In 2024, sew steady is encouraging you to participate in quilting for a cause!
Each month we will be highlighting a different quilting charity. We want to reward all quilters that are creating quilts for charity and the good you & these charities do! Join us in quilting for a cause by posting your quilts for charity to Facebook & this page in the comments. When you comment on this page, you will automatically receive a $10 credit to use on tools & accessories to help you in your efforts!
february
quilts of valor
The Mission of the Quilts of Valor® Foundation is to cover Service Members and Veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor. Quilts of Valor Foundation began in 2003 with a dream, literally a dream. Founder Catherine Roberts’ son Nat was deployed in Iraq. The message of her dream was: Quilts = Healing.
The model appeared simple: have a volunteer team who would donate their time and materials to make a quilt. One person would piece the top and the other would quilt it. I saw the name for this special quilt: it was Quilt of Valor, a QOV.
From the beginning, Catherine Roberts had definite ideas about standards of excellence for Quilts of Valor: I knew a Quilt of Valor had to be a quality-made quilt, not a “charity quilt.” A Quilt of Valor had to be quilted, not tied, which meant hand or machine quilting. It would be “awarded,” not just passed out like magazines or videos, and would say unequivocally, “Thank you for your service, sacrifice and valor in serving our nation.”
Visit their website for more info!
april
quilts of honor
The mission of Quilts of Honor is to bestow a universal symbol and token of thanks, solace, and remembrance to those who serve in harm’s way to protect and defend our lives and freedoms. Quilts of Honor are made by the loving hands of countless volunteers who wish to thank those who have served and to honor their service and sacrifice. In 2005 we began our journey, one that would lead us to form a nonprofit organization called Quilts of Honor.
Between 2005 and April 2010, Gail Belmont, executive director, and volunteers worked with an organization providing patriotic quilts to those service members touched by war. Since Gail was a veteran of the Vietnam era and had played Taps for the fallen, she did not want any of our warriors to be forgotten.
In April 2010, Gail’s passion and mission for providing comfort and healing to our warriors and veterans had grown ever stronger. With the help of those who had stood beside her, Quilts of Honor was formed, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing healing, loving quilts to those who have served in harms way protecting our freedoms. We hope you will join us to honor members of our active military and veterans by showing them how much we appreciate their sacrifice and service with our “Quilted Hugs of Gratitude.” Our hope is that these quilts will provide comfort, love and healing to those who have given so much.
Visit their website for more info!
Join us in Quilting for a Cause!
PLEASE TELL US WITH A RATING IF YOU ARE EXCITED ABOUT THIS CAUSE, SHARE YOUR CURRENT CAUSE PROJECT, AND SUGGEST OTHER CAUSES WE SHOULD HIGHLIGHT! EVERY PROJECT SHARED WILL GET A $10 COUPON FOR A PURCHASE OF $25 OR MORE TO HELP YOU QUILT FOR A CAUSE!
Our Senior Center donates many quilts to Project Linus. We meet once a week, the first meeting of each month is a demonstration of a block. We are each given enough fabric to make one block. They are then returned and a few of the members put the blocks together to make the quilts. It’s really fun to learn new blocks and is a good way to use up some of my stash fabric to make more quilts using the fun blocks they teach.
Making quilts for a cause is my favorite quilting project. The quilting group that I belong donates an average 350 quilts per year to several non profits that are family oriented.
I have sewn blankets for “Project Linus”, pillowcases for “Ryan Smiles”, crocheted/knitted premie hats for Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD), and have recently joined the Patriots Triangle chapter of QOV. I love the camaraderie of the volunteers sewing together and seeing the reaction of the recipients of these beautiful works of art quilts at the Awards Ceremonies. It is very touching
I have sewn blankets for “Project Linus”, crocheted/knitted premie hats for “Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters (CHKD)”, sewn Pillowcases for “Ryan Smiles” and just started making quilts and fundraising for the Patriots Triangle chapter of QOV. I love the camaraderie of the QOV volunteers and you get to see the reaction of the recipients of these beautiful works of art at the awards ceremony. It is very touching.
I made and donated 16 Quilts of Valor last year and so far have made one this year. A great cause!
I make blankets and quilts daily for Project Linus, a non-profit that makes handmade security blankets for children in crisis, trauma, or need. My chapter donates about 200 a month (44,300 in 25 years), and nationally, we’ve donated almost 10 million blankets since 1995 to comfort children.
I will commit for 2024 quilt for a cause!! Love it!! Eileen Duggleby
What a wonderful cause!I’m excited to get involved in a group making these wonderful gifts to our veterans.
Our guild makes many charity quilts. We are very fortunate to be able to give the Quilts of Valor to veterans at our meetings or in a more private setting if they desire. It is very heartwarming to be able to thank the veteran in person. I didn’t know about the Quilts of Valor when my father was alive. He suffered quite a bit from health problems and PTSD. When I make a QOV, I do it in my father’s memory.
Love quilting for a cause. I have made quilts for Quilts Beyond Borders, which is another charity you should highlight. https://quiltsbeyondborders.wordpress.com/
How fortunate I am to live in a retirement community where we have a group of quilters who make quilts for our veterans. They are awarded on Veteran’s Day at a luncheon. The men and women who receive them are honored…..as we are to celebrate their service to our country.
I belong to a Quilts of Valor chapter in NJ. To date, we have presented 350+ quilts to veterans.
I think this is a marvelous idea. How can we find out what other ’causes’ will be in the coming months?
My quilt guild participates in Quilts of Valor and I participate in this already.
I would particularly be interested in knowing if you will be featuring any Breast Cancer organizations and Ovarian Cancer organizations such as the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition. Another cause I’d like to see supported is FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered) which deals with hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. Their website is facingourrisk.org.
These three causes are near and dear to my heart.
I would certainly try to promote this within my guild.
I participate in a Quilts of Valor group that is a part of my local quilt guild. The service members who receive quilts and their families are so very appreciative of this way of honoring them, and as a quilter I also feel deeply grateful for this opportunity to recognize the men and women who have sacrificed so much for all of us.
I have been a member of Quilts Of Valor since 2016. I began working with a group of quilters called the Quilting Crows, which originally started meeting at a quilt shop, The Quilted Crow, in Palmerton, PA. Currently, I have been working with a brand new group at Steve’s Sew & Vac in King Of Prussia, PA. I am proud to be part of QOV honoring our service men and women with a beautiful quilt as our way of saying, “Thank you for your service.”
Most of my family members have served. Including my mother. She was the gunnery officer. She taught the sailors how to shoot their guns.
My husband received a lap quilt 2 years ago while hospitalized at the VA. He served in Desert Storm/Desert Shield. Such a wonderful gift!
A group of us ladies have made quilts for each members of the local American Legion. We made 50 in the beginning and now have 10 more to make for the new member that have joined in the past few year. This has been our honor to make them. We call them ‘Thank you quilts”. Each member certainly appreciated them.
I love the mission of this organization! As someone who works with a lot of Veterans, I can tell you for certain, being acknowledged for serving our country with a handmade piece of artwork is such a monumental gift for service men and women! These quilts don’t sit on a shelf like a kicknack, but they are used and cherished. Being a newer quilter, I’ve refrained from donating because I wanted my skill set to match the feeling of pride Inhave for these men and women. This event has reminded me that the quilt doesn’t have to be some museum masterpiece….just a work of love and admiration as a small token for our servicemember’s service and sacrifices to our country. I’m excited to get started on a quilt…now Injust have to settle on a pattern!
Perfect is not only unatainable, it is unrealistic. Charge ahead, knowing that Good enough is just as stated: Good enough to do what you wish to do. You will be just fine…..
My stepdad was beyond proud to have received a QOV for his service to our country in Vietnam! These quilts touch souls like no other!