Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Quilts of Valor 2014

Oh boy.... Buckle in and get ready for today's show.... LOTS of inspirations here!!

We had our monthly sew day on Sunday and oh man - everyone came. ( well almost) and it was crazy and sew much fun!! I enjoyed seeing every one again.... and my car was full!!!

So.... I haven't gotten all that we finished photographed, and not all these quilts came from that day - I just wanted you to know we weren't slacking ;-)

So.... this one was a block that we worked on at a sew day. I took the blocks ( free pattern on my patterns page - rectangle block) and put it into the top... and quilted it up.




If you remember - another way that we find Veterans that have been deployed is thru the website qovf.org We get these requests and then I try to get one of our awesome reps to present the QOV in person. My dear Sandy presented this one. It was so awesome. This Veteran could not get over the love that went into it, and that Sandy went to him to present it!


Here is another one. My wonderful Liz presented this quilt. She did a fantabulous job - and they were so thrilled.


Here i s another presentation. The whole family got involved in this photo. I think they were going to adopt Liz!!


And another one. Liz definitely stayed out of trouble traveling to do these for QOV. What a gem!


This is one I made. I blogged about it http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2014/07/2-12-inch-strips-continued.html   and was surprised that I still had strips left in my bin.... okay - I might have been saddened. I really wanted to empty something!


These Next 5 quilts are already at their forever homes. We had a request for a specific group of 30 veterans. My dear QOV peeps had us covered. Kathy and Sue were the Quilters for all of these tops. They also do embroidery at http://innovativecreate.com/

This top was made by the Red Hat Crafty Quilters.  ( I think it is the pattern that was on kevinthequilters blog!!)

This is another one they made. LOVE the prints added in!!


This one was pieced by Margaret - Quilted by Kathy and Sue

Pieced by Wilma quilted by Kathy and Sue

And the last one - pieced by Candi and quilted by Kathy and Sue.... I sure appreciate all the work that went into these. And when I made a call for a quick 30 quilts - they jumped right in!!! LOVE it!!


The last two quilts are from Bonnie in Virginia - Bonnie has an awesome blog:
http://institcheswithbonnie.blogspot.com/

Plus she is a QM scrap squad quilter ;-)  TOO cool!!




This one that Bonnie made is an atkinson designs pattern. It is all cowboys and western fabrics... so you know there was a lot of ohhing and ahhing here!!!

Happy Quilting!! Hope you love today's quilts!!

See you again real soon!

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Pigs

Oh gosh - a lot of you have asked about Farmer Boy's pigs... well he wants to write their story = he just keeps running out of time.... seems to be a trend here ;-)

He took two pigs to the county fair, and really enjoyed it. You can enter them in the state fair as well, but he just wasn't interested. After learning that there are 500 pigs that show up for the state fair.... this mom was somewhat relieved!!

Here he is with his pigs - showing them.

The first night was a breeder's show. ( if you had a pig from a registered breeder you could show)  And he had a Chester White - so this one got shown that night.

We thought he did pretty great, considering that most of his nightly walks took place in an alley way, with steers and horses staring at him. He only oinked at the other pigs a few times.


The next day was the actual breed class show. So he showed that white one, as well as this one, He is a crossbreed. I have to tell you - he walked that pig in the ring an I was sure it was the wrong pig. He was a dirty pig at our house..... they clean up nice!!

This one was crazy - he likes to run into things. Sort of like some kids I know!!

He didn't sell either of them. Again - he was glad about that. Maybe next year, but it is hard for them to let go. We still have both of them, and in a few weeks they will go be bacon. That seems like an easier transition for this kid ( and his mom).


PS - if your local ( with in 60 miles of us) we will have half hogs ready in a month.... ;-)

Saturday, August 23, 2014

Gift Quilts

When I first starting quilting I thought making one quilt a year was quite a feat. And then.... I became addicted!!  Of course, when I first started I owned a company, had 9 employees, and 3 little bambinos. So sometimes the piecing part of quilting was stuck way at the bottom of my list.  ( PS we were a clothing manufacturer - so those orders came first)

BUT!!  One of my aunts started inviting me to her retreats, and after the first one. I had almost a whole quilt top finished....  So I knew there was hope ;-)

I had decided at that retreat that I would start making quilts for all of my aunts and uncles. I think I only have one uncle left ( Oops I had better go check my list!!)

My Mom and Dad recently visited one of the aunts I gifted a quilt too and she immediately made them go see her room.... here is why:



Ta da!!! They are using the quilt that I made for them. Talk about making a heart happy!! I love it.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Busy busy Busy... but fun

We are officially on the 3rd day of school. One of my children had to be there at 6am this morning for practice. You can bet that I gladly Volunteered to do the chores if someone else would take him ;-)

I sometimes wonder how much of the rest of my life ( besides quilting) is interesting to others? Do you?

Since I print my blogs at the end of the year, I kinda want to include some of the other stuff we do... plus I love to play with photos.

One of my goals is to get good Vintage and Black and White photos every year. Years ago when my littlest was about 9 months old, a photographer came to town. He set up in a hotel and took the greatest Vintage Photos. They were SO cute!!  So every year, I try to shoot a roll of Black and Whites.

With digital it sure makes it much easier to go back and forth!   So here are some of this summers vintage photos:


Now I realize this is not really a vintage setting with the 4 wheeler... but I liked it. This is my middle son. The mare is one we got from my brother in law. It was quite funny. She was my anniversary and Christmas present. My other SIL got a diamond . She was just sure that this was not my whole present.

I, on the other hand, was so tickled to have this mare. I love her to this day. BUT! She is huge - that child is 6'3" and he looks just right on her.


Of course - Wrangler Man. (swoon)   This is another gelding that he trained. He is another one we  have had since he was a young colt.


This is my nephew and Sister in law. They make a great team don't they? She has a palomino and I really wanted to see what I could do with that color.


And of course, my baby. A chip off of the block I tell ya... anything and everything he can get involved in... he is there. He is loving learning all about ranching from his Daddy.
Alright... back to work. I am so blessed to have a line up of quilts for this month. I am really trying to keep quilting full time.  Keeps me out of trouble ;-)  Let me know if I can help you finish your quilts!!

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Quilts of Valor 2014

School Starts Today.... It was a little crazy getting my guys up... they like summer mornings ;-)

I will be honest - this is the first year I have actually been ready to get back on a schedule, or at least a schedule that I can work with, and get lots of quilting time in!

Are you ready for a great quilt show??  Me too!  I love show and tell at guild meetings!! I love them on blogs too!


So here we go!!

This first quilt was pieced and quilted by Carolyn in OH. She blogs at http://sweetpeasandpossum.blogspot.com/


I believe that this was a Mystery from the yahoo group MysteryQuilts4Military   - check them out!!


The next two quilts were put together by the University of Northern Colorado Softball team. They had such a great time playing with our Block Drive Blocks and coming up with great combinations.



Both of these were quilted by Carolyn R at the Quilters Stash... ( PS - if you are going through Windsor CO - stop by - Quilters stash is a great quilt shop!!!)



Tada!! This is the Allegiance Mystery Quilt - instructions start http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2014/05/allegiance-quilt-of-valor-mystery.html  and each step is listed unde the Allegiance Tab above.
 PS - this was pieced and quilted by me
 

This is one of the quilt tops that my guild made - I quilted it.
 I put a fleece back on it.... it needed some snuggliness!


 This lovely Quilt of Valor was pieced by the Columbine Quilt guild. Isn't it great?




Another beauty pieced and quilted by The Columbine Quilt guild.



This is another group effort. Marci Baker donated the strippy top, and Joan K donated the borders backing, and the quilting.

The last yummy quilt for this week... pieced by Janelle and Quilted by John A.

 I put quite a few photos of this one in as the quilting just made me so happy. I loved the look it gave!!


Seriously - the back... I can see myself using this side as the top too!!!
Hope you enjoyed today's quilt show. I sure appreciate you stopping by to see all the lovelies that will be heading to their forever homes!!


Monday, August 18, 2014

Color Challenge's

Do you remember in 2012 when Vicky Welsh put together a color palette, and Judy at Patchworktimes encouraged us to make a quilt with them?

The March Color Palette was a challenging one - but I did finish the top.  And now...

I finally got to the quilting!




I am glad I got it done this summer. Wednesday the kids go back to school and I go back to work!! I am excited - I have a great Line up of Client Quilts ready to work on.  (PS I have appointments available! )


The original Color Palette can be found in this post:   http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2012/03/march-color-challenge-quilt.html    It was a challenge for me - but all of the fabrics were from my stash ;-)

And of course  - the back. I noticed every single quilter at the quilt show asked the white glove folks to let them see the backs!



And of course it now needs to be bound - do you have an opinion on which fabric would look the best?