Quilt of Valor Deliveries

This has been a great Quilt of Valor week!!! Monday, I was invited to lunch with three Women Marines. They were totally awesome - one served during Korea, one during Vietnam, and the other during peace times. They are going to honor 3 marines injured in the line of duty, and so we picked 3 Quilts of Valor to award to them..... Wow!!! What women!!!

Tuesday, I spent the day with my new Chaplains. 2 of them are super new - as in - 3 weeks on duty.... so I trained them well *giggle*   They thought it quite funny that I have been there a lot longer than them ( this is our SEVENTH YEAR quilters - you are awesome!) 

We handed out 44 Quilts of Valor in total - 31 to the Wounded Warriors unit, and 13 in the hospital itself.   These Chaplains have their hands full and were just tickled to be able to hand these quilts out.  

They could not say enough good things about our quilts, and the ability to comfort a soldier. It was quite the honor quilters!!  They could not thank you quilters enough!!

Every month we are handing out Quilts and I try so very hard to update you here - but I have to say - I am not the best numbers person... I love the detail, but there is so much BIG stuff to take care of that I hope I don't forget.

That being said - our number are seeming to be pretty consistent at about 66 to 70 Quilts of Valor per month....all this to say - please don't leave me now!!

And to say THANK YOU for your support. These quilts truly do mean a lot, and are such a comfort to these Veterans. They are so amazed that some one really took this amount of time to make something for them.   I keep telling them - Quilters are awesome!!!

Smiles

 I love to make people smile! And all you wonderful Quilt makers help make it possible!

Here are some more photos from our before Christmas delivery. The guy on the right in this picture is one of the platoon leaders. He was so excited to watch his guys get to pick out quilts - it was quite humbling to see.

 This guy - he wanted *that* one, oh no * this* one - oh my how are you supposed to choose with all these GREAT quilts. Totally a man after my own heart right??? He was tickled to recieve a hug from all of us quilters.

This soldier wanted Red White and Blue, and thought that would narrow down his choices *wrong*. He and Ms Pat had a good time looking at the choices and coming up with something perfect for him. Love the smile!!

I love getting to hear the thoughts the soldiers have about picking out their quilts, and listening to their opinions about fabric choices. Hope you enjoyed seeing these Quilt Recipients!

The winner

I know that ALL of you have been waiting with baited breath to see how many Quilts Of Valor I had in my suburban..... and no one quite guessed. A lot of you got close. The winner was comment 19 NKA... so I have emailed nka to get there quilt of valor quilt kit.

So..... I packed 190 Quilts of Valor in that suburban.... Can you believe it? I think the most I have packed was 222, but this time I took all I had in supply.

The cool thing is that over the years we have done a great job of getting these guys covered, so some of them had already received their QOV's. Plus I have caught some of them at other treatment places they attended off post.

Total amount of QOV's given out that day: 129

but.... on the way home my cell phone buzzed - a LOT. One of the treatment groups that know me, requested 25 QOV's for this week, and then another group that I have contact with needed 15 more....

That leaves me with a grand total of 21 quilts ready to hand out..... Is that amazing or what? I was tickled.  Back to the grindstone then, right?

Oh, but wait.... on the way home I picked up 4 QOV"s that Pat had quilted for us, and 3 from a retired Army Chaplains wife..... so after those are washed that will be, ummmm 28QOV's!!

I hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas. I have more pics to share, but I will do that after Christmas. My kids think that I should be baking and wrapping presents *grin*

More given out

 First off - the Questions.. How many were given out? Well I can't tell you that yet, or those of you guessing how many QOV"s were in the suburban would know.... But believe me - I was ready to answer until my brain kicked in.

Second question: Are those photos on the presentation cases? Why Yes they are *grin* . There are a couple different reasons for that. The first is - that on one of my first deliveries a soldier would NOT take his quilt out of the case to look at it, and I panicked. I KNEW that he had recieved a bright frilly quilt, and he was embarassed.

Turned out - he got a delectable mountain quilt that he adored, he was just afraid to cry in front of us.

From then on out, since I take pictures of all the quilts for my blog, I figured I would just print them out and pin them to the presentation case.

This works well, because other groups help make the cases and the case does not always represent the quilt inside. So! it has worked well for me. Oh! and I have a photographic memory ( ha a pun) so when I look at a picture I can usually tell them who made it and from where it came. Makes the quilts even more personable to them.



*The guy in the very top photo was one of the wounded assigned to help us carry the quilts in. He say this one, and kind of put in on the bottom of the pile, hiding it, so that when his turn came he could choose it. And it worked. He made me laugh as he beelined straight for the hidden quilt!*

Merry Christmas!!

A Delivery is Made

This is it - this is the *Reason* that all these Quilts of Valor are collected over the year. This *THIS* is totally how Santa must feel at the end of his Christmas run.... a great feeling - not only of:

*We did it* but also of * wow! The smiles! The laughter! The happiness*

The story:

 Two boys and I woke up at 4am, and headed out to our delivery, We met up with our partner in crime at and headed in to the chapel to set up.

 We were set up in the snack area... the BEST place to be!

And we met some Awesome Awesome American soldiers. All of them in different places of their rehab, all of them with different situations, but all of them very happy to see us.

Middle Bit got to hand out a lot of quilts, along with our *assigned* soldier. And my Partner in Crime ( Ms. Pat) helped them chose the quilts they wanted, and helped accomodate special requests.

I will tell you about more of them as more pictures come back.

Hope you enjoyed seeing these soldiers! And please, please, please, give yourself a pat on the back for all of the happiness, hugs, and smiles that you - as valued Quilt of Valor makers - have given these soldiers this Christmas.

Thank you!!!

Loading Up

 You are right - I am going someplace..... but can you guess how many Quilts of Valor one can fit in this vehicle?

This is the side view..............

Here is the rear view..................Umm and just so you know I added a few more to the vehicle after the picture. I found a few empty spaces!








All this loading up makes me wonder how Santa gets everything into his sleigh. The elves must get packing classes....

So Give me a Guess as to How many Quilts of Valor are loaded up and ready to go - and all of you who give me the right number will be entered into a drawing.

What will you win? A really cool Quilt of Valor quilt pattern and enough cut strips to make it. ( I will have to add a picture later, becuase I am too tired, and too lazy, to go downstairs and take a picture for you .....)

You have until Thursday the 23rd at 8pm to enter.

Merry Christmas!!

What is happening?

Oh my gosh - what is going on? Why are all of these Quilts of Valor being moved onto my sewing table?

 Why are they in front of my long arm? How will I ever quilt???

And why is my quilt storage area empty? Why? What is going on?

Quilt Presentations

 Look at the Smiles on these faces! I think it is safe to say that they liked their Quilts of Valor!!

This first one is a Stars and Bars pattern - that is up on THIS website - Whoo Hoo!

http://quiltygirl.com/QuiltPatterns/stars%20and%20bars.pdf

This young man is going to be trasitioning out of the military and still has a road to recovery.

How cool is this? Not many families get to see their Veteran ( or hero in this case) get their quilt. And even get in the picture. These kiddos were precious, and wonderfully happy to see their daddy!!

This Vet is Career military and has been in all over. For such a young guy he told us some amazing stories. His unjuries from his last tour are slowly healing, and I think seeing his family and this quilt is defineatly part of that process.

Now see why we sew?

More Quilt Presentations

Today I have been *finally* opening some of the boxes that came last week with Quilts of Valor in them. And oh Man - are they lovely!!!  But before I show you all those that have come in, I have a few pictures of some that have gone out.

It is interesting to see what the recipient's choose, and it is interesting that some love their pictures takes and others don't.

This young gentleman (above) had his mom and girlfriend with him. They were all so excited about the quilt. And they could not believe that people would go to this trouble for them.

This next gentleman's 13 year old son was with him, and just loved the symmetry of this Quilt.

This Vet was the funniest. I told him that this quilt was a hug for him, and he dared us to walk up on the street and give him one. Did I mention that he was about 6'5" 280 pounds of ALL muscle???

Have a great evening.

Quilt of Valor Delivery

Remember my QOV emergency???

Here is what happened. A soldier came back from Iraq and Afghanistan.  He has been home 2 months and has been having a rough time. His mother met my friend, my friend called me, I called the Mother, and we worked out all sorts of plans. Different ways of getting a QOV to this soldier. Who was wounded, and needing some comfort.

Plan 1 came into action at 3 pm on Sunday - right at the end of the Bronco game. Perfect timing. So we loaded up and headed out. We came to this young man and sort of surprised him.

His Mom and Dad herded him into the house, he was fixing an air conditioner. And I started opening up the quilt. I started to tell him about what a Quilt of Valor was, and how this one was made for him. And I told him how much love and hugs and comfort go into these. And then I wrapped him up in it, and sat down for a chat.

The WHOLE time that I was there, that young man did NOT remove his quilt. He hugged it, and stayed wrapped in it, and refused to take it off, even when he was hugging me goodbye.

I know that that quilt started some healing for this young man, he really thought that he was just being forgotten. I know his heart tells him otherwise now! This quilt was made by Harriett. And I thank you all for participating in QOV - so that these soldiers can start healing.

Graduations

I attended another military graduation today, and my mind is still filled with the good feelings, and my heart says get to the table and sew, and my body is tired.... A great combination and feeling.

First off - THANKs to ALL of you who participate in Quilts of Valor in any way. I can not tell you the joy, the gratitude, and the thanksulness of the vets who recieve these quilts.

I wish I could show you the joy on their face as they look on these quilts.

I wish I could convey the feelings of love that the vets feel.

I wish I could let you know how tickled the family members are that see their vet - whether a spouse or a child or a friend, recieve their Quilt of Valor.

Buuutt...Since I forgot my camera - I hope the words will do.

Todays Graduates were led into a room, and shown the assortment of QOV's. They were each able to choose the Quilt that they so desired. Totally appropriate, since they have done all the hard work of getting to the graduation. I was watching from the edge, and listening to the comments, and totally enjoying myself.

It was interesting to hear the comments. Let me tell you - EACH - Quilt was appropriately ohhed and awwwed over. I did not train them to do that, so you know it came from their heart!

The Ranger that I followed around was looking for blues. He wanted something sort of Patriotic, but calming. He found a blue rail fence that fit him. The funny thing is - this guy is NOT calm what. so. ever!  I am thinking he knew he needed help settling down - and color was a way for him.

Airborne - he wanted bold Red White and Blue - and *surprise* found a very Bold RWB rail fence... must have been the day!

Special Forces was looking for big. He was getting married and getting the cutest little step daughter in the world, and he wanted space for snuggling. He found a beautiful Tan and (surprise) Red and Blue quilt.

I thought it was so cool how the quilt found the vet, and how totally suited they were for each other.

During the graduation I got to present the quilt to the vet in the ceremony, and as I unfurled each quilt to show the audience - the gasping was WAY cool! And the families were touched that such quilts were made specifically for there vet.

Now I am going to go plan another QOV Sew Along.... It is in my blood, and in my heart. And based on the LOVE of the rail fence patterns it may have something to do with lots of strips.... and fun, and it can't be too hard, and ........ oh boy. Would anyone like to join in? What if I had a start date of Veterans Day - November 11th? 

If you want to.....leave a comment... that way I will put the pattern on my blog.......( this does not commit you to HAVING to do it though!!)

A Happy Day

I was invited to attend a graduation today. And it was very cool. There is a resident PTSD treatment facility and after seven weeks, when the serviceperson is ready to graduate - they hold a graduation for them.
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It was COOL... I may have already said that - but I mean it, I cried - it was awesome. It. Was. Cool.
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There were three graduates this time, and they all talked about their deployments, and their struggles, and their injuries, and how much progress they have made.
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They were honored by their case coordinators, their families and by Quilts of Valor. That was the coolest part for me ( grin) As each man recieved his diploma, they were then presented with a Quilt of Valor.
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And then I got hugged! They were just SO tickled to recieve a quilt, and so excited. I met some others who had recieved quilts earlier and they asked me to tell "all you wonderful quilters" how much these quilts mean to them. One gentlemen wanted me to know that every time he snuggles in his quilt it reminds him that someone really does care, and it makes his heart happy. ( he totally got the mission huh?)
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So - again Thank you - all of you - who participate in Quilts of Valor in any way. You are angels!

A Quilt of Valor Presentation

Yesterday was an awesome day! It was a day to be remembered! One of the people that I work with getting these Quilts of Valor to Soldiers and Vets was going to be near our area. I hoped that she would be able to come and talk to the students (in our 5th grade) about how she sees Quilts of Valor, and there importance in what she does.
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She did even better than just talking to us, she brought us two Veterans. One was Army, and one a Marine. One served one tour, the other 2 tours. They were able to answer some questions and tell us about there military careers, their experiences, and what they learned in the military.
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One of the biggest things they stressed was that they learned was to respect everyone. Each person may wear different clothes, have a different background, look different than you, but they still deserve respect. What an important concept to learn, and to have these 2 vets tell the 5th graders that - well wow!
These two vets were very personable, and as they got more comfortable around the kids, shared quite a bit of what it is like to go to a foreign country as a young person. Both of them had enlisted when they were 18 or 19. The gentleman vet said that he entered a boy, and learned to be a man.
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5 of the students put together a wonderful presentation, and stood up there in the front to present the quilts. Most of the vets that I have encountered get a little embarrased being the center of attention - and these 2 were no different. But they did get choked up.
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The Gentleman said that to be remembered, to be thanked, means more to him than you can imagine. To know that he is not forgotten is priceless. ( that made me cry)
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As I walked them out to the car they both said this was the best experience for them, a great part of recovery - and then this morning I recieved this email:
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I just want to take this opportunity to say thank you for the quilt and booklet of thank you's from the students. It really means the world to me that we are still in peoples hearts and prayers..........This was an awesome experience, not only for the kids, but for me as well. Talking about what I did, and educating people on the ups and downs of war helps me just as much as it does them.
So, Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk to everyone, and I am grateful for the quilt that I will forever hold dear to my heart.
Sincerely,

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I hope you all feel as if you were there. I know my pictures are not perfect, but I kind of forgot that I was supposed to be doing that..

Estes Park

We traveled up to Estes Park today. It is the little town right outside of Rocky Mountain National Park. Anyone who comes to Colorado NEEDS to go here! This is a great little town but the park is amazing. And there are 2 quilt shops.

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It started snowing as we were getting ready to go - so we grabbed Toothbrushes and PJ's - just in case. And of course, wouldn't you know - the drive up was pretty snowy, but the drive down was perfect. That only happened because we were prepared to have to stay in a hotel.... remind me to tell you about the time we were not prepared LOL!

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We had a destination in mind so we drove straight to it to make sure we knew where we were going. As we turned down one street - look at what we saw..... probably 25 to 30 elk just meandering thru the town - across the highway too.

A couple of them had big antlers. A few had just spikes. A few were crazy - running an kicking and maybe playing Elk tag. We stayed in the truck and took pictures - as we had heard of some Bull Elk charging at cars. And I am extremely allergic to pain, so I thought we should totally play it safe!

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Do you want to know the real reason we headed up to Estes Park?

Three soldiers recently returned from Iraq - in need of Quilts of Valor. It was cool. This turned out to be a surprise presentation and the person that organized the whole shin dig did an awesome job. The only complaint? No one told the others to bring tissues. I believe that there was not a dry eye in the place. Made my heart happy.

Just in case you wondered - I am the tall person to the left of the whole group.

More on Quilts of Valor

This soldier was from Guam. He was wondering when he would be able to get back to the tropics. He was stationed here 3 years ago when we had our "Big Blizzard" It was the first time he had seen snow, and was excited for about a day. Then he said he was over that! He has had two full tours in Iraq and was injured during his third. He was a lot of fun to talk to. Since he didn't have an appointment for a half an hour - we entertained him. Or at least we thought we were - he might have been trying to get away....



This soldier was helping us carry some quilts into the vault. These will be under military security. There were a few soldiers who weren't able to make it to formations, so we made sure they would have quilts delivered to them. The one in the picture had four daughters, and he said he was wishing for a son too. So I let him have my boys - for about 2 minutes. He tried to trade - but told me his girls were very girly and would not like to do outside chores. I politely declined.

Next - we were put to work. And please note - I use the term "we" lightly. This Platoon leader said all the men in his presence must complete their P.T. So I looked very busy when he yelled hit the deck and give me 10. I was sure he was only speaking to the men - and in no way was I included in that command. I very kindly reminded him that I was a General in my own mind, so I outranked him. It seemed to work until the Chaplain was able to rescue me.....

Quilt of Valor's in soldiers Hands

There were smiles all around. And a line forming to get their quilt!
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I have heard back from some of the coordinators in the Company. They still can not believe that people care enough to comfort their soldiers. And that we did not pick and choose which soldier was deserving of a quilt.
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Now you know that it was raining/drizzling that day. And the ground was wet. NONE of them wanted to get their quilts wet. They were very respectful of them!

These two were helping - they were surprised that a few quilts could weigh as much as they did. Made me feel good, I wasn't as wimpy as I thought I was.

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Hope you all have a good day. Mine is quiet - all the boys are at a basketball thing, and I have the house to myself. It is quite strange actually.

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But I am off to sew and watch a girlie movie - one I know that no one else would appreciate watching.

More Soldiers with their Quilts

I wonder is a soldier gets used to the paparazzi? This soldier and his wife recieved his quilt, and we all got a little camera happy. At least they didn't mind. I think they were a little shocked at how many flashes could go off at the same time though!

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The pic at the right is a picture of the paparazzi!! Can anyone guess who made this quilt? I was asked by Kim if it felt like I was saying goodbye to friends when the quilts get given out. And , um, Yes. Even thought I did not make every single one, I still feel like they are my babies and I am sending them out into the world.

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Anyways that one was made by Carole in CO.

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The quilt at the right came from the Deaf Class here in CO. Pure co-incidence

that we got pictures of those quilts and their soldiers.

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Anyone have any great weekend plans? Ours is to get hay, and hopefully sneak into town to the pool. Oh and to work on the Not So Top Secret 2....

Have a great one~

The Best Memorial Day

First off - the winner of the states game:
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Congrats to Liz A. The # 1 State for quilts was Colorado at 225
Second was Illinois at 93
Third was Washington at 62
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So Liz email me your addy and I will get a little something in the mail to you!! For some of the other states: TX was 18, MN was 9, NE was 9, OH was 14, AZ was 14, and WI was 41...Not too bad huh? You all amaze me - and I am so tickled to be able to get these quilts in the hands of the soldiers.....
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Which leads me to the Best Memorial day!
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Deployment Number 2 : 166 quilts were handed out! It was wet and rainy and yet they still showed up for Morning Formation. The first picture is them starting to break from formation...and head over to see me ;-)
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We kept the quilts inside the van, so they didn't get wet... it was just misty and a little rainy at times.
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Remember when I told you that sometimes one door closes but another is opened? Well this was the first door. And I am learning to follow where the doors lead. A lot of the soldiers have a hard time making it to a "formal" presentation, either because of injuries, or doctor appts, or other things going on. This delivery allowed us to come to the soldiers - it made it very easy on them and was way cool.
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The soldiers were very surprised. They had no clue anyone would want to do this for them, and they were so grateful for all of your hard work! There were some very serious smiles going on!
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I have pictures pinned on the pillowcases, of the quilts, and as the soldier took the quilt I was able to tell them where most of them came from. And sometimes a little bit about the quilter. They were really excited to learn who made the quilt for them.
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So again - let me thank you!! Thank you Thank you Thank you - there are 166 more happy soldiers in the world today. Soldiers that are feeling the love!! Ya'all have done a good thing!!

I call him Trey

This soldier is a third generation soldier. He is here at Ft Carson getting all healed . He was a very friendly soldier. He told us about his son who was just sent back with an injury. The son is in California, and Trey wondered if we could get a quilt to him. Well, of course. He said that this quilt means more than the purple heart he recieved. That made us all feel good. ( By the way - that is me in the blue shirt. Want to know how to stand out on a military base? Bright Blue in a sea of green ought to do it... what was I thinking????)

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He was great with the kids. He told them about what all the patches mean on the uniforms, and the rankings that they obtain.

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Obviously he had a captive audience!

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Here are a few shots of the soldiers reading their journals, and checking out the letters. The CFS teacher and two of her students took on Quilts of Valor as their project this year. They recruited all the students in the school - at as many grade levels as they could- to write letters to the soldiers. Then they incorporated them into journals to accompany each quilt.

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Thanks quilters, your quilts totally made this delivery! And now I must go off to bed - I am still on chore duty, and quite frankly I am lazy, and don't like rising with the sun! I am also on garden duty - and that I can not screw up - Wrangler man knows where to find me!!

Quilts from San and Mary

San made these two quilts and Mary (http://maryquilts.blogspot.com/ ) quilted them. These two are in my heartstrings group. This group is so prolific - They just keep a quilting and sewing!!

Thanks San and Mary!!

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I got a call today! From a Sargeant. He wanted to thank us for bringing the quilts. He said that a soldier told him about getting the quilt, and that he didn't stay to talk to us. He got back and read his journal and was just loving the meaning of this quilt. Now I don't know what soldier it was - but that makes it all worth it!!

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Hope you all had a great Mother's day! Ours was great. Last night Wrangler Man decided to mow some of the grass growing awful tall around the house - and he ran over a rattlesnake!!! I was glad to not be there!