OUR BEGINNINGS

Freedom Quilts Began With a Small Vision

That vision was to make five hand-made quilts dedicated to the victims of September 11th. Betty spent sleepless hours in her living room piecing together those five quilts. With the help of friends and neighbors, the five original quilts were soon completed. But with this success, Betty’s determination only grew. She set out on a new quest… to make a quilt in honor of every September 11th victim.

To achieve her goal, Betty enlisted friends, neighbors, congregations and perfect strangers across the country in an effort to make thousands of quilts for 9-11 family members. And, people across the country heeded her call.

Hearts opened, and quilts came pouring in. The Nielsen’s Iowa farm home was soon transformed into a quilt shop and storehouse. In order to make sure these precious, hand-made gives of love made it to family members, founders Betty and Dennis made several trips across the country to personally deliver quilts to comfort mourning families. Their travels took them to families and firefighters across the east coast and beyond. Visits with family members included stops to Ground Zero, Washington DC, Boston and more.