Quilters have long been known for their generosity in making quilts to care for and comfort others. Below are several national organizations involved in making quilts for soldiers or families of soldiers serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Each organization has its own specific requirements, so check the websites to get all of the details. The information below was taken from each organization’s website. C&T Publishing has made available 5 quilt patterns that you can download and use to make quilts that will be donated to a nonprofit organization.
Quilts of Valor Foundation (website)
The mission of the QOV Foundation is to cover ALL wounded and injured service members and veterans from the War on Terror with Wartime quilts called Quilts of Valor (QOVS). Or as a six year old put it, “When the ‘sholders’ are ‘warring’ and they come home and are hurt, the quilt makes them feel all comfy.” This foundation is not about politics. It’s about people.
QOV has specific size requirements for quilt tops and has established relationships with longarm quilters. If you are a skilled quilter you can quilt your own top, otherwise they prefer to have the tops sent to a longarm quilter (the website explains how this works, you do not have to find a longarm quilter on your own).
If you are a longarm quilter, you can sign up to volunteer.
Operation Kid Comfort (website)
The Armed Services YMCA collects photographs from military families and uses volunteers to transfer images of deployed service members onto quilts for their children 5 and younger. Older children get quilted pillows.
Home of the Brave Quilts (website)
In gratitude for their service and sacrifice, Citrus Belt Quilters Guild, Redlands, California started making replicas based on the Civil War U. S. Sanitary Commission quilt on display at the A. K. Smiley Library, Lincoln Shrine, Redlands, California. These quilts were presented to the families of service persons who died while in the service of our country, primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan, and were buried at Riverside National Cemetery or were from the Greater Inland Empire Area who died while in the service of our country; primarily in Iraq and Afghanistan. This effort has now spread to nearly all 50 states and the U. S. Territories and has received national recognition, including the placement of a link on the official Department of Defense website for the military and their dependents.
Marine Comfort Quilts (website)
Originally started by two Marine mothers in 2003, the group quilts for families of service members who have died in Iraq, regardless of service branch. The group collects squares stitched with messages for the families or you can sew a pre-assembled kit.
Do you quilt for a cause? Share your story with us.
Click on a quilt image below to download a free quilt pattern to make the quilt to donate.
Related Posts:
Quilting for a Cause (Part 2)
Quilting for a Cause (Part 1)
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One Comment
Thank you so much for highlighting Operation Kid Comfort on the C & T Publishing blog. We are so proud of the program. Since we first launched the program at Fort Bragg, NC in 2003, thousands of America’s Littlest Heroes and their families have benefited from receiving FREE Operation Kid Comfort photo-transfer quilts and pillows. From Fort Drum, NY to San Deigo Naval Base, in Alaska, Hawaii and overseas in Germany Operation Kid Comfort has been serving the children of those who serve America.
Ann Flaherty
Founder, Operation Kid Comfort
operationkidcomfort@gmail.com