Lois

Lois has been a busy busy busy quilter! She machine quilted all of these Quilts of Valor. I am glad that she was on a roll.
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This first green scrappy quilt was pieced by Rosemary F. It is really cool looking quilt!
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The next 5 quilts were all pieced by Elsie, and sent to Lois to Quilt. Elsie is 71 and I think she may have this piecing thing down!

From Marlene in Colorado

I think I am back on track - my son found my camera, so we are in photo business. Who knew if you put it away where it was supposed to go, it would be so easy to find.... after you moved the pile of fabrics *ugh*
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These three beautiful quilts are from Marlene M in Colorado. Even better, she is part of my quilt guild. I think Judith D probably helped her with them.
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The first two have the most scrumptious flannel backings on them - they make you want to snuggle right into them.
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Thank you for these beautiful Quilts of Valor Marlene!
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Quilters Accountability week 7

Pretend you are reading this last night - and that it is okay to not have pictures!
What a week this has been - High school sports started, so it added another aspect to our time continuim.... oh boy!
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My goals for February were to work on my String bins 15 minutes a day.
**** this week - I got one day of an hour in, and one 15 minute day... not quite what I had imagined, but at least some strings have been sewn.....
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Quilting QOV's: Febrary Goal - quilt 5
**** 1 got one more done, and have 1 almost finished on the frame - but no pics yet ( I can't remember where I left the camera, but don't tell anyone!). So that is 2 1/2. I hope I can get the other 2 1/2 done before Sunday. Wish me luck.
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Exercise and Meal planning -
**** This is getting more routine all the time. I am liking the running program. So far I have been able to do it with out collapsing. And food is getting easier to. Except the buying part - its non-stop. I think that I may be the sole reason the store stay profitable!!
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See what others are up to at:
http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/

From Miracles

These are a few more of the quilts that the Miracles Group in Denver made. They were quilted by Linda in Colorado. Thank you for the help Linda - you all have no idea how much it helps to have some tops quilted!

Plus it is fun to see what other quilters will put on a quilt top to make it sing.

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I know some of you are still watching and waiting to see your quilt tops - please be patient with me, and all the volunteers that are helping quilt these Quilts of Valor. I have been completely blessed to have such great help in covering our wounded soldiers - but there are only so many hours in a day, and I, as well as other longarmers, actually do this for a business. We are putting these wonderful tributes in between customer quilts.

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This last summer I had one quilter who presented me with * 100 * quilt tops for the QOV program. It is and was amazing - but that's a lot of tops. ( and notice that no backings came with them, so I have been making them) .

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**PS. Over 75 of these quilts have been quilted - I just wanted you to know that the numbers have been awesome, totally awesome! **

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Hopefully knowing that there are more quilts to be quilted will keep you coming back and checking out my blog, maybe getting ideas, and inspiration for quilts along the way.

Pillow... Pillowcases....

I love pillowcases.. I love the variety of fabrics. Where in the world do you find your fabrics? These are awesome!!
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The first group of 21 pillowcases comes from Jane in NJ/WI . She has been one busy gal! Thank you SO much!
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The next set of Pillowcases comes from Sue in Loveland. She wanted me to remind everyone that they can post these pillowcases in the AllPeople quilt challenge. I know those cases coming from Heartstrings group are being taken care of by Mary ( our fearless leader)... but the rest of you.. check it out!




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These wonderful pillocases come from Barbara W in MN. She also sent in two LOVELY Quilt tops and backings for me to quilt and get to a soldier. When those are done I will be sure and show you!






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This last set comes from Jackie M - of the QAYG QOV fame from a previous post. Jackie - Thank you! BTW I took the Quilt as you Go QOV into the 5th grade. The class that helped me hang it up couldn't decide which side they liked best. So they will hang it string side out for a few days, and then turn it. Very diplomatic I thought!
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Ladies - THANK YOU so much for these pillowcases. They just go perfectly with the Quilts of Valor!! I sure appreciate it.
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And now - I must go sew, I have missed out on my sewing for *gulp* 3 days in a row now. I need to make up for it. Of course, today I spent abour 15 minutes cutting up more scraps into strings and squares. Tell me how that will increase the speed at which I empty ONE bin ;-)

String and Quilt as you go Quilts

This first quilt is a Quilt as You Go Quilt. It came from Jackie M - she is part of the Heartstrings Group. I love how you get a front and a back at the same time - kind of a 2 sided quilt.

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I also have to tell you that this quilt came last week. I take pictures of all the quilts for my blog, and also to pin a copy on the pillowcase of the quilt.... I took my camera to the store, printed out the pictures, then deleted them.... WITHOUT DOWNLOADING them to my computer. Such a dork...

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After I realized I did that, I let my family know that it was ONE of those Days. They quickly took cover!

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Anyways - isn't it a beautiful quilt?

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The Next quilt comes from Susan S in NJ. She is such a helpful person. She has even written an article on the comfort and importance of Quilts of Valor. Very impressive.
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Thanks ladies for being patient with me as I deleted and retook pictures *grin* These are just beautiful quilts. Thank you!!

Quilters Accountability Week 6

Meals: First off - I learned to make sushi, and it was edible! And they ate all of it!! My youngest son came home from school and said we had to make sushi and we needed sticky rice. That's all he knew. He had asked his teacher for the recipe and she told him it was a family secret. So we hit the internet searching, and then searched the grocery store... and Sushi!! We even added this to one of our weekly menus for the future.

Strings: I have *surprisingly* been getting in my 15 minutes a day. I haven't made any more complete blocks, but I have put together a quilt top. I normally don't show tops till they are quilted. ( It makes me feel happy) but since this is QA week in review I wanted to prove that I wasn't just laying around eating bon bons! *giggle*

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Some of the star blocks came from the Houston show QOV booth. They were signed by attendees. The string blocks have all been signed as well at the quilt shows that I attended.

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I even got in some sewing time on Clue 5 of the Mystery quilt. I haven't done enough to show any progress - but there is a pile growing on the ironing board!!
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Exercise: Okay - you should sit down for this.... I started a new program, of course I have only done one day of it, but I am mixing it in with the other exercise things I am liking to do. It is called the "Couch to 5K running" program. Can you imagine *me* running. ( ok - get back up off the ground) I made it the full 20 minute program of day 1. Tomorrow is Day 2. I may seriously be on the couch eating bon bons after it......
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Monday was a holiday - even for Wrangler Man. We all headed out to the Wildlife Sanctuary. I had never been there, but it is a rescue operation for Tiger, Lions, Bears, Wolves, and even a Camel. It was awesome.
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If any of you come visit me in Colorado and want to go see it - I know how to get there!
http://www.wildlife-conservation.com/ This is the website that tells all about it. They rescue animals from all over the US, and are the largest sanctuary in America.
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I do not want a Tiger to live at my house, but they looked SO friendly laying around!

Quilt tops in progress

With all the "stuff" that goes on in a school we find ourselves sewing at different times. This is actually kind of fun, because it keeps me on my toes, and there is NO procrastinating allowed!!
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That being said - we are just about finished with the tops of our quilts. This is exciting! Each group is getting excited to see what their quilts look like. We also have a couple scrap quilts in progress and they are starting to look cool too. Here is one top completely ready. It always amazed me that they turn out pretty square and somewhat flat. We have all learned that ironing is essential. And the sewing to the end of the fabrics make a big difference.

This is a little sneak peek at what you may be able to see towards the end of the school year. We promised to keep it under wraps - and so we are.... but needless to say - this contraption sure juiced up the kids!

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I really like the enthusiasm that the kids have for making Quilts of Valor. It sure helps keep the momentum going, even with other groups that I sew with. Now if only I could tap their energy!!!

Quilters Accountability week 5

Week 5
Acck... Who says the year can go by so fast??? at least we are having fun right?
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So here goes on the Accountability Check up of February goals.
Goal #1: 15 minutes of String Work each day: Hey I did it!! I was surprised but I like sewing in the evening....and I just left my red string bucket out.
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First off - I finished 17 of these random strings. They will go in a pile for the quilt show that I will be attending this summer. People love to sign them to go into a Quilt of Valor.
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My red String Bucket was completely filled - and I started blocks -24 of them....but I am wondering when the red string bucket will LOOK like I removed any strings from it? oh yes - they are only half red, but I have a plan.....

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Quilts of Valor: I got One quilted. It is a top that came from the sister of the wife of a soldier that recieved a Quilt of Valor from us 5 years ago. ( Say that 5 times fast!!)

Exercise and Menu planning: Super bowl kind of got in the way of the meal planning thing, but we survived... my dark chocolate M&M's did not. Alas - they were all gone by the first half!

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Customer Quilts:

One I really really really want to show you, because I want someone to make me one, except that it is a gift quilt, and the recipient *might* read my blog.... so I can not.

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The second Customer quilt I can though....

It is feathered like the wind bullseye.... and she was very happy.

And Last but not least - I finally finished trimming up the 7 million 4 hundred and 82 thousand small pieces in step 4 of Bonnies Carolina Christmas.... and can now move on to step 5.

Go check out Baris Blog for more QA updates:

http://crossroadsquilts.wordpress.com/

Quilted by Deb

Deb B in Ohio quilted these Quilts of Valor for us. The first one - the string one - was made by the 5th graders. The blocks came from many quilters and they put them together as they were learning to sew straight lines. I think they did pretty good!
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The Second Quilt comes from Marilyn at northhillsquilter made for us. Thank Deb for Quilting them...two more ready to bind (yay)
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Did you all have a good SuperBowl? We invited some friends over and ate, and ate, and ate - and watched a little football too. It was fun. But I feel like my catch up day just dissappeared.... I forget how much catching up/preparing for the next week you do on Sundays.
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From Elsie and Lois

I have a Sweet Friend south of me who lost her son in Iraq. She has been a BIG supporter of this project to me. Always there to talk to, run ideas by, and just be a friend.
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She also happens to be a Long Arm Quilter - so you know how else she gets to help right? *Grin*
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One of her customers is Elsie. Elsie is in her late 70's, almost 80's and is a wonderful piecer. So the Two ladies corroborated on these beautiful Quilts of Valor!
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Thanks Ladies!!
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On a not quilty note - anyone have a good recipe for Baked Ziti? We have tried a few off of the internet and they are 'okay'. If I am going to cook I want wonderful! And Ziti seems to appeal to my children. We had it tonite, and I doubled the batch. Then froze one of them. In my head this means that I have one night of dinner premade for those crazy nights..... as long as I don't forget it is in the freezer. So if you have a recipe I should try - pass it on.

Quilters Accountibility Week 4

These are the final 3 quilts from my January goal!! That makes 15 Quilts of Valor quilted in January - I am so excited!!
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This first one is a courthouse steps. It was made by Harriet here in Colorado. She used a Jelly roll - very clever!! I think she said she added some extra fabrics to it as well.
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Next comes a Quilt from my Mom. She made it this summer ( oops) and I got it done!! I quilted it with swirls and circles!










And the last quilt was made by the Miracles group in Denver. I did the echoed spine quilting again on it. It looks really nice!!
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For my February Goals I wanted to sew my strings for 15 minutes a day - and of course it is only the 3rd - but whoo hoo - I have done it. I am working on a set of 24 red and white ones. Hope they turn out!
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Today was one of those days - I had to be at school early, we sewed, at noon I had a child ( he was mine) bonk his head - so we went home. Came back and picked up the other two - went to H.S. Parent teacher conferences, ate dinner ( in the car) and had swim practices (2 kids) and basketball practice ( 1 kid) ... so my only exercise was running to the car and back. Bummer... wish me better luck for tomorrow.

More Pillowcases!

Love it!!! This is SO cool!!!
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The first set of pillowcases comes from Wendy in CT. She is in my Heartstrings group - who are busy working on pillowcases as the January project. They are PERFECT Wendy!! Thanks!
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The second set of pillowcases comes from Cathy O of the Pride City Quilt Guild in Pueblo. It is her whole group that worked on these pillowcases.... but she gets to send them to me to *grin*
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Thank Ladies!!! I sure appreciate it.
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On a side note - Wrangler Man is my new Hero. He may have always been - but today he proved himself. I held horses for the horse shoer today and walking back to the barn I found a *sit down for this* baby RATTLE SNAKE!!! They are NOT supposed to be around in the winter. So I immediately called W.M. because all of you know that when your husband is 50 miles away he can surely come rescue you from a snake right?
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He told me to throw a bucket over it and leave it. Um - okay - you don't have to tell me twice. When he came home he disposed of said snake ( which WAS a rattle snake) and now the grounds are free of snakes. I think I will be getting Chickens and Turkeys soon, and whatever else gets rid of snakes..... *shiver shiver chill*

February Goals

****FEBRUARY GOALS***

Goal 1 - Quilt 5 Quilt of Valors. I know this is not as many as last month - but I have a bunch of customers quilts to do. So I am hoping to push myself a little more each day so that by the weekend the customer quilts are finished and I have the Weekends to do a Quilt of Valor. The good thing about most of the QOV's is they are lap sized and don't take me 32 hours each.
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Goal 2 - Its STRING Month for me!!

* *I sorted a lot of my strings and have cut up 3 full tubs of Red, White and Blue scraps. The foundations are ready to go, and I want to work on them each day - hopefully 15 minutes per day. I also have some string blocks that I have already made and have signatures on them from various quilt venues - so those NEED to go into a QOV!!
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Goal 3 - Keep up the Exercise and Menu Planning.
* When the first week of menus was successful and everyone ate it, I copied it into the computer with the hopes that I could just reprint it once a month and have a week taken care of. I just finished one for this week - so now I have 2 ( whoo Hoo) I am hoping this will help me when we get busier.

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January Recap

I think I did alright on the January goals - so I am going to try this again for February.
January Recap:
*Quilt 15 QOV;s - YES!! That was a challenge for me - but I am glad I was able to push thru it. ( I will show you the last 3 on wednesday for Quilters Accountibilty)

*Finish Piecing Carolina Christmas Quilt top - Nope - but I made it thru clue 4, and am ready to start on clue 5. There were 628 small pieces to put together in Clue 4. Shew!

*Meal Planning - it works - I wrote it down, made a list and we all stuck to it, only once did I break down and do fast food for the boys... but when we got home - we all ate the meal we had planned anyways... remember I have 3 boys and their Dad - they can EAT!

*Exercise - oh so well until this last weekend. But now I know it can be done if I try really really hard!