Quilts of Valor is a national organization that awards quilts to military veterans.

The Quilting Crows chapter of Quilts of Valor put in time each month to accomplish the task of making quilts to honor those who have given their time to the military.The Quilting Crows have been together for approximately three years."When we started three years ago, we were a very small group and we were mostly doing all of our work long distance. We would send out material, we had people working all over the place. Now, we are centered here (The Quilted Crow), we're a much more local group," said Janet Starner, an active member with the Quilting Crows.Every quilt they make is completely through donations, including the fabric, long arm work and the time put into each quilt.The women meet once a month on a Saturday and work from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Anyone is welcome to join the group. You must be able to provide your own sewing machine as well as any sewing supplies such as a rotary cutter, cutting board and thread. You can also donate by buying material needed for the quilts.Any red, white and blue scraps are also accepted by the group to make quilts with."All of a sudden, things have just taken off. … A lot of that has to do with one of the guilds associated with the Quilted Crow, the Sewcial Guild," Starner said.The Sewcial Guild has been instrumental in helping the quilters get their projects done, including donated fabric, helping with quilting and getting the word out to the public.The group has awarded four quilts so far and are currently seeking veterans to award quilts to on Memorial Day. They have seven quilts to award, which will be done at the Quilted Crow shop on Delaware Avenue in Palmerton.You can nominate a local veteran by emailing Starner at

janet.starner@gmail.com. They are specifically looking to honor World War II veterans with Quilts of Valor."I'm really looking forward to having a local, public presentation because the response from the veterans is just so overwhelmingly positive," Starner said. "The thing about a quilt of valor is that military people know about them and know that it's a very special sort of award. These things don't just get handed out; they are given to very specific people. They are awards, not charity quilts."