Tag: PA Stitchers of Valor

Just Quilty Stuff · Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

NEW February VRD Rose Card Quilt Patterns and My Quilts of Valor National Sew Day Experience

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Here in NW PA, things are looking like spring! Punxatawney Phil (the Groundhog) did not see his shadow on February 2nd, which (hopefully) means an early spring. I started seeing some signs of spring even before Groundhog Day — on January 31st, I saw a groundhog awake and out of its hole. Next we started seeing some of our spring birds returning — starlings and bluebirds. We haven’t seen any robins in our yard yet, but other folks in our area have already seen them. Yes, we’ll probably see more snow before spring is completely sprung, but in the meantime I will enjoy winter days filled with sun and warmer temperatures.

Photo by Marian Brandt on Unsplash

Of course, true to living in NW PA, we did have a few weeks of very cold and snowy weather, but right now, we are enjoying the lack of snow and the sunshine with daytime temperatures in the 40’s with a few 50’s thrown in just to tease us. I hope you are just as fortunate as I am in the weather department right now. With all the sun, though, I am wanting to be outside to enjoy it, not down in my dungeon studio/office. Oh, the conundrums of nice weather……

On another note, do you know what day it is today??? It’s the first Thursday after the first Friday of the month which means NEW VRD Rose Card Patterns for February!

NEW VRD February Rose Card Patterns

YAY! Who doesn’t love NEW PATTERNS? Especially new patterns EVERY MONTH? And we’ve got some great new ones just for you this month, including several from our new designers Rachelle Handmade and Creative Sewlutions.

You can grab your set of February Rose Cards HERE for the special price of $8.95.

We also have 2 — count ’em — 2 table runners this month! One from Rachelle Handmade and one from yours truly.

Get your own Baraboo HERE.

Get your own Candy & Flowers HERE.

What a great collection of patterns, don’t you think? Lots of variety AND different styles to appeal to just about every quilter. Which one are you going to make first this month?

Quilts of Valor National Sewing Day

As I mentioned last week, I had signed up to attend my local QOV group, PA Stitcher’s of Valor’s National Sew Day event. Our event was actually 2 days, Friday and Saturday, instead of just Saturday. This meant we could get even more sewing in. But with 2 days of sewing, I still didn’t get my project completely finished. I should have looked over the pattern a little bit more and pre-made my almost 200 Half Square Triangles (HSTs) before the actual sew days. Then I probably could have gotten my project finished. Hey, I was just pleased that I got all the pieces cut out. And I did get the 12 blocks sewn together, so now all I have to do is sew the blocks together and add the 2 borders.

I pretty much spent the first day just making HSTs. My cuz and pal, Robin and I switched projects for a while that first day because her machine was giving her some issues and she was having a hard time sewing her blocks together (Yes, Robin made her quilt blocks ahead of time. Good thinking, Robin!). So she worked on my HSTs while I sewed her blocks together. Group effort, definitely! Robin’s top was finished the first sewing day. 

Here’s Robin’s top. Very patriotic, isn’t it? 

OH NO! I think I switched blocks in the upper right corner….do you think it looks weird???

Here I am with my “cuz crew” — Kim (left front), Lisa (left back), and Robin (right back) laughing and sewing the day away! I am the person on the right in the front — you know, the one with all the mess. LOL! That’s just how I roll, I guess.

Here’s Kim sewing her big HSTs while Lisa is reading her pattern.

Here I am (front) with Robin (back) sewing happily along while we chat and laugh. You can see my cute little gnome sewing buddy on the table beside my machine. Notice my mess isn’t too bad as this was taken on the first day and the photo above was from Saturday (insert eye roll here).

We had a total of 60 quilters in 2 locations over 2 day! Some of the sewers were able to get a project finished, or brought ones to donate that they had already finished. Here are some of the gorgeous quilts and tops turned in over the weekend.

Hats off to Collene, our fearless leader for PA Stitchers, who organized such an amazing sewing event! Lunch was donated both days and there was plenty of snacks to keep us going at full speed. One of the things I loved the best about the event was lending a hand to each other when we needed some help. It wasn’t a race and there was always time to take a break and wander around, seeing what each other were working on. I am smiling while I think about the experience. I look forward to doing it again soon. 

Our local PA Stitchers group meets once a month to work on quilts for QOV. Such a worthy cause — I’m so glad I have skills that can help others. Please contact your local QOV group and get involved — there are so many veterans and active military personnel who need to be covered by a special quilt. So get involved!

And don’t forget to grab your own set of our brand new 12 Quilts of Valor collection HERE. These 12 quilts will give a lot of different options for making your Quilts of Valor quilts, including multiple options for your patriotic panels! All the patterns fit the size requirements for a QOV quilt and a portion of the sales will be donated to the QOVF.

Well, I think that’s it for me today. I hope you enjoyed the quilt photos from our National Sew Day weekend for QOV. Don’t forget to find your local organization and get involved.

Until next week —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Quilting Partners · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

The 12 Quilts of Valor VRD Rose Card Pattern Collection

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

Image by starline on Freepik

I hope your New Year is off to a great start! I’m excited about all the cool stuff we’ve got planned for Villa Rosa Designs for 2024. All you need to do is stay tuned here on the blog. :)

Last week we wrapped up our 5 week December Accessory Sew Along (SAL). I hope you enjoyed the series, even if you didn’t get a chance to make your projects yet. As promised, I added links to the SAL along the right side of the blog along with a link to the collection. You can find the December SAL section right under our Quilting Partners. Now you can participate in the 2023 December SAL whenever it works for you. I hope you do because the projects are fast and lots of fun. Feel free to add your own touches to make them your own. I am looking forward to seeing your finished projects on our VRD Facebook page.

12 Quilts of Valor Collection

Drum roll please..…………………..

Cue the fireworks! 

Image by brgfx on Freepik

We are absolutely thrilled to kick off 2024 with the debut of our 12 Quilts of Valor Rose Card Pattern Collection in partnership with the Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOVF)! 

Get your QOV collection HERE.

It took a little more time to finish the collection than we had originally anticipated, but here it is — a super way to start off the new year! Yay!

We are partnering with the Quilts of Valor Foundation to help get more quilts made and into the hands of veterans and active service members. Each of the 12 quilts in the collection meet the size requirements for a Quilts of Valor quilt. AND, a portion of the sales will be donated to the Quilts of Valor Foundation!

If you’re a follower of the blog, then you already know how near and dear my local Quilts of Valor chapter, PA Stitchers of Valor, is to my heart. I’m SEW PROUD to say that the founder and leader of my local group, Collene Munn, was recently honored as a 2023 Difference Maker. You can read the article HERE.

Here is Collene’s overview of the past year on the PA Stitchers of Valor Facebook page:

2023 was a great year for PA Stitchers of Valor, we celebrated our 6th Anniversary with the Quilts of Valor Foundation in April and awarded our 500th Quilt of Valor in May and our 600th Quilt of Valor in November! We have been busy but have been honored to recognize almost 140 Veterans in one year!! We have help[ed] start a new group in Andover/Ashtabula Ohio and have another one looking to join after the first of the year in [the] Franklin/Oil City area. We have lost a few members due to these new groups starting but are happy for both of them. I am excited to see where 2024 takes us! If interested in joining or helping our group in any way please reach out to me. Happy New Year PA Stitchers of Valor thank you for a great year!!!

— Collene Munn, 1 January 2024

Thank you, Collene, for everything that you do!

And thank you to everyone who gives their time, supplies, and skills to recognize and honor our veterans and service members with a Quilt of Valor.

You can get involved! 

Here’s How:

  1. Find your local or closest organization HERE. There are 577 chapters in the United States, so chances are there’s one near you. Become a member and volunteer.
  2. Get your VRD 12 Quilts of Valor Collection for an amazing $14.95 HERE. Remember, all 12 quilts meet the size requirements for a Quilt of Valor quilt and a portion of every sale is donated to the QOVF.
  3. Make a quilt and donate it to your local chapter. Make sure you read the quilt requirements are HERE.
  4. REPEAT!

National Sew Day is February 3rd, so ask around your area to find out where you can help make quilts for QOV. My local chapter will have 2 different locations this year for Friday and Saturday. I’m making plans to be there. 

Sew. Laugh. Make a difference. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @ VRD

Quilt Stories · Rose Cards · villa rosa designs

A Quilts of Valor (QOV, QOVF) Presentation

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Hello Quilty Friends!

Happy Thursday to you!

I hope your week is going well and you’ve found a few moments to quilt during the hustle and bustle of the end of summer and back to school. I remember those endless days of school shopping — new shoes, clothes, school supplies, etc., etc…. Sadly, there are no more kiddos in my family — my nieces Meghan and Morgan are all grown up. Yet, for some reason I still cannot resist grabbing up extra pens, pencils, tablets, and other supplies. Maybe I miss those days, or maybe in my own mind, I’m still a student.

Last weekend after lots of hard work, we had my Mom’s annual family reunion at our local fire hall. She and my Aunt Helen worked really hard to get it organized. And even though we were all worried about how many folks would be able to make it, the reunion came together and there was a great turn out with cousins coming from as far away as California to our little corner of Pennsylvania.

This year’s reunion was a special one for me — I had organized a Quilts of Valor presentation with my local QOV organization, PA Stitchers of Valor. Collene Munn, who is the force behind our local organization, came to my family reunion along with volunteer husband and wife, Jason and Linda. With their help, we celebrated and honored 4 veterans in our family — my cousins Lisa, Michael, Ron Sr., and Ron Jr. My Dad, my sister Tracy, and I helped with the presentation while my niece Morgan was my photographer.

If you’ve never seen a Quilts of Valor presentation, then you truly have missed witnessing something very special. It’s common for tears to flow and hugs to be shared. Sometimes it’s the first time that family members even get to hear what their veteran or service member actually did during their service. Sometimes the presentation is the moment when a veteran can finally talk about what they might have experienced. Perhaps this is the first time a veteran has actually been thanked for their service. The actual presentation might only last an hour, but the significance of receiving a Quilts of Valor could last a lifetime.

I am very proud to share that I personally made 3 out of the 4 quilts presented. You might recognize 2 of the quilts because they are Villa Rosa Designs Rose Card patterns. The 3rd one I made will be a new Rose Card which will be available soon. I would have made the 4th quilt, but I just ran out of time, so the 4th quilt was made and donated by QOV volunteers.

Allow me to share photos from our family Quilts of Valor presentation.

Each veteran was called up individually while Collene shared a short description of their service. And while each veteran was called up, the veteran’s quilt was displayed behind them usually by a family member and a volunteer. Here, you can see my cousin Lisa with her quilt displayed behind her. This quilt you will see again soon as a new Rose Card pattern called Gallant.

My cousin Michael (Lisa’s big brother) was called up next. His quilt is the Rose Card pattern, Salute, which is one of my patterns. You can buy the Salute Rose Card pattern HERE.

My cousin Ron Sr. was next. You will recognize his quilt as the VRD Rose Card pattern, Daring Spirit. In fact, this is the same quilt from the Daring Spirit tutorial I wrote for the blog a few weeks ago. I am notorious for combining different things into the same project to maximize my time. You can find the Daring Spirit tutorial HERE. You can buy the Daring Spirit Rose Card pattern HERE.

And our final recipient was my cousin, Ron Jr., who is Ron Sr.’s son. This beautiful scrap quilt was made and donated by QOV volunteers. Are you interested in making a quilt to donate to QOV? Or perhaps getting involved in another way? You can visit their website for more information: www.QOVF.org.

Once all the recipients were seated, then it was time to wrap each veteran in their quilt with a quilter’s hug. 2 people hugged each veteran — one a family member and one a quilter as they wrapped the quilt around the veteran. This was an incredibly emotional moment.

At the end of the presentation, each veteran received a certificate and a pillowcase.

Then there were lots of hugs and hand-shaking. What an amazing event to share at my family reunion this year! I know that there are more veterans and service members in the family, so I hope we can do this again next year.

I encourage each and every one of you to connect with the veterans and service members in your family and community. Nominate them to your local Quilts of Valor organization. Make and donate quilts. Volunteer. And above all, go to QOV presentations in your community to support local veterans and service members.

Visit www.qovf.org for more information and to get involved.

Well, that’s it for this week.

Until next Thursday —

Sew. Laugh. Repeat.

Always,

Tricia @VRD