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Let's Make Quilts. Lots of Them.

Posted: 17 September 2008 at 2:24 p.m.

Back in June, I posted this on an online machine quilting list I belong to. I have had such tremendous feedback that I thought it would be a good idea to post it here, in order to give a whole new group of quilters the opportunity to participate in a worthwhile cause. I hope that, if you're reading this, you will find the time in your busy schedule to take part in this project. Trust me. It's *SO* worth it.

********************************************

Okay, everybody always says "Oh, I love it when you post those long
story-posts to the list! You should post more!" Well, be careful what
you ask for, because you just might get it. <grin> Here's another
one of my long lectures, only this one isn't funny. Go get some
coffee.

I laid awake for a long time last night, thinking about this, and
since misery loves company, I am going to give you something to lay
awake and think about. :-)

For those of you who don't know her, Alycia Carmin is
deeply involved with Quilts of Valor. She pieces them herself, she
quilts tops that others have pieced, she teaches the kids in her
local schools to piece them, the whole nine yards. When she has a big
pile of quilts, she loads up the car and drives to Ft. Carson and
presents them in person to the wounded soldiers. We are talking major
league big time involvement, and a level of commitment that I find
difficult to imagine. If you go to her blog at
http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/ and scroll down the right side of
the page, you will see for yourself just how much work this woman
does for our wounded military vets.

A few days ago, Alycia posted on her blog about a quick and easy
quilt pattern she'd come up with for QOV quilts, and was looking for
people to get involved. The Ft. Carson chaplain had asked her for a
new batch of quilts, since the war keeps sending him new batches of
wounded, and she had agreed to try to come up with 100 more quilts. I
started thinking about that. 100 quilts. Well, that shouldn't be too
hard, right? Alycia is the type of woman who can do pretty much
whatever she sets her mind to, and any woman that can raise a passle
of boys, run a working ranch and a quilting business, and still find
time to produce piles of quilts for QOV shouldn't have too much
trouble with 100 quilts, right? Then I went to her blog and started
looking at the pictures and reading the stories.

And the that's when the whole sleeplessness thing kicked in.

Alycia had pics and a story about a young soldier, Staff Sargeant W,
who she met at Ft Carson. A young soldier who had trained to be a
teacher. We need more of those. Lots more. Only the problem was, he
had gone off to fight for our country, and had gotten shot. In the
head. And now he can't remember things, so his young wife has to
make notes with the names of things, and tape them to the object, so
he can remember what it is. The sacrifice that he, his wife, and
their baby boy (who will probably never have a clue what Daddy was
like before he got shot in the head) is mind boggling. Then there's
the sacrifice of his mother, his father, his brothers and sisters and
friends, and all of the children who would have learned their ABCs
from this man and now can't.

And he's just one of the stories. There are thousands more just like
him. Thousands. More every day. And all of them with stories that
reach right out and grab you by the heart and don't let go.

So, I read Alycia's story about how there are 400 wounded soldiers in
the unit at Ft. Carson, and how the chaplain had asked her if she
could manage 100 quilts. And then I did the math. 400 minus 100
equals 300. 300 soldiers who will sit there, empty handed, and watch
as the 100 get their quilts. What's wrong with this picture? Can
anyone tell me why the hell it's a good idea for 300 wounded soldiers
to sit there empty handed?!? They have the same bullet holes, the
same missing limbs, the same everything, and yet they get no quilt?
Wrong-o. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I think this is ridiculous. Utterly and completely ridiculous. In my
recent DVD, I heavily promote QOV, not because I am a goody two
shoes, but because I think it's only right that when God gives you a
talent, you should use it for good. God gave us a talent. We have
talent, we have fabric and needles and thread, and sewing machines
and quilting machines. We can quilt. So, let's quilt. Let's blow the
chaplain's doors off, and send him a quilt for every single soldier
in his unit. 400 quilts. There are how many of us who quilt? Millions?
Surely we can send a measly 400 quilts to Alycia. Just think about
it; every single one of those wounded kids gets a quilt that
says "Thank you." None of this 300 sitting around watching 100 get
thanked crap. They all get thanked. They all get a nice warm snuggly
quilt that makes them feel like what they went through was
appreciated by somebody somewhere.

Yep, you have an excuse for why you can't do this. You're busy. You
have commitments. The weather just turned nice and you want to go
play in the garden. You don't feel well. Well, guess what. None of
those excuses work with me. I have two teenagers, and two dogs, and
two businesses to run, and a new DVD to film, and a website to run,

and I have a garden full of weeds, and I'm
still dealing with cancer and a type of cancer related heart disease
that requires thrice weekly trips to cardiac rehab, and guess what.
My excuses are better than your excuses, and I'm still going to make
a quilt for Alycia, so you should, too. Come on. One quilt! Don't be
such a baby! It's not even a big quilt! It's just a little one, and
it's an easy pattern, and it's not like anyone is asking you to do a
custom quilting job on it, so it's not even going to take you more
than a couple of days from start to finish.

So what's your excuse now? Is it good enough excuse to give to one
of the 300? Nope. I didn't think so. So go make a quilt.

I challenge you.

**********************************

An Update

Right now, according to the quilt counter at her blog (http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/) Alycia has gotten 136 quilts. 400 minus 136 equals 264 more quilts that need to get to her before that bus leaves for the base, or there will be 264 wounded soldiers who will need somebody to explain to them why their wounds don't qualify them for a quilted thank you. Personally, I would not care to have that job.

You can help in many ways:

If you are not a machine quilter, you can piece a quilt and send it to Alycia along with the backing, batting, and binding. (**REMEMBER** Alycia is a working stiff just like us, and while many members of this list have been exceptionally generous in donating backing, batting and other materials, those items will not stretch to cover every single quilt top, so if you can send everything needed to finish your quilt, it's a big load off of Alycia's mind)

If you do not have the time to piece, you can volunteer your services to quilt up some of the tops that Alycia has received. The quilting does not have to be elaborate, fancy, or time consuming. You do not have to do custom, you can certainly do an allover. Those three layers just need to be firmly nailed together so that the quilt can be used, washed, and loved by it's recipient.

You can get your quilting group involved in this project. If you belong to a guild, stand up at the next meeting (yes, I know it's scary to stand up and talk in front of people, but you won't die from it. Believe me, I do it all the time and I'm not dead yet, even though my students have often wanted to kill me), tell the group what needs to be done, and watch them line up to volunteer. Church quilting groups are a great resource to go to for help. If you have quilting ladies at your church, go get 'em. Those ladies just love to help, and there is nothing like putting a group of feisty old church ladies on the case. I swear, if we could just loose a gaggle of church ladies on Washington, they'd have all of our problems taken care of by mid-morning, and would then serve a delicious lunch of salads, hotdish, and those really good buns that have the dusting of flour on top. But I digress. Tell them about QOV and watch them take over. You'll see.

I hope this gives you some ideas, and I also hope it gets people fired up about helping. Remember what I said in my last post, ladies: I know we're all busy, but those are our kids in that hospital. It doesn't matter a bit if you're for the war or against it. Those are our kids, and they have sustained wounds that will stay with them for the rest of their lives, affecting them and their families in ways we can't even imagine.

Now, let's get busy. Alycia needs 264 more quilts.

Love,

Kimmy

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Comments

6. marilyn ashworth (05 January 2010 at 9:46 a.m.)

I will make a quilt..tell me where to send it?
5. Marty Louisin (21 December 2009 at 8:30 a.m.)

Just got the Dec sale email and saw the link to this story. It doesn't matter if Alicia has reached the 400 quilt number or not. There are 100's of wounded service people in hospitals around the country who need to know we really care about them. QOV needs quilts! As long as there are service people coming home wounded we need to make quilts. We need to get even non quilters involved! Let them donate fabric or other supplies or $ to buy them. Even teach some to cut or sew the seams. My 9 and 7 yr old granddaughters can sew a straight line! Let's show everyone we all care!Let's make it a national project for everyone to get involved. They are fighting and dying for all of us!!
4. yolanda lee (17 December 2009 at 3:51 p.m.)

Hi Kimmy, I am from South Africa and have just read this. I would love to know whether the goal of 400 quilts was reached? I do hope so. It is amazing to me what Americans do for their soldiers and the respect you have for your armed forces!! I salute you, the quilting ladies who help this cause and the soldiers who give their best for your country.
3. Susan Reed (31 October 2008 at 7:53 a.m.)

I am a new long arm owner and I need alot of practice. i would love to volunteer to quilt some of these quilts and help take the load off of Alycia. What a perfect way to get some of the practice I need before I tackle my own quilt tops..
2. Kimberly Mason (17 October 2008 at 12:38 a.m.)

You are the best, Kimmy! Atta girl!
1. Val Jones (17 September 2008 at 5:56 p.m.)

I plan to go to her website and get the pattern and make a quilt and send, i can piece it and mail the rest that she will need to quilt it. you are right, there are no excuses to use. to not do this. i just joined a quilting list and someone gave the information to get to your blog. so this was meant to be. i will pass the idea along to all that will listen. thank you for your message.

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