Quilts Of Valor Come To Newtown Senior Center

By Nancy K. Crevier

Doris Travis, a member of the Newtown Senior Center quilting group, was excited when she heard that the center would be involved in Quilts of Valor. A quilter for 20 years, Ms Travis has made quilts for various charitable groups and had heard about Quilts of Valor previously. “I would like to be a part of making one of these quilts,” she said Friday morning, April 4, as she awaited the arrival of Quilts of Valor presenter Fran Hendrickson. “I just want to do something for the boys and girls in the armed services and show that we appreciate what they do,” she said.

Ms Travis joined other Newtown Senior Center members, as well as visitors from the newly formed Brookfield Senior Center, around a large table when Ms Hendrickson, coordinator for the Danbury Senior Center, arrived. Ms Hendrickson has assisted quilters at the Danbury center in producing three quilts that have been distributed already, and eight more that are in various stages of completion. “Once you get the first one done and you see how much fun it is and how much good you are doing, the next ones just roll out,” she said.

Quilts of Valor was started by a woman named Catherine Roberts in 2003, Ms Hendrickson explained, who donated a quilt to the Walter Reed Army Hospital. The chaplin there then requested more quilts for wounded service people and the nationwide network of quilters was created. Since November of 2003 volunteers for Quilts of Valor have made and distributed 15,000 quilts to injured members of the United States armed forces. There are still many to be made, Ms Hendrickson said, pointing out that in the past five years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, more than 4,000 troops have died and 59,000 have been wounded. The goal of the program is to cover every soldier wounded since September 11, 2001.

Most of the recipients of Quilts of Valor are veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but quilters can donate quilts for veterans of other wars, too, she said. The finished quilts are given to soldiers who are either still hospitalized, or who have returned home to continue recovering.

“The Quilts of Valor effort rivals the Civil War quilting done by women then,” said Ms Hendrickson as she began explaining the process of making a Quilt of Valor.

Along with the detailed instructions for creating a Quilt of Valor, Ms Hendrickson brought with her several examples of quilts in progress, and samples of materials and designs other groups had chosen. “The biggest thing is deciding on the material and the design,” she said. Volunteers select material, usually donated and often with a patriotic theme or red, white, and blue coloring, decide on a design, and then make the squares and stitch together the top piece, Ms Hendrickson said. The quilt size is no bigger than twin size, about 50 inches by 60 inches when finished, and can take a total of six to 12 hours to complete, depending upon the skill of the quilters. The top piece is then sent out to a volunteer “longarmer,” a quilter with a special long-arm quilting machine, to be padded and quilted.

The quilt is returned to the original group of volunteers, binding is added to the quilt, and then comes the part volunteers most enjoy, said Ms Hendrickson. “Quilters attach a pocket to the back with the makers’ first names and the city in which it was made, and fill it with notes and stories of how the quilt was made,” she said.

 Finally, the quilters contact Ms Roberts at the Quilts of Valor website, qovf.org, she lets the group know the next hospital in line to receive a quilt, and the quilt is sent to the chaplin at that hospital to be given out. It is a gratifying experience for those involved, Ms Hendrickson said, and encouraged the senior center members to take part in the effort.

Marilyn Place, director of the Newtown Senior Center, said that the quilting group for Quilts of Valor will begin meeting the end of April on Friday mornings from 10 am to 2 pm. “All ages and all skill levels are welcome,” she said. For more information, contact the Newtown Senior Center at 270-4310. Material donations of “patriotic” theme or colors are welcome and can be brought to the Newtown Senior Center this month.

Tax deductible donations can be made to the Quilts of Valor Foundation to help offset the cost of quilting cotton, thread, and fabric, as well as the cost of shipping the quilt back and forth between piecers, machine quilters, and to the recipients. Checks should be made to QOVF and mailed to The Quilts of Valor Foundation, PO Box 1003, Seaford DE 19973.