Memorial Day – Quilts of Valor Sew-in

Once a month I participate in a sew-in for Quilts of Valor – quilts made for Veterans. The project started originally to show appreciation to those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan but quilts are being made and presented to veterans of other wars as well. Our group operates under the umbrella of our guild Northwest Quilters but not all the volunteers are guild members.

We get together on the last Monday of each month to work on these quilts under the guidance of our tireless leader Maureen. She coordinates the workday and comes up with patterns and projects for us to make though some of the volunteers bring and work on their own projects destined as Quilts of Valor. I sometimes draw on my skills to coordinate a project or two but mostly I just follow direction and help Maureen feed the volunteers by making a soup or salad to contribute to lunch.

Maureen also coordinates the presentations of some of these quilts to the Veterans who are to receive them, these ceremonies can be quite moving; a young Veteran who was presented with his quilt at a ceremony during one of our guild meetings was so overwhelmed that he broke down into tears upon receiving his quilt. In all, we have a lot of fun accompanied by a sense of satisfaction that we are helping to honor a Vet and let them know they are appreciated.

Lori puts binding on a QOV
A quilt in progress on the design wall
On many projects, volunteers will work in pairs or teams to construct a quilt.
Maureen's husband, Bob, worked on these blocks with my help.
This is one of the the blocks Bob and I were making, we need 96 of them, we have 27 so far (69 to go!).
Tom shows off a finished quilt top
Kathleen holds up a finished quilt top.
This is one of the quilts I coordinated in the last few months, an off-center Mary's Triangles pattern

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