{"id":3573,"date":"2012-11-26T01:00:15","date_gmt":"2012-11-26T01:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/?p=3573"},"modified":"2023-10-06T17:28:41","modified_gmt":"2023-10-06T17:28:41","slug":"why-do-quilts-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/news\/why-do-quilts-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Why DO Quilts Matter? A Few More Reasons…"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, we received a tweet from the owner of a quilt shop\u00a0in Raleigh, NC. It read: “@WhyQuiltsMatter – so glad our shop @wishuponaquilt is sending quilts to the victims of #Sandy – that’s why quilts matter.”<\/p>\n

\"SuperstormThat Raleigh quilt shop is Wish Upon A Quilt<\/a>, and–as a result of a call for quilts issued on their blog<\/a>–the shop\u00a0quickly collected and dispatched approximately 50 quilts to the NY Metro area heavily ravaged by Superstorm Sandy (and its aftermath). The driving force behind this amazing relief effort is\u00a0New York City quilter, Victoria Findlay Wolfe (Bumblebeans BASICS<\/a>).\u00a0Victoria reports that the response has been overwhelming–so<\/strong> <\/em>overwhelming, in fact, that the offices of the distributing agency have been swamped<\/em> with beautiful quilts, and no more quilts can or will be accepted after December 7. She thanks quilters around the country for their incredible generosity, and\u00a0encourages them to\u00a0seek alternative programs\u00a0still in need of assistance with recovery.<\/p>\n

When we heard about\u00a0Victoria’s heartfelt, well-organized, and obviously successful\u00a0outreach effort, we got to thinking about other ways that quilters are using quilts to bring hope and comfort to those in need. If you ever had a doubt that quilts DO matter, read on…<\/p>\n

\"Alzheimer'sDuring the four-and-a-half days at the 2012 International Quilt Festival in Houston,\u00a0the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative<\/a>,\u00a0founded by Michigan quilter Ami Simms<\/a>, sold 1,597 quilts, earning $75,000 for the AAQI. Read more about AAQI’s\u00a0outstanding success\u00a0in Houston here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Alzheimer\u2019s Art Quilt Initiative is a national, grassroots charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research for this devastating disease. Since 2006, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization has raised more than $870,000<\/strong> for Alzheimer\u2019s research through donations, the sale and auction of donated quilts, and various other fundraising activities.\u00a0As a result, grants have been awarded to researchers at Cornell, the University of Michigan, University of California\/San Diego, Temple University, and other similar institutions. Visit the AAQI website to learn 33 Ways You Can Help<\/a>–including purchasing or donating a quilt!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Midnight

Midnight Fantasy (16″ x 16″) by Caryl Bryer Fallert; sold at the AAQI Celebrity Quilt Auction<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Connections

Connections (16″ x 16″) by Alex Anderson; sold at the AAQI Celebrity Quilt Auction<\/p><\/div>\n

\"How

How Does Your Garden Grow? (16″ x 16″) by Mary Sorensen; sold at the AAQI Celebrity Quilt Auction<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another outstanding\u00a0quilt-related program started and maintained by quilters<\/em> is the Quilts of Valor\u00a0Foundation<\/a>. The mission of the QOVF is “to cover ALL combat service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor. This foundation is not about politics; it’s about people.”<\/p>\n

Blue Star mom Catherine Roberts began the Quilts of Valor Foundation in 2003 from her sewing room in Seaford, DE.\u00a0Motivated by her son\u2019s year-long deployment to Iraq, and her desire to see that returning\u00a0vets were welcomed home with the love and gratitude they deserved,\u00a0she hit upon the idea\u00a0of providing each\u00a0one with a tangible\u00a0expression of\u00a0appreciation and gratitude.\u00a0Since then,\u00a0QOVF has become a national, grassroots community-service effort, connecting the homefront with those who serve on the\u00a0battlefront.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Some

Some of the crew from All American DUSTOFF outside Bagram CASH (Afghanistan); photo courtesy QOVF<\/p><\/div>\n

According to Executive Director\u00a0June Moore,\u00a0the official number of quilts presented to date\u00a0exceeds 70,000. Whenever possible, presentations are made in person. These occasions\u00a0are understandably moving, and the QOV site features video-taped interviews<\/a> that underscore\u00a0the meaning of the QOV\u00a0quilts\u00a0both to the veterans and<\/em> to the quilters who made them.<\/p>\n

“There are never enough quilts to fill the requests for them,” June says. Click here<\/a> to learn more about QOV, including how you can become involved by making quilt tops, machine quilting them, making a\u00a0monetary donation, or requesting a quilt for a veteran you know.<\/p>\n

Quilts: They mattered then, and they matter now. (But you knew that, didn’t you?)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The

The AIDS Quilt Project on the Mall in Washington, DC; the AIDS quilt is made up of thousands of 3′ x 6′ panels, each made by family members and friends in memory of a loved one lost to AIDS. The AIDS Quilt Project is featured in Episode 7 of Why Quilts Matter: History, Art & Politics.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this month, we received a tweet from the owner of a quilt shop\u00a0in Raleigh, NC. It read: “@WhyQuiltsMatter – so glad our shop @wishuponaquilt is sending quilts to the victims of #Sandy – that’s why quilts matter.” That Raleigh quilt shop is Wish Upon A Quilt, and–as a result of a call for quilts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[64,63,67,66,65,62],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3573"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3573"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6632,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3573\/revisions\/6632"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whyquiltsmatter.org\/staging20231003\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}