Report from Maine MaDDay

Joline Frazier to june

The Monday Morning Quilters, which is a small group in a small town in Maine, have made and sent 29 quilts this year with 6 more in the works. Of these 9 have gone to active combat areas to cover our wounded heros on their flights home. Others have gone to VA hospitals and veterans individually. We hope to be sending the 6 we have in progress to a hospital in Afghanistan where a Navy Nurse distributes them to the wounded.
Keep quilting, it is the very least we can do for those who so bravely fight for us.

A great way to involve your friends/family in making a QOV - get them to donate fabric!

In August of last year (2009), I asked almost all of my family members and friends for a quarter-yard of new batik fabric (their choice of color and style) and from those fabrics I promised to make a quilt for the Quilts of Valor Foundation. I called it the Batik Challenge. My husband cautioned me to not have high expectations. When I wrote to people asking for contributions, I was clear that I was not keeping track of who gave and who didn't. I truly wanted this to be a gift from the heart. I just figured that if even only 10% of the folks I asked contributed one piece of fabric, I'd have enough to do something with, even if I ended up adding the rest, and that would make a neat story quilt. I asked for batiks mostly because they are pure joy to work with, but as most quilters know, they tend to blend easily with each other.

My husband was the first contributor, naturally. He's pretty good about stuff like that and his masculinity wasn't compromised by going to a quilting shop. And bit by bit, pieces of fabric started showing up in the mail. As each submission would come in, I would "ooh and ahh" over it (or them - sometimes people gave more than one piece) and then add it to the ever-growing stash. When 1 Jan rolled around (the deadline for contributions was 31 December), I couldn't wait to get them all out and start figuring out how to use them. I was stunned by the amount of fabrics to work with. There were so many, in fact, that I was able to group them into two distinct categories and make two quilts. The first one was a bright, tropical one (which was wonderfully cheering in dreary January), for which I used a complex block pattern to really show off the colors and prints. The second quilt was a rich, more sombre-toned one, and I did a sampler block theme in order to use the varying sizes of batik fabric submitted.

Not only did I ask my family and friends for the fabric, but I asked them to name who they were donating in the honor of and where they bought the fabric. It was interesting to print that list off (it was sent with each quilt) and see the giant web of connections that went into making these two quilts.

The generosity and outpouring of love and support for our troops from my family and friends underscored why I am honored to be associated with and part of them.



Kim Burke
Newark, OH

Destination Confirmation

If you are concerned about your quilts when you send them off, do what I do. Pay a little more at the post office for “Delivery Confirmation” and you will be able to go on-line to track where your package is and when it was received. I have found it very helpful with each and every quilt that I have sent off in the past few years. It’s good to remember that Red Cross volunteers and chaplains are very busy in their work with our veterans and this simple step relieves them of the responsibility of sending of letters for each and every quilt. I also include a note in the package thanking the volunteer/chaplain for their service, too. And I also remind them that I do not need a thank you note since I’ve used delivery confirmation.

Hope this idea is helpful, Bonnie Camp (Waukesha, WI)

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About the concern for whether our quilts get to their destinations, I have the following suggestion:

I include a self-addressed, stamped post card with the quilt, etc. I ask the point of contact person to mail it back to me. You can purchase already stamped post cards at the post office for $.28 each which is a small sum to pay for the piece of mind knowing your quilt was delivered to the intended person.

Marti Zimmerle

martiz9327@aol.com

Help is needed in Kandahar

Good Morning, My name is Karan Hancock, I have done several Quilts Of Valor. My husband is a Navy Seabee that is presently deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan. Recently, his unit Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 18 (NMCB18) found out something disturbing that I think you could help with.

Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 18 (NMCB 18) is a reserve Navy Seabee unit that has been deployed to Afghanistan. The base where they are living is also the place where wounded Army personnel are brought for treatment. These are the service members that are not urgent enough to be transported to Germany, but are too injured to go back to their unit. The wounded warriors can be at this camp for a couple of days or a couple of weeks. It all depends on how fast the Army can get orders for them to go home or to go back to their unit. During this time the wounded warriors are given a cot in a huge tent. All they have are the clothes on their backs which are often dirty, bloody and cut open from getting medical treatment. As a result, many stay in their tents, in their battered clothing, with nothing to do.

When NMCB 18 saw this, they jumped into action to help. They built shelves, chairs, and a deck and requested that the folks back home send toiletries.

Here is a list of things that are needed: soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste; blankets; bedding; small towels; socks; Crocs(footwear men’s sizes 9-11); t-shirts; underwear; sweat pants; sweat shirts; and books. They request clothing sizes to vary in sizes from Medium on up. The colder it gets the more important the warm clothing will become. Try to keep things unisex in color.

All the items can be shipped to:

UCCM Ralph Hancock,

NMCB 18 Main Body,

FPO AA 34099-1701.

He will make sure that all the items reach the wounded warriors. If you use the “large Flat Rate Box for APO/FPO addresses” the post office will give you a discounted rate for shipping, only $12.50. You will also be required to fill out a customs form.

If you have questions please feel free to contact Karan Hancock, NMCB 18’s Family Readiness Group president at nmcb18airdet@aol.com or by phone at 503-524-5648 (Pacific Time).

Karan Hancock is a Navy spouse and a quilter of QOVs. You can check out NMCB 18’s Wounded Warrior Program on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/notes/nmcb-18-deployment/public-affairs-office-update/162899177056429.

Please, help the Navy to help the Army’s Wounded Warriors.

He's working on 1,000 QOVs, how 'bout you?

www.superiorthreads.com/blog/2010/9/ron-olsons-quilt-970-971/

Wow! Ron Olson is working towards his goal of completing 1,000 Quilts of Valor. Click on the above link to see quilts number 970 and 971.

Thank you Mr. Olson for all your contributions!