990 QOVs and Counting........Thanks to the Keepsake Quilters in Cedar Falls, IA

Keepsake Quilters, an 80-member guild in Cedar Falls, IA has awarded 990 QOVs since January 2005 when the Guild first decided to take on this project. In addition, the Guild supplies around 100 quilts each year to the local hospice center, and they provide quilts to support the local Honor Flights as well. How does a small guild get so much accomplished??? They work hard, and they never give up.

Once a year or so, the Guild devotes a meeting to its "Quilts to Share" program. This year, the Guild invited representatives from Hospice, Honor Flights and the Quilts of Valor Foundation to speak to the Guild members about the impact the Guild's quilts make on their clients and recipients. In addition, we were invited to join the Quilts of Share workshop during the day where members gather to make quilt tops, bind quilts and sandwich tops, batting and backing. More than a dozen quilt tops were completed during the day, and we showed our newly-constructed tops at the meeting that night. Naturally, food is involved with all these activities, and I must say, the Iowa ladies fed us very well!

We brought two dozen Nebraska 4-H QOVs to share and invited Guild members to reach out to local 4-H groups to encourage participation in the QOV program at the 4-H level. Members were invited to serve as mentors for local 4-H youth QOV projects.

Browse the attached pictures to enjoy a few 4-H quilts, the set up for the Quilts to Share workshop and candids from the meeting itself.

Congratulations to the Cedar Falls Quilters for their support of wounded warriors!

Submitted by:

-- 

Sara Kenny

Central Midwest Region 5 Coordinator (NE, IA, KS