Quilts of Valour

A national group of volunteer quilters is using sewing skills to honour wounded and injured veterans and Armed Forces members across Canada.

The Quilts of Valour Canada Society creates homemade quilts and gives them to current and former military personnel to honour their service to the country.

It all began in Edmonton in 2006 with the gift of three homemade quilts to injured and wounded Canadian Armed Forces members by local quilter Lezley Zwaal.

This act of kindness inspired the national volunteer movement, and in 2009 the society was founded as a registered charity.

To date, the Quilts of Valour society has presented more than sixteen thousand quilts, “each one a handmade hug, stitched with love and gratitude by grateful Canadians,” said society president Linda Gerein.

To learn more about the Quilts of Valour Canada Society, visit QuiltsofValour.ca.

Top: Captain Steven Dieter (retired) of Ottawa receives a quilt created in 2020 as part of the Quilts of Valour program. Dieter’s quilt was sewn by Doris Desjardins of Brockville, Ontario, and her daughter Brigid Witnall of Ottawa. Above: A selection of quilts sewn by Quilts of Valour volunteers.