25 May Quilts of Valor

Well, this has been an interesting month. First, we now have two more members to participate in our committee: Kathleen Hardin and Pam Vadasz. Welcome and thank you!

Some of you may remember a presentation we did at one of our quilt shows at St. Philip. The recipient was Jimmy Thompson, USMC. Jimmy has passed away and his wife called me to come see something she and a friend had done. I went and got to see a “barn quilt” block they had made from Jimmy’s QOV. It was a block from the Gallantly Streaming pattern (see photo below) and it is beautiful. His wife Brenda talked about how much the quilt meant to Jimmy and his family. She shared a photo album she had put together on Jimmy’s service. It was a very emotional meeting.

We have done several presentations at Vet Court and all three of the guys loved their quilts. At the one May 12, the young man commented that he had been waiting on this for a year, and he was so appreciative of the efforts of the ladies in our guild. Later on, that evening I had to do a presentation at VVA. The gentleman was an Air Force veteran and absolutely loved his quilt. Pam did an excellent job picking the fabrics for it. At the end of the meeting several people came up and commented on how beautiful the quilt was. The meeting ended with a pinning ceremony by the Old Glory DAR chapter. Jan Edleson did a great job of wrapping five veterans in a QOV. Jan has been so helpful in making sure our veterans are recognized. In case you didn’t know, Jan is also a veteran and has donated fabric for quilts and assisted so many times in the presentations. Jan also did a presentation on May 10 as a part of the DAR effort.

I got a letter from Joshua Chamberlain Society in regard to a presentation I did on April 12. In part, he said “Our heroes love their quilts from QOV and you are so dedicated to creating and distributing them. It is patriots such as you who let our veterans know they will never be forgotten for the sacrifices they have made to keep our nation free.” The veterans in this group all have significant injuries and work so hard to re-enter civilization. So thanks to all of you for making this possible.

Pat McMahon