MTSU hosts successful National Quilts of Valor Sew Day event

A group of area quilters, including MTSU students, gathered at the university Saturday, Feb. 6, to do their part to add a bit of comfort to active military personnel and veterans.

For National Quilts of Valor Sew Day, university employee Janice Lewis, a quilter herself, spearheaded a drive to bring 20 to 30 people to campus to complete roughly 20 quilt tops.

MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee, right, holds up one of the quilts assembled Saturday on campus as part of National Quilts of Valor Sew Day. At left is Ginger Fondren of the Quilts of Valor Foundation. (MTSU photos by Andrew Oppmann)

The event was held at MTSU’s Learning Resource Center. Also attending the event was MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee and retired Lt. Gen. Keith Huber, senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives.

The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing quilts as a small show of gratitude for their valor and sacrifice.

Janice Lewis

“Since I already knew about Quilts of Valor and have made a quilt for them in the past, I thought it was a great idea when Quilts of Valor Foundation representative Ginger Fondren mentioned it to me at the Veterans and Military Family Center grand opening in November,” said Lewis, coordinator for academic affairs in the Office of the Provost, prior to the event.

“She was the person who presented quilts at the opening, including one to the general (Huber). I knew we had the space needed for this kind of project in our Human Sciences department. That started the ball rolling, and it looks like it will be a fun event.”

Lewis and staff and faculty in the Department of Human Sciences reached out to students to sew or volunteer their help, too, as part of the university’s experiential learning program.

The Office of the University Provost, Department of Human Sciences and MTSU Veterans and Military Family Center are sponsoring the project.

For more information, contact Lewis at 615-898-2881 or email Janice.Lewis@mtsu.edu.

— Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)

Retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Keith Huber, MTSU’s senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives, speaks to volunteers Saturday, Feb. 6, at the opening session of National Quits of Valor Sew Day on the university campus.