Wednesday, September 09, 2009

911 Day of Service

9/11/09 is being declared a National Day of Service. They even have a cool website. I wish at times that I was that compelling in my words - but alas - thank goodness for others. So check out this website - http://911dayofservice.org Then come back. Don't worry I'll still be here.

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9/11 made a big impact on a lot of people, and in many different ways. I love how this man ( at 911dayofservice) is turning a personal loss into a nations gain. I think it is a great way to get people to realize the greatness of this country, and the freedoms that we as a nation have.
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9/11 sent my dad to Ground Zero. It sent my Dad in directions that he had not expected. He met people and touched lives, and had his life touched in ways that no one could ever expect. And it had a far reaching effect. One of those effects was the beginning of my quilting career.
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For some of us quilting is a reflection of our desire to help, to comfort, and to let others know that they are cared for. For some receiving a Quilt is one way to have a tangible feeling of love, to know that they are not alone. To know that even though they signed up for a job, getting hurt was not a job requirement.
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It is for all of these reasons that I would like to promote Quilts of Valor as a plan for spending a day in service.
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Would you consider starting a new Quilt for a Soldier, finishing a Quilt in progress, Quilting a Quilt of Valor, or finishing the binding? On Friday I will be posting the layout of the QOV Mystery Sew Along. But don't let that stop you from doing what you would like - just know that it is an option.
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Now - what do you do when you finish your top or finish your quilt?
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That is the cool thing about Quilts of Valor - there are many different outlets. If you have a top and you are not a machine quilter ( either on your home machine or a long arm) you can request a Machine Quilter at the QOVF.org website and they will hook you up.
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If you have finished a quilt - and its ready to be shipped to a soldier - again you can head over to QOVF.org and request a destination. You may be surprised at the need of these quilts.
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Or ( I always have to plug Colorado) if you are interested in your quilt going to a soldier in Colorado you can email me (alyciaquilts @ gmail.com) and I will give you my address. Quilts coming this way go to Fort Carson - to the Wounded Warriors unit.
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Do you have plans for the Day of Service?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for posting that link Alycia. Wow. I am speechless and it brings back so much of what I felt then.

You can count on me to start a QOV on 9/11.

Thanks,
Bari

Sherrill said...

I've got two finished here and hope to get a couple more from my church quilting group. Will be sending them your way shortly!! I'll be flying to MN on 9/11 so probably no 'service' that day but lots of others to come.

I was watching the 9/11 show on the Natl. Geographic channel last night. I think we should all do that on occasion just to remember.

Denise V said...

yup! Friday I'll work on the next (final) step of our sew-along for QOV. Hopefully it will be a top after that. ?

Lori said...

I will be quilting away!

Anonymous said...

I too will be quilting anyway, but I will also be delivering pink roses to the UA flight crews here in PHX. I do this every year. It simply says I remember. The crews really appreciate it.

I recently sent a QOV to the Navy chaplain in Honolulu who married our son in August. He said he'd given out many QOVs and it made him feel almost as good as the soldier. As we can't pay him, we thought we'd like to help him feel that good again.

Shari in AZ