Quilts of Valor
 

Within our Guild we have a group that gets together and they have made hundreds of QOV of which are shipped to a distribution center. They have to also pay dues and pay for the shipping. The costs for doing this is actually expensive, but the ladies all pitch in from their own pockets to make the cost lighter.
We have lots of local veterans, Legions and various festivals that honor veterans. My question is: Is 'Quilts of Valor' a trademarked name or can it be used by any one for these local purposes?

It looks like and official QOV must meet requirements https://www.qovf.org/quilters-questi...-requirements/ and see the bottom for policies and procedures. I think many quilters make what they feel is a QOV and is probably treasured by the recipient, but may not meet their standards. I would contact them to see if you can call your quilt a QOV. if you do, will you post what you found out?

It looks loke a trademark name. Also states that it cannot be used unless specific rules are followed and given permission through QOV.

We have a local group that makes QOVs. We joined the organization as a group ($30 fee, plus $5 per member per year). Nearly all of the QOVs we make stay local. We have partnered with another local organization and have presentation ceremonies every three or four months. In addition, some QOVs are awarded privately, but all awards are made through our local group.

Quilts of Valor is a federally registered name, and as I understand it, that means they have exclusive rights to the name. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help you, though, if you'd contact them directly.

Our QOV group makes quilts for veterans in our area and our group makes the presentations. The quilts never go further from the maker than to the QOV leaders house for storage or to the recipient. I think you Personally need to contact QOV HQ and ask some questions.

Yes I would too!
I am a member of QOV. The quilts made in our district stays in our district and presented by our group to the veterans in our area. No quilts are shipped anywhere. When you sign up to join the group it cost $5 and you get a pin and membership card. QOV has strict standards for the quality of the quilts. When a request for a quilt is received the QOV contacts the district QOV where the veteran lives and that group will make and give the quilt with a presentation.
The quilt is NOT a donation quilt. It is an honor to be given to our veterans.

I belong to a Phoenix based HUGE charity group. We support many places. We make Veteran quilts in all different sizes. They are distributed to various Veteran places here. Some are smaller and can be used in a wheelchair.

When I lived in Maryland I did the QOV thing. The postage was through an APO in New York and not too bad.

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The postage was through an APO in New York and not too bad.

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I don't understand mailing any quilt through QOV. Our District QOV group has never mailed a quilt anywhere through QOV. Non members can donate to their local district groups but are never asked to ship a quilt at their own expense.

Before we had a local group, I volunteered to quilt for QOV. I received quilts from all over the U.S. The quiltmaker had to pay to send the top and backing to me, and I paid to return the quilt to him/her. The quiltmaker would then ask QOV for a destination for the quilt, and he/she would then pay to have it shipped to that destination. I know one of the quilts I quilted was sent to a hospital in Germany. I don't know where the others ended up.

Almost sounds like a franchise, where the parent company lays down some basic guidelines that have to be met, but then leaves a lot of the minutiae to each individual chapter.

I am making a QOV for my brother in law. Read through the QOV website because I wanted to find out if I could use the name QOV on the label. The quilt does meet their requirements since I used a free pattern that is available on their website and quilted to their specifications. My impression is that the name can be used by individual quilters and they would like you to inform them that you have presented the quilt so that it will be counted in their total of quilts. They also include links to two websites where you can purchase QOV labels and insert your relevant info. They give info for requesting a volunteer long armer but you do need to purchase a membership for about 5 dollars for that service. There is a whole lot of info to read through on the website in order to find what you are looking for. As for the shipping costs mentioned by OP, didn't notice since that was not my issue. My over all impression was that they would like to help get these special quilts presented to the military people and veterans who so deserve them.

Oh, all our QOV quilts are machine quilted free locally by several professional LAs, so no sending off to get quilted. I guess if you independently volunteer without a group and no long armer available for free then mailing the quilt to the free one would be your expense.

If I knew of a veteran, or knew somebody who knew somebody that knew a veteran that needed/wanted a quilt, I would just make one and get it to them with a "thank you for your service, made with love" label.
I'm sure QOV has it's place as all organizations do, but sometimes grass roots does just as good a job....IMHO
Hope I didn't ruffle any feathers.

If I were to donate quilts to our Veterans I would just make quilts and find out where to take them. I would not want to go through any organization.

Hi Cindy!
Thank you and your guild for creating Quilts of Valor!
Quilts of Valor can and should be created and awarded wherever there is a need. As you noted, truly there is a great need in your own community. The Foundation has 2 volunteer coordinators in Michigan - Jessica Kass and Judy Tritten
For more information on making presentations of the Quilts of Valor that your guild created - please contact the ladies via their email addresses - [email protected] or [email protected]
Thank you for the question and supporting America's military!
Jeff Thorne
QOVF, Marketing and Public Relations Director

Quilts of Valor rules were put in place to avoid the issue of some quilts that were slapped dashed together and called a QOV. The Foundation wanted these quilts to be a quality product. After all, it is intended to be a "thank you" for being touched by war. You may skip tops and backs to be quilted for free by a LA if you are a a paid QOV member. You may keep you completed and QOV labeled quilt to be awarded local or you can request a destination from the QOV website. It this request is made you would be given a area where QOVs are needed. As a Delaware QOV coordinator, I am just one of many on this list. We provide a QOV for all those working at the Dover Air Force base Port Mortuary.The DE port mortuary is the largest in the US and handles almost all the service men and women killed in action The service members at AFMAO each receive a QOV at the end of their 6-9 month service there. Since these members come from all across our nation, I requested to be added to the destination list. At the height of the war we needed over 200 per year. While it is a much lower count currently, DE is such a small state we do not have enough QOVs to cover all the requests. I realize it can be a huge expense to make and ship QOVs but when I compare the cost to to the lives changed by war and have seen first hand how much these quilts make to the individuals receiving them, cost really doesn't compete. Make a QOV, keep it local or send it to a destination, but please keep thanking our veterans with quality QOVs. Just my 2 cents.

Don't know how it all works. I do know our guild make 10 or 20 QOV a year. They are somehow registered thru QOV so they are technically official QOV. A couple of our longarmers quilt for QOV where people mail them quilts. They handle this. Contact QOV to find out how. We pass all of ours out locally or to people our guild members know.

thank you for your official response :thumbup:

I don't know about QOV. I do know that a guild I belonged to made several quilts to take to Jefferson Barricks (for US vets) here in St. Louis, not all of them were in the red, white and blue fabric category. One older man came and asked if he could have a quilt, an WWII veteran. When told they only had one quilt left, but it was pink, he said he would be honored to take it. I think it's best to honor your own community first and not mail your quilts out.

An APO address means they were actually sent overseas, possible Landstuhl Hospital in Germany?

If your quilt was machine quilted locally it wouldn't have had to be sent out.
You could have taken his name and info and registered him on the QOV site. He would have gotten an appropriate quilt with honor presentation. World War II veterans are a priority now for QOV.

I never checked for legality when I made DH his quilt, I just told him about the program, and he asked if I would make him one (he is a Vietnam Nam vet of the US Army). His is a queen size biscuit quilt in red, white, and blue, with his name across the center. I guess to him it is a "QOV", since that is why I made it, but it is exactly what he wanted and made just for him so he is thrilled. I have plans when I am gone to donate all of my sewing supplies thru the local VFW (in honor of my grandfathers) to be passed n to the local QOV group to use or sell as they see fit. My quilts probably would not be up to their standards and I am OK with that. We all help according to our abilities.

I did the same as Chester the bunny. My neighbor retired from the military but was not in an active war area; due to being an only son/child. So I put on his label "thank you for your service". The size met QOV requirements; I just changed the wording.

If you are worried about calling your quilts a QOV, why not call it something else: In Honor of Service or something similar.

Perfect!!!! This is what I think also.

Thank you for your response. I am not a member of the 'Spin off Bee' that makes the Quilts of Valor. They are members of our Guild however. As I stated, they have already done this for years and have sent hundreds of quilts, so their procedure has been established years ago and they have it down pat. I was only questioning if I could do it on my own, then donate it to our local Legion. I think my original question was answered by 'Chester the Bunny'. Hope your information can help others though, this is certainly a worthy cause.

My guild had made and sent off quilts but those with that passion have been finding local vets, men and women, and have been presenting them to our "locals" for the past year. These veterans may never be noticed by the national organization but are just as moved by the simple honor given through a quilt. We all contribute blocks so we feel like we are all contributors to honor our vets whether we give a block or two or if we assemble the quilt or make our own full quilt.

Some prefer to give personally. Giving is the point however you do it.

I think QOV has become something akin to calling all facial tissues "Kleenex". Locally, our quilters often refer to them as "Patriotic Quilts". At the beginning of our projects, we looked into the QOV rules and decided that was not for us, but we could not prevent the participants from calling them "Quilts of Valor".

As a woman veteran who didn't aerve in a combat area, I just want to say thank you first of all to all you who make the quilts. Secondly, the Armed Forces have a definition of veteran status: an individual who has served 180 days or more in uniform & been discharged honorably.

As a former facilitator of a veteran support group, I made no such distinction about the status of the veteran's discharge nor their length of service. I just cared if they had served cuz life happens to all of us.

Mostly, I wanted to say that you need not have been in a combat zone or combat to be called a veteran. Okay, off my soapbox. Thanks for caring.