Quilts of Valor

As an update, Quilts of Valor will be needed for quite some time...as long as we are at war and until all our wounded have a quilt.

There are four ways to get involved making a QOV and a one of them doesn't even involve sewing!

1) Make a QOV and contact cath@qovf.org or 302-236-0230 to find out where to send it. QOV's should be a minimum size of 50" x 60" and quilted, either by hand or machine. They do not have to contain patriotic fabrics. It should include a label, washing instructions, pillowcase and a message to the soldier would also be nice. For more detailed info visit www.qovf.org The QOVs are shipped to chaplains at 70 different US military hospitals from Hawaii to Landstuhl, Germany where they are blessed and awarded to the wounded.

2) Make a quilt-top with a backing. Don't worry about quilting it because you will team up with a longarmer who volunteers to do that part. Contact June Moore at jmoore@smwireless.net to be matched with a longarm quilter.

3) Machine quilt a QOV top. Don't worry about piecing because all you have to do is quilt. Contact June Moore above.

4) Donate funds to the QOV non-profit foundation to offset the costs of making and shipping the QOVs to military hospitals. Or, donate fabrics to our local QOV group making quilts.

Quilts of Valor (QOV) was started by Catherine Roberts of Seaford, Delaware in Nov. 2003. Catherine is a Blue Star mom (a mom who has a son or daughter in the military) and with a son in harm’s way, her vision of the world changed. “Casualties no longer were just numbers but real men and women dying. Hidden behind the casualties were the wounded.” (Statistic: For every casualty there are 10 wounded.) Catherine did an internet search for quilts and wounded and found nothing. She made phone calls around the country trying to find out how she could start a project like this and ended up talking to Chaplain Kallerson at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Chaplain Kallerson’s wife was a quilter and he understood what Catherine wanted to do. “I think a hand-made lap quilt will be very good for our soldiers who have had amputations since winter is coming on and the quilt will warm them. Also, it will help with their phantom pain." Catherine now also has contacts at 24 military hospitals and with various veteran’s groups around the country. These QOV’s provide comfort, love and healing prayers plus pay tribute to these combat wounded.

As Unlimited Possibilities Newsletter entered it’s 10^th year of publication in 2005, Marcia challenged everyone...to make a lap quilt, Quilts of Valor (QOV), for our wounded soldiers (inclusive of all armed forces members). The challenge ended on May 14, 2005 at the close of the Machine Quilters Showcase (MQS).

Catherine Roberts, founder of Quilts of Valor (QOV), and Marcia Stevens, would like to extend their heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in the QOV Challenge. Your gracious involvement of time, effort and monetary donations have truly put Quilts of Valor on the map. These lap sized quilts provide reassurance of our support to the many wounded service members as well as their families and friends. The following companies generously contributed to the success of the Quilts of Valor Challenge, ensuring that we could meet our goal of over 2,000 QOVs presented to wounded soldiers during the Challenge period of January - May 15, 2005. Over 200 QOVs were collected at the Machine Quilters Showcase (MQS) May 11-14.

Although the Challenge has ended, the need for QOVs continues. We are a long way from providing a QOV for each and every wounded service person. As long as we remain at war and have wounded veterans, there will be a demand for QOVs. Please continue to help, either by making and/or quilting a QOV, supplying materials or dollars for their construction and shipping or by spreading the word about the project. Visit www.quiltsforsoldiers.com for complete information about the Quilts of Valor.

Quilts Of Valor

IMQA will once again provide the Quilts of Valor (QOV) with a booth at the Machine Quilters Showcase (MQS). The booth will be open during the hours of the show and volunteers will be necessary to work in the booth. Catherine Roberts may be attending for at least part of the show and will be showing her wonderful slides of the QOV project. This year Gammill and Statler are providing a machine with the Statler program. We will be doing wholecloth QOVs utilizing a design from Anne Bright. What a great opportunity to see this program in action. If you're not a Statler operator, we can disable the program and use the machine for hand guided work either with or without stitch regulation. Mary Hibbs was able to obtain a Janome sewing machine from Missouri Sewing Machine Company for use in the QOV booth. Volunteers will be needed to load the quilts on zipper leaders, take them off, trim them, bind them and make pillowcases, all of which does not require any knowledge of the Statler program. If you can help, please contact Rita Pennington at Garipenn@aol.com to be scheduled. Please do not bring your completed QOVs to MQS. We will not have room to store them.

For QOV ideas on quilts, labels, keepsake envelopes and pillowcases, visit http://community.webshots.com/album/190343783NZlsTV/1 Catherine is trying to get women to journal and record the process of making a quilt. It is important for the QOV recipient. They probably won’t be able to absorb the info now but will definitely later. It also adds to the psychological attachment of the quilt maker to the soldier. What thoughts go through one's mind thinking about war, the wounded, healing, depression.

Quilt Care - Your quilt is made from 100% cotton fabrics with a (cotton, poly/cotton, or polyester) batting. Please wash your quilt in cold water with a non-detergent soap, such as Woolite. Never use bleach. It may be machine dried on low. After washing it the first time, it will pucker up a little, just like it's supposed to. Please don't leave your quilt in direct sunlight as it will cause the fabrics to fade. Never store your quilt in plastic of any kind. In fact, don't store your quilt at all. Use and enjoy it! If some day you do wish to store your quilt, an old pillowcase is perfect as it will allow the quilt to breathe (prevent mildew) and keep the dust away. With a reasonable amount of care, this quilt could be passed on to another generation and be a part of history since it was made and given during the War on Terror.

QOV Pillowcases Requested

Please make a QOV Pillowcase for your QOV. They will make a nice package for the quilt and provide a matching pillow cover.

Fabrics: 3/4 yd. main fabric
               2" x 44" trim fabric, folded in half lengthwise and pressed
               1/3 yd. cuff fabric (may match a fabric in your quilt)
                              Cut this fabric 10 ½" x width of fabric

From the main fabric, cut a rectangle 25" - 26½" by the width of the fabric. Lay the raw edges of the trim fabric along the right side of one of the long edges of the main fabric. Lay the cuff fabric’s long edge on top of the trim fabric along the same long edge of the main fabric, right sides together. Pay attention to the direction of the cuff fabric print orientation if necessary. Sew a 1/4" seam along that edge through the 4 layers. Press the seam toward the cuff. Trim the side edges to an even width of all fabrics. With right sides together, seam the side and bottom edges. Turn under 1/4" along the raw edge of the cuff and press. Fold the pressed hem of the cuff toward the inside of the pillowcase to the seam line for the layers. Press. Topstitch on either the cuff or the trim strip to secure the cuff. Either way looks fine so I usually determine the topstitching line by the thread I have in my machine.

Size option: Catherine folds her QOV up in a size suitable for carrying. She then takes those measurements and makes her QOV case to fit it.

Anne Bright www.annebright.com of Salt Lake City created this wonderful purple heart quilting design for our challenge. You are welcome to use these designs on your QOV.

Anne Bright has come up with a couple wonderful wholecloth QOV ideas using her Purple Heart design. You can download the digitized designs at www.annebright.com. The quilts measure 52.5" x 63". If you add the outside (optional) border of eagles to the first design, it will become twin size. For a complete book of patriotic Simply Continuous designs, try Anne’s Simply Continuous Americana, available in her online bookstore.

©Anne Bright 2005 These designs are provided free for use on QOV's or any quilt for soldiers. We realize that you may want to reduce or enlarge the designs to fit the size of your quilts. Reproduction and sale of any illustration is strictly prohibited.

At the top of this web page we mentioned that Catherine Roberts was a Blue Star mom. The term originated during WW I. If you would like to learn more about the history of Service Star Flags check out http://www.bluestarmothers.org/flags.php The organization "Blue Star Mothers of America" got its start in 1942 during WW II.