New in the QOVF shop for 2011!

Apparel - New T-Shirt, Sweatshirt and Apron

Accessories - 2 different License Plate frames and a dog tag

Quilting Items - 2 new labels

Under Our Wings - Coach Apron, Coach & Rookie Buttons - A tote bag and a nice lapel pin.

Check them out at: http://www.qovf.org/shop/index.php

Help Wanted for MQX East

Jackie Dudek MQX East is coming up in April! If anyone is planning on attending, I'll be more than happy to have some help in the QOV booth. Just working on setting up the schedule so there are still spots available to help.... and even if we were super full, I'd still love to have you stop by and see what the booth has to offer..... always room for a fellow QOV'er! Remember, bring your completed QOV with presentation case and label and receive a chance to win spectacular prizes each day of the show!!!! Contact me at jackiedudek@gmail.com

Ripples

I had an experience at the grocery store recently that blew me away! I thought I'd share, just to show how QOVF works so well.

I have some of the QOV shopping bags that I use every time I go to the store. This one day as the checker opened the bag she read the inscription aloud, "Quilts of Valor Foundation. What's that?" So I replied, "We make quilts to comfort our veterans touched by war." She *literally* gasped, clasped her hands over her stomach and stepped back, wide eyed. When she recovered she said, "I'm a veteran, so anything done to show support to our military is touching, but this one *really* takes me aback. My brother is in Afghanistan now, his fifth tour, and just yesterday was selected to head a group of 40 men to watch for symptoms of pending suicide." As she continued to ring up my order we talked about how war has touched those we know and kept saying "God Bless you." I finally told her that it was she and the other veterans who should be receiving that blessing, not me! "Oh no," she said, "and pass on my blessing to all of the rest of your quilter friends." So to you all..........God Bless you, too!

Today I was back in that same store and she spotted me going down an aisle. She came out of her check stand and gave me a big hug.......stopping everyone around to tell them about our mission. I think my next quilt will be going to her for her to send to her brother in Afghanistan.

Linda K., Oregon and Alaska
http://www.flickr.com/photos/h_and_l_kau/

New Quilters

I have had such fun with "under our wings" even though I didn't know there was a program when I started! Last summer a friend called to ask if I had any projects that would keep her teenage daughter busy over the summer. So I said, "Well, we could make some Quilts of Valor!" Every Tuesday, the 14-yr old came over to sew. By the end of July we had 2 finished tops! We even made a star pattern backing when we heard that the police were going to sponsor a "Safe Night Out" picnic in our park. Neely and her brother took the backing to the picnic and got signatures from the police chief, the sheriff, the K-9 handler, the district attorney and lots of police and fire fighters. The 2 finished quilts with journals and photos were sent to Afghanistan.
Then another young friend saw the quilt tops and said that she wanted to make a quilt, too. So she and I met after work 1 evening a week and just recently sent the top to a longarmer. She is so excited!
Now I'm making plans to work with some high school students when we have a QOV exhibit at the Broomfield Veterans Memorial Museum in Broomfield, CO.

Becky Fellows
Boulder, CO

A Gift For A Soldier

Back in Feb. of 2010 I asked my grandson Riley Wuebbels age 7, if he wanted to make a quilt with me for a soldier that had been injured in the war. A soldier that was fighting for our freedom here in America! I wanted him to understand what this was all about. If we do not teach our young how precious our freedom is and the sacrifices others make on our behalf they will not understand the value of FREEDOM. He thought about it and said “Yes, grandma I would like to do that.” So, I picked out a simple block pattern called rail fence and added a border. I thought it would be easy enough so that he would not get frustrated, thinking he couldn’t do it. Then we needed to go pick out fabric. Riley was not intimidated at all. He jumped right in. Ever sense Riley was a small boy he has always loved the American flag. So what fabric did he choose? Fabric with an American flag! He chose the fabrics and seems to have an eye for color. Getting ready, I had all the fabric washed, ironed and cut, so when he got here, all I had to focus on was teaching him. I put a piece of tape on the arm of the sewing machine, next to the foot, so that he knew how to keep the fabric straight to be able to sew a straight ¼ inch seam. I have a sewing machine that has buttons on it, for reverse and to cut thread. He told me how he loves the buttons. Each seam he did he couldn’t wait to use the buttons again! It kept him intrigued! When he would veer off to far, he would say, “a oh grandma” and instantly I knew we needed to stop, and rip a little. I explained to him how we needed to do a really good job and that we needed to stay on schedule to get the quilt top done on time. Riley would call me in between sessions and ask if he could come over and work on making the quilt. And of course, we did! I took pictures of him using the machine and his accomplishments. When the quilt top was done he was thrilled! I asked my daughter Kimberly (Riley’s Mom) if he could be at the Quilts Of Valor Marathon to present the quilt to a soldier. That soldiers name was Trey Monroe, a Vietnam veteran. The day came Sept. 10, 2010 with excitement in the air! The whole family came Mom, Dad and siblings. Riley was very excited. He knew today was the day to give the quilt, he made, away to someone very special! Riley and I received a very heartfelt Thank you card from Trey. A Thank you I will treasure! I will never forget the experience and I hope my grandson never forgets as well!! ~ Rhonda


Submitted by: Suzie Haas (Rhonda's sister)

Gulf Coast Honors Returning Marines

   QOVF quilters across the country provided the 80 quilts presented at a USMC Returning Warrior Workshop January 28-30 in Pensacola, Florida.  The event provided topics designed to help the attending Reserve Marines reintegrate with their families and local communities.

   At the Saturday Banquet of Honor, they received awards from the Marine Corps and then were gifted with the beautiful patriotic quilts that had been hidden at the back of the room.  The response to this surprise was an awesome experience as well for the four local quilters who attended as representatives of all the contributing quilters.
   "Their first reaction was an astounding 'This is for us?  WOW!'," said Roberta Speh of Foley, Alabama.  "Then they gave the quilters a standing ovation.  Later we all received many hugs and individual thanks."

"They are all so young to have seen so much," commented Ginger Maddox who brought fellow quilters Lynette Caulkins and Kim Colpitts from the Flying Needles Quilt Guild of Niceville, Florida.  "The recipients appreciated the amount of work in the quilts and were pleased to be able to thank us in person."

   The four women agreed it was a blessing to be there.  Maddox had also volunteered to serve as the collection point for the majority of the quilts while Speh collected quilts from Mobile and Pensacola.  Once again, the QOVF quilting community showed its continued support for our military servicemenbers who sacrifice so much and for their families who also sacrifice much during deployments.

   Returning Warrior Workshops(RWW) are an ongoing effort hosted by the Navy and Marine Corps.  Sue Wolf of North Carolina is the quilt organizer for many of these.  She maintains a list of volunteers that she calls upon when notified by CDR Shelly Scheibeler, a Navy chaplain assigned to the Marine Corps and RWW coordinator.
   "The quilts are awesome," said Wolf.  "I call them Stars of Hope."

   "It is overwhelmingly powerful to see the sheer delight of the Marines when they receive the quilts," stated Chaplain Scheibeler.  "But the capstone that always brings tears to my eyes is how the Warriors and Families treat the quilters as heroes when they find they are secretly sitting amidst them in the dinner.  Marines are tough, but having the quilters present makes them melt as they so appreciate the phenomenal gifts they have received."

Temecula, CA seamstresses meet every Friday morning to sew quilts for soldiers.

http://temecula.patch.com/articles/local-volunteers-make-quilts-for-vets

In the back of The Quilters Coop in Old Town Temecula, local women gather every Friday to create colorful and meaningful quilts for military members.

Over the gentle hum and tics of sewing machines, Norma Enfield gave updates and instructions to the group.

Enfield founded the Temecula branch of Quilts of Valor in 2008 to fill a need, she said. “My friend Beverly and I had been making patriotic quilts for years to give away, and this seemed to be a perfect fit as a way to keep giving back,” Enfield explained while cutting fabric. “Plus, they didn't have many chapters in California, so I decided to sign up to make it official.”

Military veterans and men currently serving are usually blown away when they receive quilts the volunteers create, she said. (click the above link to read the remainder of the story...)

4H Members in Central Nebraska make QOVs

http://www.khastv.com/news/local/4-Hers--117840874.html

From the website:

Central Nebraska children join together to do their part for injured military members. 4H kids from Adams County are in the process of making quilts for a national organization called Quilts of Valor.

The quilts are pieced together and machine quilted by the 4-Hers in Adams Country and other counties throughout the state. Adams County 4Her's alone are making 9 to 10 quilts for the project.

Friday they worked on three different quilts and they will be working on more in the future.

Organizers said this is a great way for children to learn how to give back.

"I think the most important thing is having the youth involved, teaching the youth community service, giving back to the service people who have given so much for their country for us," said Julie Ochsner.

The quilts will be displayed at the Adams County Fair and they will be presented to the Quilts of Valor National director at the Nebraska State Fair later on this summer.

The quilts will then be distributed to wounded military men and women though out the United States.

If you would like to donate red, white, and blue cotton fabric for the project you can contact Julie at the Adams County Extension Office for more information.

Region 1 - CA, AZ, NV, UT

QOV was on display on February 11 and 12, 2011, during the Valley Quilters Guild Quilt Show. There were muslin squares (45” X 45”) available for people to sign or add some artwork. A total of eight of these squares were completed by those attending the show. A lot of people knew about the organization and generously donated funds for future supplies. This is a great way to get funding since the works of the quilters were displayed on the walls in the hallway leading to the QOV area as well as in the QOV space. One quilt was awarded to an 80+ former woman Marine, she selected the quilt with the eagle by the doorway. Interestingly, an 84 year-old woman made six of these quilts and was quite proud of her work inviting her neighbors to come and see them as well. People came through the door, signed the partial backings and dropped some folding money in the container to boot. In other words, a fun time was had by all; and honoring our Veterans was the theme.

~Suzanne Wade, Regional Coordinator

Gwinnett QOVF Quilters

Over the past 6 months our Gwinnett Quilts of Valor Quilters group has been blessed with financial support from the Georgia Sons of the American Revolution. We've used their donations to purchase backing, batting, and pay shipping for our QOV's. To thank them for their support (and to encourage a continued partnership) we made them a special quilt called Burgoyne Surrounded. This is a well known pattern and depicts a real battle in the Revolutionary War. The surrender of the British General John Burgoyne and his troops at Saragota, NY was a turning point in the war and brought Spain and France to the side of the young republic.

We weren't sure how to best use this quilt. We decided not to make it a QOV, but to use it to publicize Quilts of Valor efforts. We just received word that the National Sons of the American Revolution Museum in Louisville, Kentucky has agreed to accept it for permanent display. So we will display it at various Quilt Shows and SAR events around the state, and in September we will present it to the Museum in Kentucky.

I am attaching the label for the back of the quilt. Our hope is that as a permanent display it can serve to publicize Quilts of Valor, and to highlight the relationship we have had with our state chapters. We even hope this might encourage chapters in other areas to support QOV quilters in their area.

It seems fitting that the heirs of our first freedom fighters would be a key part of our QOV efforts to express our thanks and admiration for those who serve, and who have served to protect the freedoms we enjoy today. It seems trite to say that 'freedom is not free' but this is an organization that recognizes that fact and supports our veterans and active service men and women in many ways.

Friday night (2/4/11) was the Georgia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution state meeting. I presented certificates to the individuals and chapter's which had made donations and we displayed the quilt, Burgoyne Surrounded, for the first time. We received donations Friday from 2 individuals and one of them challenged all the Georgia chapters to support our efforts. This group is quite active in working with VA hospitals throughout the state. This might be a source of support to other groups around the country who need resources for fabric, etc.

~Susan Gordon