Hello friends! I’m back with a Sew Goodness cause to share this month. Are you familiar with Quilts of Valor? If this cause is new to you or you want to learn more, here’s a little bit about this wonderful organization. Quilts of Valor is an organization created to “cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts.”

You can read more about the history of this inspired organization here. This cause is so well organized and has already delivered almost 190,000 quilts to veterans pf all ages since it was organized in 2003.

 

 

This video from the Quilts of Valor website is a moving example of what these quilts mean – both to those who receieve and those who make the quilts. I’ll admit to getting teary watching it.

This is feeling a little bit extra near and dear to my heart right now. My husband’s parents are currently serving as Military Relations Missionaries for our church near the many military installments in the Virginia Beach area. They currently volunteer at the USO, teach Resiliancy classes to service members and their families, support families with deployed spouses, and feed and mentor young service members away from home for the first time. The are a retired military couple themselves, so they feel a special bond with all of those they’re helping. We’ve been touched by the many experiences they’ve shared with us and I’ve grown to have an ever greater appreciation for those who volunteer to serve my country at great personal sacrifice. (Not to mention their spouses and children who sacrifice so much too!)

HOW TO HELP:

The Quilts of Valor Foundation is very well organized with local chapters in every state. If you would like to get involved in the organization, you can find the contact info for local chapters here.

You can make a quilt. (You don’t have to be affiliated with a chapter to make a quilt.) Here is the information for making a quilt as well as requesting an official QOV label and reporting when the presentation is made. There aren’t a lot of formal requirements for the quilt but there are a few (such as being machine quilted for durability) so read the requirements before starting. Other than that, the basic recommendation is a throw-size quilt (average is 60″ x 80″) with a patriotic theme and red, white and blue colors.

You can make a quilt block! Don’t have time right now to make a full quilt?  Here is the information for the 2018 Block Drive with all of the details on the quilt block pattern (pictured) and where to send them.

I wanted to share this cause this month, because patriotic fabric and red, white and blue fabric is widely available this time of year.

I’ve got a bunch of ideas for patriotic quilts for you in this post. Many of them are free. Keep in mind, you could also make any favorite quilt pattern in red, white, and blue fabrics. (One idea would be a simple patchwork quilt with a scattered sawtooth stars like this one. In R, W, and B fabrics, of course.)

As with any reputable charitable organization, if you do not have time to make anything but would like to contribute fiancially, you can donate here.

I’ve got 2 bundles of fat quarters from Gingham Girls and Sunnyside Ave to help you get started! Just leave a comment (click on the word bubble at the top right corner of the post) and I’ll randomly select a winner to send them to! (Please though, this time only enter if you are going to use these fabrics for a Quilts of Valor quilt. If that’s not in your time frame right now, let them go to someone who will put them to use for that cause. I promise lots of other fabric giveaways in the future with no strings attatched.)

Are you new to the Sew Goodness challenge or want links to past months featured charities? Read Here for info about Sew Goodness!

Thanks for your patience with my crazy May and lack of a real Sew Goodness post that month. Hopefully you took a minute to thank or think about a teacher. And update on the Scrappy Trip Blocks for Project Linus. I received over 200 blocks! Things are finally settling down here after a bananas May and I’ll be organizing blocks and sending them to those who have volunteered to piece and/or quilt them by the end of this week! If you are still interested in helping with any of these steps, send me an email at amy@diaryofaquilter.com.

Finally, remember, the purpose of Sew Goodness is to shine a spotlight on sewing for a good cause, NOT to add more guilt or stress to anyone’s life! It’s all about creating more good feelings in our lives by helping others, not bad feelings for not being able to “do it all.” Some months (years?) we all have more time or resources to give than others. That’s totally normal. We all need to remember to pace ourselves. If you’re already working on a favorite charitable cause, keep going with that one! If all you have to give some months is a smile to someone who needs it, you’re doing great! Carry on.