performs with a swing-era band that often performs at the event.

Feuer eventually met and stayed in touch with a number of DragonCon costumed participants in recent years on social media. 

They agreed to send scraps or other cloth associated with their costumes beginning in 2019.

Her 2019 quilt was large enough for a queen-sized bed and was auctioned to benefit the American Heart Association, she said.

She did not sew a quilt in 2020 for the virtual-only event in 2020, but did so this year as DragonCon returned to being an in-person event. 

Items sold at past charity auctions have included everything from comic books and artwork to signed photos and movie props.

For those wanting to participate virtually, visit https://dragoncon.tv.