Our Quiltsy Cares member for today is Lily Sweeny of
TheBattyQuilter. We recently caught up with Lily and asked her to tell us about herself and her donation. This is what she said:
Welcome to Maine! Bar Harbor is home to my long arm quilting business, The Batty Quilter. My name is Lily Sweeney, and daily I can be found working on customer's quilts, creating new patterns, and working on my own projects. The very best days are when I am working on Quilts of Valor, to honor our military service members.
Quilts of Valor was started by Catherine Roberts in 2003. Her vision was to award each service member with a quality made quilt, to thank them for service to our country. QOV is not a clutch of old ladies gathered around a quilt frame. QOV is a huge organization that has thousands of quilters working together to craft these quilts. Elayne Gassett is the mastermind behind getting the quilt tops from all over the US to long-arm quilters like me. The tops are then quilted together on long-arm quilt machines, and are then sent back to be bound and awarded. It is amazing!
Since its origination in 2003, QOV has awarded over 181,935 quilts, with more being awarded daily. What I love about QOV is that it is such a worthy cause. It is also a tribute to the quilting community who has picked up the challenge of an idea, and made it a reality. There are many ways to help from making a block, binding, long-arm quilting, you name it. So enjoy the privilege of giving back to those that defend our country, join in the fun with QOV.
Written by Pat Young of PatsPassionQuilteds, Quiltsy Team member since May 2011.
