Two More Heartbeat quilts

I loved everyones guesses on the previous quilts. I am now thinking that the first one is not a dissappearing nine patch... so I'll have to keep thinking on it. But how about these two beauties?
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I am loving this Nine patch one - did you notice the blocks in the corners? They are PIECED Flag blocks - so perfect!
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And the Red White and Blue - Such a great color combination!
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These are from Heartbeat Quilting as well. Here is a little bit more about their group!
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"We” are the Tuesday Thimbles, a group of 10+ quilters who dedicate time to make QOV. Wanda Jefferies, of HeartBeat Quilting, donates batting, thread, and the use of her quilting machines to us.
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Isn't that a cool set up!
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Hope you all are having a good one - It is hot here today - but that makes the corn happy - so then I am happy right? Two of my kiddos celebrate birthdays with in 2 weeks of each other - so tonite is celebration nite with Grandpa and Grandma - the boys weaseled them into taking us to the movies -Kung Fu Panda - and then out to Culvers for ice cream. You should have heard the oldest talking to Grandpa today - "So Grandpa , do you want to get ice cream before or after the movie? We want to do what's best for your schedule". Now I ask you how can anyone turn that diplomat down?
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See ya!

Heartbeat Quilting Quilts of Valor pt 2

We are cooling down from a swim meet at the moment . Just can't tough it enough to go back out in the direct sun yet.... But it was a great meet. The kids swam good. I was the starter - so that was fun and Dear Hubby kept the kids moving to the right events. Here is a Picture of one of the fun things that they do at practice... Boy the water felt good today!

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These two quilts are from Heartbeat Quilting Group. They are very prolific and I have more to show you! I am guessing ( because I do that so well) That the plaid one is a dissappearing 9 patch quilt. It is so very soft - one you can defineatly cuddle into.

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The other one - okay this has GOT to impress you - is from an Atkinson Design book called Happy Hour. And this must be the Triple Treat quilt. How do I know this you ask? Because ( jumping up and down wildly) I HAVE this book and Love it!!

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Hope you all have a quilty day!

The First Not So Top Secret Challenge Top

Has Arrived from Ms Wendy over at http://weetoesandnoggins.blogspot.com/ and it is great! She has a good eye for color! The red going thru it is quite striking.

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She has little kids and is quite busy with them - but I am so glad she found time to make this top. I know a soldier will be happy to have it!

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Quick Vacation

Last Saturday a cousin was getting married. So we had a Swim Meet in the Morning, at noon loaded into the car and drive North 3 hours. Got showered and into the church with 15 minutes to spare. The wedding was BEAUTFUL. The reception was even better. We got to talk with lots of relatives and hang out.

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Then Sunday Morning we got up and headed out to Ayres Natural Bridge Park. My husbands Great Grandfather donated the land to Wyoming to make this park -

so we had to take the boys out to it and hike around! The whole area surrounding it is really pretty. So we hiked as far as we could, then rolled up our jeans and waded in the water. It was slightly cold! Although the little guy stayed in the longest. He must be part fish!

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Well I know this isn't quilty - and I can't really make it quilty... I could make it arty though. My husbands Aunt painted us a watercolor picture of the bridge and it is gorgeous!

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Hope you all have a good one - I am hoping our day slows down a bit and we get to be home for most of it... maybe even in the house - with power - and no thunderstorms..... A girl can wish ;-)

Heartbeat Quilting Quilts of Valor

There is a group that meets in Spokane WA at Heartbeat Quilting (http://www.heartbeatquilting.com/) that makes Quilts of Valor. They really want to help cover our wounded and Boy! is there heart in it!! They sent me 2 boxes of quilts. So I will let you drool over some of them today.

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It is amazing to me to watch the numbers grow over in the side bar.... we are in the double digits already!

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Hope you all are having a quilty day! We had a swim Meet this morning - are home for lunch and then heading out to a QOV sew day this afternoon.

Betty's Quilts of Valor

Betty B sent these three beautiful Quilts of Valor for the Quilt of Valor 400 Challenge. She is from New Mexico. Aren't these just wonderful?
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It was fun to go to the post office yesterday. I had a truckload full of boys, and truck box full of sleeping bags, pillows and suitcases, and then I got two Huge boxes. ( you will have to come back tomorrow to see what was in the other box!)
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There was absolutely NO WAY these boxes were going in the back of the truck - so I just piled them on the boys *giggle*. But these boys are so polite - they didn't mind. In fact all of them jumped out to help open doors and carry the boxes! Oh to have that attitude every day.... But I digress.
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We came home and all the boys escaped outside and I got to open boxes! It was like Christmas all over again.
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I am excited to watch the numbers grow over in the side bar.
Hope you all have a good one.... I made pancakes by the dozen this morning...
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Keep stitching!

VBS Quilts of Valor

These are the completed Quilt tops from my two days with the kids at my Moms Church. I am thinking I may put another border around them - but I think they turned out great. Audry from the church put all the blocks into quilts - so she did all the hard work!
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I am thinking that I will do a rather simple quilting thru the blocks - and maybe something twisty thru the sashings.
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I have had a couple others email me about doing this with their Kids or groups of kids. This is what we did:
~Washed and pressed the higher quality muslin.
~Backed it with Reynolds Freezer Paper
~Let the kids color with Crayons and Fabric Markers
~Ironed them until the wax came out. I ironed them on the wrong side, with a paper grocery sack under them.
~Removed the Paper - and Voila!
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The little helper holding up the quilts is my youngest. He has a block in there too... This group also made lots of cute cards and we took lots of photos to make an album to go with each quilt. The kids loved posing for the pictures almost as much as making the quilts.
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Have a great one!
Alycia

QOV Sew Day

Today was the Quilt of Valor Sew Day with my Moms Group of Ladies. At first we thought there would be 5, then 7, and 12 showed up! It was great. I think all of them were fairly beginning quilters, and maybe a few who had not done it before. By the time I had to leave they were pretty proficient and ready to finish this quilt. Oh AND ready to start another one!
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A couple of the ladies were quite proficient in cutting, so between them and all the rest of us 18 quilts were cut out, and taken home to sew up. And we set another sew day... I think they are all hooked! My mom has been bitten by the quilt bug. She can't wait to see how her color choices work out!
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My Dad, along with the Pastor, and a husband of one quilter made us Lunch - BBQ! And there were enough snacks to keep my kids Way full. And - this is the best part. My Dad sent me home with enough food for dinner - so NO cooking for me. It was a really fun day, and I sure enjoyed myself. I was able to answer questions, and help show how to use rotary cutters. The Best part is - they believed me :-)
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The Heartstrings Group (http://www.heartstringsquiltproject.com) sent me some String blocks, and I had a few so I gave them to my oldest son to design a quilt and get started on. As he started laying them out on the ground he gained a helper. She was one of 2 little girls that accompanied a quilter - and they were adorable.
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She was very proud of the design they came up with. J Did get started sewing it together - but then he got distracted by a basketball. He has a month to get it together... Better get working!
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All in all - a great day. I spent time with a great bunch of ladies. Addicted them to my passion, got fed well, and we will have some great Quilts of Valor soon!
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Hope you all are having a great one!

Renee's QOV for the Challenge

All the way from Florida - this beautiful quilt came for our QOV Challenge. It is from Renee in Florida - and wow - the photo does not do it justice. I got it today and hung it on my dining room doors... I think I ight just leave it there for a day so I can give it the appropriate Ohhing and Ahhhing..

She also sent some cute log cabin and star blocks in patriotic colors!

Someone asked how they could get to the Not So Top Secret Project Quilt Pattern... so if you click on the Not So Top Secret Quilt link in the Quilt of Valors here list - you can see it, then if you click on the label it will bring all of the posts up that have that label. I hope that helps - sometimes I am really not computer literate..

Have a great evening!

Not so Top Secret Project Quilted

Sometimes things just go my way and all sorts of tasks get done. I am even amazed... as it didn't seem to start that way. I had a customer quilt on my machine that should have been done last week - but it kept going and going and going. Oh - it is such a beautiful quilt... But huge ( especially compared to the quilts of Valor).

~ Saturday nite I finished it up enough to take it off so I can turn the border and I loaded my Not so Top Secret Project quilt on the machine. This morning my Husband wanted to sleep in ( a little) for Fathers day - coming from a 5am kind of guy, I thought okay - you sleep I'll quilt... and I DID!!!

~After he woke up we headed to town for church, some ice cream, and some swimming and came back... and I ran down to quilt some more.... and Look what I finished! I used the new batting from Quilters Dream called Dream Green - it is made from recycled Plastic Bottles and I saved 13 bottles from going into the land fill. It was very nice to quilt, feels just like a polyester batt, not a whole lot of fuzz... so so far it gets an A rating in my book.

Have a good one!

Heartstrings Quilt of Valor and blocks

The squishie ( that was actually a box) I got in the Mail from my Heartstrings http://www.heartstringquiltproject.com group had 2 quilt tops, String Blocks from Helen in the UK, string blocks from Jeanne, and a pile of blocks from the block bank..ALL of them patriotic! Oh and there was a backing piece that will look great on the back of the Red White a Blue Top. It is light blue with Eagles on it.
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I can't wait to get these quilted and off to my binding volunteers... I think they make be just a little shocked and the number of quilts that will be coming their way! But I know they can handle it.
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Now for the blocks... I am going to go work with my Moms group of ladies next week, and my sons are coming with me. Two of them work my machine rather proficiently ... so putting these blocks into rows is going to be their challenge. That should keep them busy for a while. The layout always take some time with 3 boys having to agree!!
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Hope you all have a great weekend. Ours looks to be warm - in the 90's so it should be a great working weekend. We are off to the hay auction in a little bit, and then whatever else needs to be done ;-) I have everyone convinced that we should be down in the basement later this evening.. so maybe I will get to quilt after all.....

Kids and Quilts of Valor

On Monday and Tuesday I spent the days at my Mom and Dads Church helping out with their Vacation Bible School. They wanted to do a Community Service project and so my Mom volunteered me to teach them about QOV. It was actually very fun and the kids were way to cute. They seperated them into 2 different groups - 4 to 1st grade, and 2nd grade to 6th grade.
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I had kind of forgot about the attention span of the youngest group. I found I had a lot in common with them. You have GOT to keep things moving or they start moving!
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I got to spend some time telling them about all the soldiers that get these quilts and of course they wanted to make one. So we used crayons and markers and they colored these blocks. One of the ladies at Church had sewn all the borders around the blocks for us. After the kids made the blocks then they got to make get well cards and letters too. They were just adorable.
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In the top pic you can see one of the quilts put together already.. The pictures were just wonderful. There was a soldier with a helmet, there was a robot, a transformer car, a flag, stars, a soldier climbing a hill... what great artists we have!
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We made enough blocks for 3 more quilts! So Stay tuned for the finished product!
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Anyways - didn't want you all to think that I might get bored over the summer.. and miss all the kids at school. I have found them elsewhere ;-) ( or rather they found me - but it works!)
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Quilt Challenge

I am back!! And I love the mail! This morning I went in to my post office and found 2 boxes for me!

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One of the groups I am in has stepped up to help me meet the 100 quilt challenge that Chaplain gave us. The group actually issued a challenge to all of us to see if we couldn't get 400 quilts to cover all the soldiers in the one unit that we support. Oh wow.... something I think I learned - you should never challenge a quilter... they win ;-) . In this case it will be the soldiers that win.

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Today I got a wonderful box from Carol in IN. It had TWO quilts in it for Quilts of Valor! And of course - you NEED a picture right????? She said the Patriotic one was from an auction and the other one she made. I think they are both wonderful!

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I also got another box - so I will share photos of that one tomorrow!

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Hope you all are having a quilty day!

Alycia

Not so Top Secret Project Step 4

The LAST STEP!

Now you are going to take your blocks and put them into rows. I am a pretty random sew'er . So I made a pile of 16 patches and a Pile of 4 patches and sewed 3 sets of them together. I then would take those to the ironing board, press them and then sew them into a strip. I am SURE there are many more ways to do this - but this way brings on the Instand Gratification that I like!!

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Your rows should be 6 blocks wide.

After all the rows are done ( you should have 7) , I turn them every other direction and start sewing the rows together. And Voila - there is the center of the top!

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Remember those 4 1/2 inch strips you cut for the border? Well again - I am sure there are many ways to do this... but how I do it is:

I measure the center of the quilt vertically, then I sew the strips together to make this length and apply those borders. Then I press and do the same thing vertically. If for some reason the center is less that the edges of the quilt - this gives me a chance to ease in the fullness for a more square look. That said I AM NOT the quilt police, and therefore am not perfect ( I just pretend to be in front of my sons!).

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So What do you think? Won't it make a nice Quilt of Valor?

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Someone asked about Pieced Backings (but there return email was not turned on) I LOVE Pieced backings. I think they add a lot of interest to the quilt and I love wide backs too... (I'm simple)

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If you are so inclined to send me the top or the finished quilt to deliver to the soldiers - I would love it! My Address again is:

Alycia Quilts

31544 Hwy 34

Kersey CO 80644

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Have a good rest of your weekend folks... I am teaching 60 K-5th grade kids over the next 3 days how to make Quilts of Valor... so I might possibly be pretty exhausted.. so if you don't hear from me.. that is why... Wish me luck!

Not so Top Secret Project Step 3

The 4 Patch Block:

This is the easy block and it goes together rather quickly.

Step 1: Sew your Dark Strips to yur Light Strips, right Sides together. Take then to the ironing table and press them. I press mine again towards the dark side.

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Then take the strips to your cutting table and cut them into 4 1/2 inch sections. With 22 inch Fabric - you will get 4 sections per strip set, with the WOF you should get 9 sections per set.

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Take the sections and sew them into the 4 patches. With mine I got 22 Blocks. You only need 21 blocks. So I am going to save mine and if you feel like sending your extra block along with your quilt I will put them into another one. But if not - you can use this as a label, or incorporate it into the backing.

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So now you should have 21 4 patch blocks and 21 16 patch blocks.

Tonite I will try to post the last step - so you will have it all at your fingertips - and can finish it whenever you have time.

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Have a great day - Little Bit and I get to go shopping this afternoon - so we may have to make a detour to a fabric shop - just for fun!

Not so Top Secret Project Step 2

On we continue with the 16 patch block.
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You need to take your Dark and Light little two patches and place the right sides together, opposite colors together. I put mine together and make sure they are matching at the middle seam. In my head this makes them more square, and if I have to trim I am not messing up the center seams.
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Again - I chain piece. I put them thru the machine and just let the pile grow in the back. Then when I am done I go clip them and take them to the ironing board. Press them with the seam to one side.
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Then we will sew one 4 patch to another 4 patch - to make the top half of the block. Again I chain piece. This chain pieceing is usually where I pop in a quilting DVD - my new favorite that I picked up at MQS is a quilting DVD from Kimmy Brunner ( htttp://www.kimmyquilt.com) ... and if I want to drive the men outside I put in a chick flick - I watched "Someone Like You" while I was testing my first one. It was So so....
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So after you have all the 4 patches sewn to another 4 patch you get well - this pic on the right ( is it an 8 patch?) Again - take them to the ironing board and press the seams to the left or the right.


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Then we join the 8 patches to another 8 patch and voila - your 16 patch is all sewn. After you have sewn these all together - head back to the ironing board and press this seam. You should have 21 ~ 8 1/2 inch 16 patch blocks when you have finished this step.


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It is a lot of fun to see the enthusiasm for the Quilt of Valor project grow. It really makes my heart happy. I know that the look on the soldiers faces when they recieved there quilts is truly priceless. I have recieved numerous emails from "our" soldiers telling me what the quilt means to them - and it makes me so glad! ~

Look at this face... Doesn't she look happy?
Have a great day! Enjoy your quilting!

Alycia

Not so Top Secret Project Step 1

Step 1 - the 16patch Block
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We are going to take all of the 2 1/2 inch strips and sew them together. Take One Dark Strip, place it pretty side up. Take one light strip place it pretty side down on top of the dark. This is called faced together. Place them under your sewing machine and using 1/4 inch seam sew the strip together.
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I like to chain sew, so I will sit and sew all of the 2 1/2 strips together at one time. I stitch to the end of one strip, then slightly lift the presser foot and slip the next strip under it. Then I keep stitching until the end of that row.
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Now you have to look at the picture sideways - because blogger loves me and I can't seem to get it rotated right... no matter what I do to it. But this is my pile of 2 1/2 strips all stitched together.
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After I have all of them stitched I go and clip the threads between and take them to the ironing board to press. On my quilt I pressed all the seams towards the dark fabric. I do this so that when it comes time to quilt it, the seams are hidden under the dark fabric and you don't get any shadowing on the quilt. But - you also need to understand I am not the perfectionist that I probably should be, so if they don't go this way- its alright.. really. Just take a deep breath and smile!
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Again - blogger turned my picture... it must have something to do with the way I took it on the camera... cuz I rotated it in my photo deallie ( and yes deallie is a word - my hubby understands it, and a lot of the time he can fix them!)
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So once you are done pressing them all, you lay the strips out on your cutting mat. When I first starting quilting I did one strip at a time, now I am a little bit more confident with the rotary cutter and will do up to 4 strips at a time. I layer the strips, then I trim off the end of the strip so it is even. Then I place my ruler every 2 1/2 inches and slice the pile. Essentially I am cutting 2 1/2 by 4 1/2 strips. I took a picture just in case this doesn't make sense.
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*On the Width of fabric strips you should be getting 16 pieces per strip. On the Scrappy FQ option you should be getting 8 pieces per strip.
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* when you are all done cutting these pieces you should have 168 pieces.. just in case you are one to count pieces ( grin).

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So that is what we will do for today. If there are better ways to explain or describe what I am trying to describe - let me know. In my brain it makes sense... but sometimes the words don't come out just right. One good thing is that I will be there when I am teaching it to the Ladies Group and the Guild. So that is always a benefit for answering questions.
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Have a super sewing day and evening... thunder is rolling in and I have a feeling the rain storm is not far behind!

Not so Top Secret Project Questions

I love it!! You all are so wonderful and ask the best questions!! This is really helpful to me! And exciting. So many of you are going to make a Quilt of Valor - I can't believe it. So the answers to the questions that have been asked:
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What size will it be ( oops I knew I forgot something important): Finished size 57 x 66
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What colors are the best? : This really is up to you. I have found that ALL soldiers like Red Whites and Blues. We had a female soldier that took a pink floral quilt and was so excited to find something girly in the military. The reds and blues are kind of gender unspecific - all soldiers appreciate them. Hopefully that doesn't confuse you more.
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Do you want them finished or unquilted?:
I will take them either way if you would like us to deliver the quilts. If you would like to quilt them, or go thru http://www.qovf.org and choose a longarmer to have it quilted.. go for it. If you want to send it to me to be quilted - that is fine too. Just send the top and backing to me. Alycia Quilts... 31544 Hwy 34.... Kersey CO 80644
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When is the delivery date?:
We are definitely scheduled for May 2009 - the chaplain is expecting us! But if things go our way and in our favor we may try for a mid year delivery in Sept or October. So I am Planning ahead for May.
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When is the next step coming?:
Tonite.. I have to do the mom thing and take the kids to swim practice and we kind of pretend to work during the day... but I know the computer will need me this evening!
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Thanks so much for participating. I can't tell you how this makes my heart happy. I feel like I am walking on air - and that is such a great way to start a day! You all have a wonderful one - see ya this evening!

Not so Top Secret Project Fabric & Cutting

Well Here it is Drawn out in EQ. Notice that it is a two color quilt. So there are many ways to do this. You can choose just two colors(OPTION ONE), You can choose two colors for the 4 patches, two other colors for the 16 patches and yet another for the border(OPTION TWO)... or you can do it like I did and choose Fat Quarters in two colorways.(OPTION THREE)
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Mine are obviously Blues and Creams. I have decided that I really like the scrappy look so went with the Fat Quarters. The next one I make I am going to go with the 5 fabric options.


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So Lets Get Started....
Yardage Requirements:
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OPTION ONE: Two Color Option
Dark: 2 3/8 yards
Light: 1 5/8 Yards


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OPTION TWO: 5 Color Option
Dark #1: 7/8 yards
Dark #2: 3/4 Yard
Dark #3: 3/4 Yards
Light #1: 7/8 yard
Light #2: 3/4 Yards


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OPTION THREE: Fat Quarters
Dark FQ's: 9 total
Light FQ's: 6 total

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So I hope you want cutting instructions in the same day. I know that Once I get my fabrics gathered I am all ready to cut... so we shouldn't waste the momentum!
CUTTING :

OPTION ONE ( two color option)
DARKS:
CUT: 11~ 2 1/2 Inch Width of Fabric Strips ( WOF)
: 5 ~ 4 1/2 inch WOF Strips
: 6 ~ 4 1/2 inch WOF strips for Outer Border
LIGHTS:
CUT: 11 ~ 2 1/2 in WOF Strips
: 5 ~ 4 1/2 in WOF Strips

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OPTION TWO (5 color option)
Dark #1: Cut 11 ~ 2 1/2 inch WOF Strips
Dark #2: Cut 5 ~ 4 1/2 inch WOF Strips
Dark #3: Cut 6 ~ 4 1/2 inch WOF Strips

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Light #1: Cut 11 ~ 2 1/2 inch WOF Strips
Light #2: Cut 5 ~ 4 1/2 inch WOF Strips

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OPTION THREE ( Fat Quarters)
Cut these lengthwise so you will get 21 or 22 inch long strips.
Darks:
*Take 4 FQ's, Stack them up and cut 1~ 4 1/2 strip, and 5~ 2 1/2 inch Strips all 22 in long
*Take 1 FQ and cut 3 ~ 4 1/2 in strips and 1 ~ 2 1/2 inch strip.
*Take 4 FQ's , Stack them up and cut 4 ~ 4 1/2 inch strips from each - set aside 12 of the 4 1/2 inch strips for the border.
Lights:
*Take 4 FQ's, Stack them up and cut 1~ 4 1/2 strip, and 5~ 2 1/2 inch Strips all 22 in long
*Take 1 FQ and cut 3 ~ 4 1/2 in strips and 1 ~ 2 1/2 inch strip.
*Take 1 FQ and cut 4 ~ 4 1/2 inch strips from each.

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So... hopefully that will keep you busy for a minute.
Have fun - and thanks for joining in!