There is the national organization, Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOV), a non-profit group that delivers beautiful quilts to our service men and women.  It is a fabulous non-profit group that is from any quilted hearts.

But, with so many of our service members from the most current conflicts in the past 10 years, there are dwindling numbers of older Veteran’s who have yet to be recognized with a quilt.  I do not see that there are any WWI Veteran’s still alive and the numbers of WWII Veteran’s are now dying off.  The Veteran’s from the Korean and Vietnam wars/conflicts are now mostly senior citizens and, again, there are more deaths each day from those who served during the 1950’s and 1960’s.

And unfortunately, QOV can barely keep up with the most recent returning Veteran’s, either wounded or not.  Which leaves our older Veteran’s perhaps recognized on a local level but rarely on a national level.

Enter in Military Veteran Quilts.  I started this website and hopefully, with the help of volunteers, it will grow legs and race across the United States – to help recognize those older service men and women who have yet to be noticed by the QOV.  Once the concept came to me, I wanted our first quilt to be made for someone local.  Our county’s American Legion was our Girl Scout Service Unit sponsor so naturally (I was a Girl Scout leader here for three years), that was the first place I looked for a recipient.  And then I recalled that the current Commander of our American Legion lived right here in the town that we lived in.  I didn’t have to look any further.  He was my chosen Veteran to receive the first Military Veteran Quilt.

Here is the Commander, reading the words written on the back of his quilt.

Here is the Commander holding his quilt.

The Commander was in the Vietnam War as a Marine.  I machine appliqued these small round emblems onto the four corners of his quilt.  “Once a Marine, Always a Marine”

This first Military Veteran Quilt‘s fabric was donated by AbbiMays.com, the designing and piecing by myself and the quilting donated by Meloney Funk (herself an Air Force Veteran for 27 years).  To find out more about Military Veteran Quilts, please click on the link and visit our website.  Please remember to honor the older Veteran’s, too, as they deserve it for their service to our country!