At a recent quilting bee, members of the Friday Quilters sewed special labels with both the recipient’s name and service years, as well as the quilt designer’s name.
Andrea Molberg
Ten Quilts of Valor (QOV) were recently presented to SaddleBrooke veterans with the help of Senior Village, the American Legion, the Quilts of Valor Foundation, individual quilters, and the SaddleBrooke Friday Quilters. The recipients of these special quilts served in the Army, Navy, and Air Force during World War II, Korea, or Vietnam. Five of them are over the age of 90.
The QOV mission is to honor these veterans and their sacrifice in a tangible, comforting way. Putting love and about 20 hours into each quilt, SaddleBrooke Friday Quilters worked separately and collectively to design, cut, assemble, sew, and bind each one.
As Jeanne Ragan explained, “We’ve been making Quilts of Valor for many years and decided for the first time, this year, to award them to our incredible veterans within SaddleBrooke.”
The quilters turned to Senior Village for help identifying and pre-qualifying SaddleBrooke vets. Senior Village Friendly Contact team volunteers responded by calling veterans and generating a list of potential recipients. The SaddleBrooke Friday Quilters who then interviewed the veterans and organized the presentation event were Teri Caplener (committee chair), Jeanne Ragan, Reva Muhr, Beth Bradford, Linda Crum, and Kris Prass.
SaddleBrooke’s Friday Quilters has 100 members from SaddleBrooke One and SaddleBrooke TWO, including one male. Several in the club are veterans. Members vote on three to four charities a year, making items such as teddy bear quilts for CASA, heart pillows for VA patients, and other items for Pinal County charities.
The Quilts of Valor are a way to say thank you. Started by Catherine Roberts in 2003, the Quilts of Valor Foundation has awarded over 250,000 QOVs throughout the U.S. and overseas to show gratitude, provide comfort, and honor the veterans touched by war who sacrificed for our freedom. While these Quilts of Valor may be made from any quilt pattern, they must meet qualifications based on size and fabric quality, have a personalized, hand-sewn label on the back, and be registered with QOV.
The SaddleBrooke Friday Quilters have created a formal committee to continue the worthy project. If you know of a SaddleBrooke veteran who would be interested in receiving a Quilt of Valor, contact Kris Prass at [email protected] or Linda Crum at [email protected].