It has been a busy month at QOV Ottawa.
At the end of April, we attended the Arnprior Quilt Show to display our quilts and spread the word. We sold a lot of hug blocks that weekend and had the opportunity to chat to quilters who have quilted for us for a long time and quilters who are going to quilt just one block (or two) and send it along. Hopefully, that one block will be the beginning of a long friendship with quilting and with QOV.
Then we were at the Ottawa Valley Quilt Guild Quilt Show on the Mothers’ Day weekend. We thought we would skip the Hug Blocks this time and just take donations for Light in the Window kits. However, all the strip sets were gone and we added Hug Blocks on Sunday. Between the two shows, we raised about $700! That will help with the backing, batting, and shipping costs!
Thank you to Annie, Ruby, Irena, Mary, Anne-Louise, Brigid, and Wendy for helping to staff the booths.
Robbie and I attended the annual luncheon for the Nursing Sisters Association and were able to honour a World War Two Nurse with her Quilt of Valour. It is humbling to be in the presence of someone who has lived the history that I have read in my textbooks, or tried to teach to my history students. I had the opportunity to visit a second nurse of that vintage just this past weekend. Just shy of her 100th birthday, she is still an independent going concern. Both women shared stories of military life in the middle of a violent conflict.
We hosted a small presentation event on April 16 to bring together eight different military members, some serving, some retired, to receive their Quilts of Valour. We had over 200 years! of military experience represented in that one room, with operational experiences in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Haiti, air-crashes in Nunavut, and rescue missions! There were three military couples at the presentation — both military, both facing injuries. Two of the presentations came as a surprise for the recipient. Lise told her husband that they were going to a seminar about veterans. She received her quilt and then I presented a quilt to her husband as well; Denis could not stop smiling! After the presentations, the recipients and their families lingered to chat over coffee, and to find connections — postings they had shared, friends they both knew, challenges they faced. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but we always find more connections when we take the time to talk to people. Thank you Wendy for helping me with the organization of this event.
In addition to these larger events, Robbie, Jill and I presented quilts at a Depart with Dignity Ceremony, in hospitals, in private homes and through the Transition Centres. Every time we present, we are reminded that the quilts you are making make a difference in the lives of the men and women who have served their country, but often feel that they have been forgotten. The love and respect stitched into every quilt reassures them that they have not been forgotten and that their sacrifices have been acknowledged and appreciated.
Thank you to all of the piecers, quilters and supporters who help Quilts of Valour to reach its mission: comforting wounded and ill servicemen and women with a quilted hug from a grateful nation.
Quilts of Valour Canada is looking for volunteers who could help with Social Media and help with membership lists. If you or someone you know has a bit of computer savvy and would like to participate in this way, we could really use the support. We have grown considerably over the years!
Enjoy the spring weather. Keep calm and stitch on!
Upcoming Dates:
June 12 – 15 — Canadian Quilters’ Association Show at the EY Centre (special booth for QOV)
July ? — Sew Day (place/date TBA)
Ottawa Region: Quilts of Valour - Canada 