A great day

First off - I need to apologize!!!  Wednesday Quilts of Valor, the ones I said were made by Marilyn.... ugh!!! Its Meredith - and I know that , because I REALLY want to go shopping with her... I so apologize!!




Today I got to spend some time with some great Veterans - some truly wonderful men!!


One of our guys - who was in Desert Storm, and a few more conflicts, is having a tough time. But we talked a lot, and of course - we talked quilts. I presented a Quilt of Valor to him in February, and he told me that that is one of the things that keeps him on course. The quilt is on his bed, and he uses it every night. He says the hug it gives him, and seeing it first thing in the morning, makes him know he can make it through the day.


Top that LOL - Just kidding. But doesn't that just make your heart happy? And make you realize that these are an important part of the healing process for our veterans? So tickled that we are a part of it - so I am patting you all on the back!!




A lot of times I get to do the presenting = but today I got to take pictures - LOVE it!!

This guy was double blessed - the little girl in the pink - she wanted to make a Quilt of Valor for him, but didn't have enough time. So she and her grandma made him a great fleece blanket too.

So the little girl and her grandma are now committed, and are going to join in with our QOV sew days!!! I am so excited. 

And this last picture - oh my - I am so made at myself - he chose a great plaid Quilt of Valor made by Mary and Sue  and I wanted to show you all, he was so touched.

Hope you all had a great day! We sure did, but I will be honest, I am worn out tonite... off to watch the news and head to bed - tomorrow is another quilty day!!

QOV Inspirations!

What a day!! It was actually 93 as a high, thats about 15 degrees cooler than it has been, and it was welcome. I keep trying to remind mother nature that this is Colorado - not the Hot States!!!


I had the best morning taking pictures of these Beautiful Quilts of Valor - I sure hope you can find some inspirations among them, or just love the pure beauty!!


All of these quilts came from an awesome group out in California... and they were all quilted by Ron Olsen of New Mexico. Ron leaves a little *americana* on most quilts - so we searched for them!!

Made by Meredith V

Made by Marilyn - I LOVE the border!!!!

Made by Marilyn - oh heavens - I think this is a terry atkinson design - just because I secretly stalk her patterns, as I understand them well (grin)

This coin quilt was made by Linda L - yumm!!

Check out George W.... Love it!!

Made by Linda and Sandy. I have to tell you - this one really caught my eye. I LOVE lime green, and what a great look it gave this quilt!

This one was made by Alma W - Isn't it great? I think I have seen a similar free quilt pattern for it over at quiltville.com .... 

Don't you love the quilting in between the plates - and the plates themselves!!

And our last yummy quilt for today is made by Valerie E - Beautiful!!!

Again - aren't quilters wonderful? These lovely quilts are ready to go to our wounded warriors. I am so proud!!!  Thanks for looking today!!

Being Brave

So... I am going to put this out there and you have to be nice... I talk with my hands apparently, and I squint a lot - apparently , and apparently I bungle words, and forget words..... but you all love me right?  ( you do, or I am going to haunt you forever!!)

This video was taken at a vet presentation. Marilyn and Nancy had made and quilted probably 20 of the 30 QOV's we presented - isn't that amazing. I was so tickled that they were able to see them presented!

Here you go   the video was taken by a veteran - Jerry *Goose* G - he is my new best friend as he knew all sorts of stuff about my camera that I didn't know could exist!!

Block Instructions

A couple of you were interested in the pattern for these blocks - so I thought I would share with you!!


To make 2 blocks you need 3 - 2.5 by 44 inch strips


Stack 2 strips on top of each other - these you will use to cut the inner and outer round.
The single strip you will use to cut the middle ( second round)


So - the inner and outer round stack -
*the first cut is 4 inches, the second cut is 8, then another 8 , then 10 1/2, and the last cut is another 10 1/2 inches.


* the single strip - that is the inner round - you will cut enough pieces for two inner rounds. 
cut 4 - 4 inch pieces, and 4 - 6 1/2 inch pieces

Your block should finish at 10 1/2 by 12 inches. We figured that we needed to set them 5 x 5 -which would be 50 x 60 ish, and add a 5 inch border all the way around....

What do you think - is that as clear as mud? They are really fun and easy ...  I stacked enough strips to do 4 blocks at a time and chain sewed them.


Here  is the one I made out of bright colors!!

Design Wall Monday

I actually have something today!! We had a Quilt of Valor Sew day on Sunday and our group made a bunch of blocks!!! So I started putting some of them up on my design wall last night!!!

Aren't they cool - 3 strips of 2 1/2 x 44 makes three blocks!!! 25 Blocks makes a quilt. ( they finish at 10.5 x 12 inches!!!

And we made 2 sets!!!  so a total of 50 blocks!!  They will need a 5 inch border - but that is easy peasy!!

The smoke makes the most interesting sunsets. It gives the clouds eerie feelings..

For more design walls - head over to Patchworktimes.com

Friday Saturday

This is a combined post because... are you ready for this... we did not get home from the oldest's swim meet until 11pm Friday night - and I was completely wiped out!! It was the last day of VBS - so every. single. child. was full of energy. And I totally love that, I love to see happy kids, and I love to try and keep up, but then driving 1 1/2 hours to a meet, sitting in the warm ( 100 deg) sun, and  then getting home so late ... I was toast!!!


Today - a much more restful day. It got to 107 though! Can you imagine? I mean we live in Colorado!!!  


I learned something new today. I wanted to make dresden plate flower for the Row Robin, but I have never made one... check these out.


I made all the little petals, and laid them out. It looked really weird, and that the center was going to be way huge. I persevered and kept sewing, until.....

I got this!!!  I think it is about 8 1/2 inches ( Diameter right??)

I think I am going to make one more, and then figure out how to make them look like flowers on my row.

We can still see the smoke from the fire. It has grown another 10,000 acres - up to 71,000 acres now. They are pre -evacuating some areas where my parents friends live. Not good.

My dad is the fire chief at Livermore, so he was out all day helping coordinate the tanker trucks and other fire related things ( okay I admit I can't remember all the words he used) But it is A LOT of work!!  

Thursday

Shew - another fun filled day!!! Today at VBS we made kites - I LOVE kites and they were so much fun. All of my boys made them too - we were so excited to come home and fly them!! And I forgot to take pictures.


We also had a graduation party to attend. Who is allowing these children to grow up? Did they not get my memo that they must remain kindergarteners FOR. EVER.?   Sheesh!!


In between the two - Wrangler Man came Home!!! YAY - he had been up at Beaver Creek for the week - and we missed him... especially in the morning - during chore time!


Oh yes - In between the two events I got a little sewing done. We are doing one of those Row Robin things at our guild - so I worked on the row of one of my group members quilts.

I think that I am going to make a dresden plate type flower to go on my row, and maybe add a little bird - we will see how that goes....

The picture below - the blue part is the row that is the starter row... 

(gosh I hope that makes sense!)

The other things up on my design wall are the starting blocks of a wildlife themed quilt, and a pretty flower piece - I just like it and want to make something with it.... so.... ideas???

Quilt of Valor inspiration

Today's quilt show is better late than never!!! We are having such a great time, but are on the go!!  After VBS was over, we helped a friend change a tire, and by We - I mean that my oldest boy used his muscles and I watched... and then our friends husband came and finished the job.


We came home and I headed downstairs. I prepped a few Quilts of Valor for binding this weekend, as well as a bunch of 2 1/2 inch strips for a block party!!


Let's get to the show and tell.... From the Northwest Suburban Quilt Guild come these 4 lovelies

I love the blues and tans and reds - makes this such a comfy quilt!!!!

Check out this design.... Such a great way to feature the stars!!

And this one. I love these stars too. Such a beautiful combination!

This is the last one from the NorthWest Suburban Quilt guild, They do such a great job, and I am so grateful they want to help honor our veterans!!

The next two quilts were made by Adele D in LA. These are her 4th and 5th quilt for our 12 in 12  Quilt of Valor Challenge.  - Aren't they awesome!!

I like the way she used the plaids here!!

The last two in our Quilt show today come from Jessie C in LA. I think these were mystery quilts from the MysteryQuilts4Military YAhoo group.

Jessie - they are wonderful!!

Thank you, quilters, for your time and energy, and your talents!! These Quilts are so greatly appreciated!!   Hope you have a quilty week!!

Tuesday

Notice the blog title... this is so I don't get confused as to which day it is!!!!  We started this morning doing ALL the chores.... and then running to get to VBS on time.  Today is month11 - since we lost some of our family, and I have no clue why - but it got me.... we got to the craft room and....

There were all these little butterflies hanging from the ceiling.... We LOVE butterflys... and so did the girls. So a sweet memory.

As soon as VBS was over we busted it ( seriously, we ran to beat the traffic of 657 kids getting picked up) and got to the older knuckleheads Swim meet.  I can't even show you the pictures, cuz I was so tired - I left the camera in the car.... under a LOT of stuff!!

This is him from his meet last week....

The meet was over at 6:10 pm, we busted it back to the car - stopped at Judy's daughters to pick up a Quilt of Valor, and then on to a guild meeting - you know why?

I was one of the speakers!!!

I spoke about Quilts of Valor, how our guild has really helped out, and how they could be recruited!! It was fun, and I got to get almost all of my words out.... the rest are here!!

And my dear sweet guild members brought me some finished Quilts, some fabric, and some pillowcases... and my dear sweet children loaded it all in the car.... and tomorrow morning..

I have some unloading to do! LOVE IT!!

Hope you all had a great day - and sleep well!