Below you will find a very nice letter from the Veterans Hospital in Fayetteville thanking Donna Roche, and all the ladies who help make Quilts of Valor, for sharing their time and talents for America's heroes. Thanks, Donna, for passing this along to us.
Take a look at the wonderful article about our own Donna Roche and her efforts on behalf of Quilts of Valor that appeared in September in The Rogers Hometown News.
Congratulations to our own Dorothy Day for winning Honorable Mention in The Alliance for American Quilts "Crazy for Quilts" contest! Her quilt, pictured here, is called "Rover (My Husband Wanted a Dog)" and will be auctioned on eBay during the week of November 9 - 15, 2009. Proceeds from the auction will go to support the mission of the Alliance for American Quilts. Congratulations again, Dorothy! Your quilt is fabulous!
Click here to see Dorothy's comments about her quilt, all the details about the contest and view the other 83 entries.
If you have been involved in the NW Arkansas quilting community much at all in the last few years, you've undoubtedly heard Donna Roche's name. Donna is the Quilts of Valor Coordinator for NW Arkansas and her efforts on behalf of this wonderful mission are nothing short of extraordinary. In the last three years or so, Donna has personally mailed or delivered 405 Quilts of Valor for our wounded soldiers. FOUR HUNDRED AND FIVE!
In addition to her "regular" Quilts of Valor activities, recent knee surgery and caring for ailing family members, Donna has just recently pulled off another amazing feat. Well, two of them actually.
It turns out that the National Convention for the Military Order of the Purple Heart is being held in Rogers, Arkansas, this very week, and Donna was commissioned to make quilts for both the National Commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, as well as the National President of its Ladies Auxiliary. Donna brought her beautiful creations to our meeting on July 20 so everyone at Pieces 'N Patches could admire them.
Here's the one for the National Commander with its label. Notice the beautiful thread-painted eagle that Donna designed, as well as the Purple Heart medal hanging from the eagle's beak (remember to click on any image to enlarge it):
And here is the one Donna created for the National President of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Notice the beautiful purple heart flowers in the basket in the medallion.
Donna has been invited to attend the MOPH banquet this week where her beautiful quilts will be presented to their recipients. Have a wonderful time, Donna. You've done a beautiful thing and you are an inspiration to us all.
(P.S. Thanks to Marguerite Steiner and Karen Ashley for providing these photos.)
Here's a photo of one of Pieces 'N Patches' newest members, Connie Justice, and can I just say right off the bat that we are so lucky to have her in our group. If you were at our last meeting, you heard about Connie's recent expressions of thoughtfulness and generosity, but for those of you who were not, I want to tell you what she's been up to.
When Connie first learned about PNP Member Donna Roche's efforts on behalf of Quilts of Valor (see this post if you missed it), she was inspired to do something to help. It turns out that Connie owns a gift shop in Sulphur Springs, AR, called "S.O.S. & Gifts," and one of her vendors is Bittersweet Galleries out of Webb City, MO (http://www.bittersweetgallery.com/), which is owned by artist Jack Dawson and his wife Nancy.
Connie approached Bittersweet Galleries about possibly making a donation of some of their wonderful patriotic greeting cards featuring the artwork of Jack Dawson that Donna Roche could send along with the Quilts of Valor to injured soldiers. And wow... did the Dawsons ever come through! They donated free of charge 125 cards, and not only that, they discounted another 75 for Connie's store to purchase so that in total, Connie and the Dawsons have given 200 cards to Donna Roche to accompany the Quilts of Valor that she sends to soldiers. In addition, they have given Donna one large version of the card that is suitable for framing or for displaying when Donna is out promoting the efforts of the Quilts of Valor organization. Here are pictures of the large edition of the card's front, middle and back.
Also, you can go here to read more about the actual image depicted on the card and what it symbolizes. It's called "Impressions of Old Glory."
So to Connie and Mr. and Mrs. Dawson, we extend our heartfelt thanks for your kindness and generosity.
P.S. And you know what else??? Connie also donated FOUR wonderful gift bags full of goodies for PNP door prizes, as well as two big pans of barbecued chicken hot off her grill for us to enjoy for lunch! Thanks again, Connie! You're the best!
P.P.S. I just now realized today is Connie's birthday, so Happy Birthday, Connie!! Hope you're having a great day!
She makes bags... she makes quilts... she teaches classes... AND SHE HAS GROWN THE BIGGEST SWEET POTATO I HAVE EVER SEEN!
In what has to be one of the funniest PNP moments I have ever been present for, Kathleen Baughman got in line for our Show 'N Tell last week and brought THIS ginormous thing out of her tote bag when it came her turn!
In case you didn't know, Kathleen is a Master Gardener, as well as a quilter and former kindergarten teacher. Congratulations on your agricultural accomplishment, Kathleen, and thanks for bringing it for us to see!
What a treat it was at Monday's meeting to see two quilts Grace Grame won blue ribbons for in the recent Benton County Fair. Here's a look in case you missed them:
These quilts were made with Grace's "Blue Jean Junk Art" technique that she's going to teach us at our workshop meeting in April of next year. (We will be working on something like the quilt on the right -- not the double wedding ring type on the left which is the more complicated of the two.) Congratulations, Grace! Both of your quilts are terrific!
PNP members will recall the following wonderful comment that we got on our blog a few days ago (under the "September Birthdays" post):
I hate to admit that I did not know that Pieces 'N Patches member Donna Roche is the Arkansas Quilts of Valor Coordinator. Thanks so much to member Connie Henry for making me aware of this so that I could have the opportunity to recognize Donna here on our blog. Here are a few candid photos of Donna:
I decided I'd give Donna a call and find out a little more about her good work for the Quilts of Valor Foundation.
Donna's journey with QoV began about two years ago when she visited a QoV booth at a quilt show in Wichita, KS. At that time Donna was told that QoV wanted 12 1/2" blocks. So Donna started making blocks... and Donna started having her friends make blocks... and pretty soon Donna was sending in 200 blocks at a time. Finally, QoV contacted Donna and told her to make her own QoV group because they couldn't keep up with her blocks! So that's what Donna did.
Now... consider this fact about Donna and the quilters and supporters around NW Arkansas that help her...
In the last two years (that's 730 days), Donna has mailed 271 Quilts of Valor. That is an average of mailing one quilt every 2.7 days for two years!
In addition to those 271 quilts, Donna has also mailed 260 cooling neck scarves. (I'm completely in awe as I type this.)
To learn more, have a look at Donna's Quilts of Valor brochure (and remember to click on the image to enlarge it):
(Note the beautiful Dresden Plate quilt at the bottom of the second column of the brochure -- that one was made by PNP member Carol Steitz. And the lovely lady holding the wonderful star quilt at the top of the last column of the brochure? That is PNP's own Loneta Blevins and a quilt she made for QoV.)
Now you may be wondering how you can help Donna and the Quilts of Valor Foundation. The next QoV workday will be the fourth Wednesday of the month (September 24) at Sew a Stitch in Bentonville from 11:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Sewers, cutters and pressers are needed. I hope that some of us from PNP can join Donna at that time.
I'll close this post with a link to another post from Alicia Lee, the soldier's mom who left us the thank you comment posted above: http://totallyarmymom.blogspot.com/2008/09/quilt.html Alicia has posted another picture of her handsome son Ben with his QoV quilt. Thanks again, Alicia. And to Donna Roche, thank you, as well. Your energy and your efforts on behalf of QoV are amazing.
Congratulations to Pieces 'N Patches member and Co-Vice President, Margie Langanke, for winning Grand Champion, Best of Show - Overall for her beautiful "barn quilt" entry. Margie said this is the first time she's ever entered a quilt into the fair, but she figured that any quilt that had a "barn" theme would likely be an appropriate entry. Also, Margie said this quilt has more than 300 fabrics! Here are photos of the front and back of her wonderful quilt. (Notice the label on the back has family photos printed on it. What a great idea!) And in case you don't know, Margie is the one in the photos holding the microphone. Congratulations Margie on this outstanding accomplishment!
We also have another winner in our Club. Marilyn Gore, Treasurer, won a blue ribbon for her "Carolina Crossroads" entry. This was a mystery quilt that quilt book author Bonnie Hunter designed and led from her website Quiltville and blog Quiltville's Quips & Snips. Here's a photo of it taken before it was quilted:
And finally, here are a few other winners from the fair, though they are not from Pieces 'N Patches members. Katha Carter (who said she would be a PNP member if only she didn't work on Mondays) was awarded "Champion" ribbons in three categories: Pieced Top, Baby Quilt and Lap Quilt. Here are those quilts (Katha is the one standing behind the quilts in all the pictures):
By the way, the first quilt (blue and white pieced top) is a Stash Pot Pie quilt Katha made through the Stash Pot Pie program at Sager Creek Quilt Shop in Siloam Springs. Congratulations Katha on your ribbons!
Ann Roberts also had three ribbon winners in the fair and here are photos of hers (Ann is wearing the blue and pink dress):
Congratulations again to all these winners. (PLEASE NOTE: This post is not meant to represent a complete list of winners at the Washington County Fair, but merely to feature those winners I am aware of. If there were other winners you would like to see listed here, please send me an email and I will be glad to add them. I was unable to find a complete list of winners anywhere or I would have included it here on the blog.)
I am the mother of a soldier from Iraq who ended up at Walter Reed Hospital who was given a quilt made by one of your quilters. We all just love the quilt. Thank you so much to all who work on the Quilts for Soldiers Ministry.
You can see a picture of my son wearing the quilt at:
http://totallyarmymom.blogspot.com
under the title: moving out of ICU to a regular room.
Please know your hard work is very much appreciated.
Steve and Alicia Lee
Olympia, WA