The History of Quilts of Valor

The public is invited to view a special Quilts of Valor display at the Horry County Museum, located at 805 Main Street in Conway. A variety of quilts made especially for local veterans by the Myrtle Beach Shorebirds and Conway Quilts of Valor groups will be on display in the Museum March 1 through March 24.

Visitors are also invited to join us March 4 at 1 p.m. for a special presentation by Joan Wobbleton of the Myrtle Beach Shorebirds as she shares the history of the Quilts of Valor Foundation. Fellow quilters Dot Kenney and Jim Wobbleton will also share how they create quilt kits, their fundraising efforts for the Foundation, and share examples of QOV quilts from their personal collections. Myrtle Beach Shore Birds began in 2010 and covers Horry, Georgetown and Florence counties. So far, they have awarded thousands of quilts to local veterans. Those interested in helping Myrtle Beach Shorebirds make quilts can contact Kathleen Williams at memawssewing@gmail.com.

The mission of the Quilts of Valor Foundation (QOVF) is to cover all service members and veterans, touched by war, with a comforting and healing quilt. In 2003, Catherine Roberts, the founder of the QOVF, had a son deployed to Iraq. She struggled with how to stay busy and keep her mind busy while he was in harm’s way. As a nurse and quilter, Roberts decided she would make and send quilts to Kandahar. Each stretcher that had a wounded veteran got a red, white and blue quilt placed on their stretcher. After six years, the foundation decided to award a quilt to any veteran who served during wartime era, from WWII to present. Since 2003, the foundation, now a national organization, has awarded over 267,000 quilts.

To view a full list of programs at the Museum, visit our website. The Horry County Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and is free to the public.