We Remember Those Who Served

Graves at Arlington National Cemetery

Memorial Day has its roots in the tradition of placing flowers on soldier’s graves after the American Civil War, known then as “Decoration Day”.  It became an attempt at reconciliation between the North and the South when a group of Northern war veterans had May 30^th declared a National Holiday in 1868.  Due to the animosity that continued to exist, reconciliation after that bitter civil war was long in coming.  But after the turn of the century, Memorial Day did indeed become a day when we pause to remember all of our war veterans from all wars and all those who honorably served our country.  May they rest in Peace and may we never forget.

I have never been able to think of the day as one of mourning;

I have never quite been able to feel that half-masted flags were appropriate on Decoration Day.

I have rather felt that the flag should be at the peak, because those whose dying we commemorate rejoiced in seeing it where their valor placed it.

We honor them in a joyous, thankful, triumphant commemoration of what they did.

  ~Benjamin Harrison

Quilts Awarded by the CT Quilters – QOV Group

The first of the Quilts of Valor quilts to be awarded by the CT Quilters Group went to a Sergeant First Class with the US Army.  This soldier had completed two tours of Iraq and was subsequently wounded during his first tour in Afghanistan.  His injury was sustained while he was in a Striker tank that hit an improvised explosive device (IED).  He fractured three vertebrae in his back and received a traumatic brain injury (TBI), as well.   Early in 2012, he received the Order of St. Maurice - an award that is only bestowed on those who have served with distinction and have demonstrated a significant contribution to the US Army Infantry.  He also received the NCO of the Year award and has two Purple Heart awards.  We are proud to say that he is the nephew of one of the CT Quilters active volunteers, a retired Army wife herself.  He currently works as an Infantry Trainer and is doing well. 

This remarkable young man wrote our Group a wonderful thank-you note as seen in the above photo.  In part, he wrote “I want to thank my aunt ___ and the women of Quilts of Valor and Crafty Threads for the quilt they made me.  I want to thank her for her kind thoughts and always showing me that some Americans have not forgotten the cost of freedom.  Thank you ___ and all the people who celebrated my 2^nd annual alive day.”

The CT Quilters Group wish him continued success with his recovery as he deals with PTSD and the effects of the TBI, and we would like to express our sincere gratitude to him for his service and his sacrifice.

 

Is the QOV PBS Show in Your Area?

Handi Quilter has generously supplied funding for a video hosted by Marianne Fons that stars national quilters Eleanor Burns, Alex Anderson and Mark Lipinski.  The 73-minute documentary, Quilts of Valor, has been made available to all public television stations nationwide by its producer Iowa Public Television.  If you have not seen this unique and compelling program, contact your station’s programming department to ask that they schedule the show in your area.  Your request may be made via email, phone message or personal note to let them know you want to watch Quilts of Valor.

Where Do the Quilting Supplies Come From?

The CT Quilters Group originally solicited donations of red, white and blue fabrics to begin its projects in 2011, and continues to willingly receive such donations.  The Group was very fortunate to receive a sizable grant in 2012 to purchase materials to support the construction of more Quilts of Valor.  The grant allowed the Group to purchase 70+ yards of fabric, needles and batting.  We have sent a special detailed report to this service organization not only to express our appreciation but also to explain exactly how their funds were used and who were (or will be) the recipients of their generosity.  We also sent our special thanks to one of our most active QOV volunteers, Maria, who facilitated the application for the grant.  Maria is a member of the service organization and was in constant contact with that group to ensure that they knew their funds were being used wisely.



4-patch made by a service club member from kit



ironing donated backing fabric

sewing pillowcases from donated fabric

Where Do Quilts From The CT Quilters – QOV Group Go?

The Quilts of Valor Foundation awards quilts at many different levels:  they may go to military hospitals where Chaplains award them to service members; they may be included in a presentation to an entire service unit returning from combat deployment; they may be awarded at VA Centers or they may be presented individually. 

The local group may elect to send its quilts to the National QOV Program for distribution or may award its quilts locally to recipients such as the active-duty military wounded at a local US Dept of Veterans Affairs hospital or to eligible individuals that meet the Foundation’s requirements.

Our group has elected to donate quilts to patients at the Poly-Trauma unit of the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital located in Tampa, FL.  This hospital addresses the medical needs of veterans and wounded service personnel from all around the Tampa Bay area.  It is the busiest of four poly-trauma facilities in the Nation and houses between 20-30 wounded at a time.  Quilts donated to these active-duty military personnel are handled through communications with the Volunteer Services of the Hospital.  As the recipients are on active-duty, they are not identified for national security reasons.

After a quilt has been bound, washed, labeled and wrapped in a presentation case, it is ready to be awarded.  The presentation cases are the “gift wrap” for the quilts.  The QOV website suggests two alternatives that are easily assembled by volunteers.   The first is a pillowcase and the second is a tote-bag.  These are made in patriotic colors, as are the quilts.  The CT Quilters make fabulous pillowcases to accompany their quilts.



A selection of pillowcases ready for finished quilts

If a volunteer, whether a quilter, organizer or benefactor, has a special request to have one of the Quilts of Valor donated to a specific individual, that request is welcomed and will be reviewed as a deserving potential recipient.

The Quilts of Valor Foundation is notified of all awards of quilts for them to maintain an accurate record.  The CT Quilters first notification of awards will be made in May 2012.

What Quilt Design Does the CT Quilters – QOV Group Use?

To ensure quality, the Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOV) has strict requirements for donated quilts.  This group adheres to those instructions.  The sizes requested are a generous lap-size, ranging from a minimum of 55 x 65 inches  to a maximum of 72 x 90 inches.   Good quality, 100% cotton quilting weight fabric suitable for an adult is to be used.  Machine or hand-quilting may be used with a low-loft quality batting – tied quilts are not acceptable.  All quilts are to be labeled with a QOV label and are to be presented in a presentation case (more on that in a later post). 

One of the best-known quilt designers, authors and scrap quilters on the Web is Bonnie K. Hunter.  She has benevolently offered a free quilt pattern on her site that she has entitled the “Fourth of July!”.  Its dimensions of 60 x 72 inches makes it perfect for a QOV project and Bonnie has graciously provided blanket permission for use of her pattern for that purpose (with credit to the designer, of course – see her website for more information).

In addition to being simple and patriotic, this quilt design makes up beautifully with scrappy red, white and blue fabrics and with many different contributors.  The kits (mentioned in the previous post) that are available for checkout at the Crafty Threads store, are comprised of the two main blocks in the quilt:  (1) Blocks “A”  are the 4-patches and (2) Blocks ”B” are the snowball blocks.

In this detail of a quilt top,
Block A is at the top center and
two Block Bs are at the bottom

The group originally made a sample quilt that is on display at Crafty Threads to entice visitors to join the group, sew up a few kits and/or just to raise awareness of this great project.

     
After enough blocks are available for assembly (the design calls for 40 A blocks and 38 B blocks), volunteers begin arranging the quilt top to be sewn together:

          

Two different outside borders are added after all rows are sewn together to make a complete top.  Currently, Barb Linares, owner of Crafty Threads, and several other machine quilters and long-armers are donating their services to sandwich and quilt these tops with gorgeous machine stitching.  Then the quilts are bound by other volunteers and ready for presentation.