Today we are announcing the start of an 8-month collaboration with the Quilts of Valor Foundation® (QOVF), and we couldn’t be more excited! If you’ve designed a Quilt of Valor® in Electric Quilt software, we’d love to see pictures of that design and the sewn quilt!

From now until July 4, 2023, we’re asking for pictures of your finished Quilt of Valor® (QOV) and an image of the accompanying design you made in EQ software to help us highlight this great organization! We want to know why you made the quilt, including if it was for a specific veteran.* If the picture of the finished QOV features the deserving veteran, that’s even better because we also want to show our appreciation to all those who have served our country! Your submission will automatically enter you to win some fabulous prizes (see Prizes below)!

Quilts of Valor®

If you’re not familiar with QOV, you’ve got plenty of time to design and sew one! Here’s information to find out what’s required to make a QOV.

Electric Quilt

And, if you don’t own our quilt-design software, check out EQ8! To encourage you to join in this heartwarming endeavor and honor a veteran, you can save 25% on your order on our website by applying this code in your cart: VALOR25

Getting Started and Inspiration

If you’re not sure how to get started, you can download November’s free Fabric of the Month, which just happens to be Northcott’s patriotic “Stars and Stripes” collection, originally created to support QOV! There are also lots of red, white, and blue fabrics sorted by color in EQ8, in case you want to find coordinating fabrics. Plus, EQ8’s Fabric Library has a “Holidays – Summer” themed collection that includes a lot of appropriate fabric options for a QOV! These are all suggestions, but please use what fabrics you have and want to make your cherished quilt!

You can upload as many pictures of your QOV, along with an image of the EQ design, as you want, whether you made them years ago, or design and sew them during this special event. (Find complete instructions below.) We hope to feature a different designer and their QOV in a blog post every month, so don’t be surprised if we contact you to be in a future post!

Here are examples to motivate and inspire you!

Patti Carey’s two For the Brave designs, one with a panel and one with all blocks, use Northcott’s Stars and Stripes collection! The EQ designs are on the left and sewn quilts are on the right. Patti makes these quilts as a comforting remembrance of appreciation for those who have spent time serving. (Patti is actually having a Sew Along offering both designs. You can join in the fun and find more information on her site.)

Designer Reed Johnson is seen on the right with his Firework Flowers QOV sewn for his neighbor who is a veteran. The EQ design is on the left. This quilt was published in the May/June 2020 issue of Love of Quilting.

Jennifer Thomas’ Spangled QOV was seen in the November/December 2021 issue of Love of Quilting. At first glance, it’s hard to tell the difference between the EQ design (on the left) and the sewn quilt (on the right)! Here’s what Jennifer had to say about the gorgeous quilt, “The Spangled quilt consists of three blocks in an on-point setting. They were essentially all created out of the same block, with lines added and deleted, and then colored differently. I love the way the blocks together create stars bursting out from all over the quilt. The deep blue background really makes the design pop. My hope is that many veterans and their families have been comforted by my Spangled quilt.”

To Enter

In order to enter for the prizes, you must submit an image of your EQ-quilt design and a photo of the sewn QOV (people can be in that photo), and tell us why you made the quilt. The reason may be that you believe this is a worthy cause or that you made it for a specific veteran, including as many details as you are comfortable sharing.* You may submit as many different quilts as you want, as long as they comply with the following rules. Instructions for how to submit the images are at the bottom of this post.

Rules

  • You must have designed the QOV in EQ software.
  • The sewn quilt must meet Quilt of Valor regulations.
  • You must submit an image of both your EQ design and a picture of the sewn QOV.
  • You must comment on why you made the quilt.
  • Your uploaded images and comments must be submitted by 11:59pm ET, Tuesday, July 4, 2023.

* If you do want to mention a veteran by name, please follow the QOV protocol for submissions by only using their first name and last initial.

Although we have teamed up with the American QOVF, you may upload your EQ design and another country’s respective-approved QOV.

Prizes

At the end of the collaboration, two winners will be chosen (1 by EQ and 1 by QOV) to receive a bundle of Stars and Stripes fabric and a $25 American Express gift card! One grand-prize winner, selected by both EQ and QOV, will receive a super bundle of Stars and Stripes fabric consisting of 13, 1-yard pieces and 1 panel, and a $100 American Express gift card!! All 3 winners will also receive a copy of the new QOV book, All-Star Quilts of Valor! The winners will be chosen from all submissions, meaning previously and newly made quilts are all eligible, as long as they comply with the rules.

How to submit an image of your quilt design from EQ and the photo of your sewn QOV:

  1. On the EQ Quilt Worktable, click the PRINT & EXPORT tab.
  2. Click Export in the ribbon.
  3. In the palette on the left, click Image.
  4. Type a name for your image, choose PNG or JPG as the file type, and click the Save button. (Make sure you know where you’re saving the image on your computer. We recommend saving to your My EQ8 > Images folder.)
  5. We recommend setting the Resolution setting to 150. Quilt and patch lines are optional.
  6. Click Browse by the “Upload an Image of your EQ Design” box to upload the image.
  7. Take a picture of your sewn QOV and save it to your computer. (Again, make sure you know where you’re saving the picture on your computer.)
  8. Click Browse by the “Upload a Photo of the Finished Quilt” box to upload the photo.
  9. Enter why you made the quilt in the Comments field.
  10. Click Submit.