THE PATRIOT - Aka - The Mystery Quilt A7 - Fabric Requirements

Today's the Day!!!

The Beginning of the Next Mystery...... I hope you are ready, excited, and well - wanting to participate.!!

If you are new to my Mysteries - I am not a patient person, and I get distracted easily.... so the Clues!!

They take about an hour - maybe 2 at the most.....  and I usually time myself, and get rid of all distractions.... ( I might be distracted easily so I need *focus*)

So without further delay:

  Mystery A7 – The Patriot

Fabric Requirements:

This quilt is a really scrappy quilt – so I am going to give you estimates of yardage. I grabbed from my scrap bins and used those first…

Reds:  1 ½ yards  Pick a variety

White: 2 ½ yards   I used a Variety, but one white will work as well

Dark Blues: 1 ½ yards Lots of them – the smallest piece you will be using is a 3 ½ inch square

Light Blues 1 ½ yards  ( ½ yard of 3 different lt blues)

Backing

Batting

Binding

Approximate Finished Size is 62 inches x 80 inches

If you prefer a pdf Head over to my Craftsy store and the PDF will be there for downloads - it will be called ( are you ready????)

A7 The Patriot Fabric Requirements

I'm So Blue ue ue Blue ue ue ooooo is a top!!

Blue Blue Blue

is a top!!

and the borders - are actually sorta a light blue

not sure what happened to the photo 

(I did use my phone to take it)

I also found a big piece of 30's Blue print for the back

AND!!

I even pinned it

and now!! it is ready to be quilted

and then

I started in on this bin!!

and I got everything cut up to look like this..

And now

I might have started a new project

that I didn't intend to start..

None of you ever do anything like that tho - right???

( ha ha ha)

Januarys One Monthly Goal - Sapphire Stars

I am going to say..... Success!!!!


My One Monthly Goal  was to get my Sapphire Stars ( aka KTQ) Into a top!!! and if I was overly ambitious - quilted!!

I was not ambitious - as of today.... but!!

Here is my finished Top!!

and holee cow - Mine ended up almost 100 Inches long!

That I was not prepared for!! I  needed a bigger room!!

The backing is made, 

the Quilt is Pinned and ready to go on the Longarm

The desire is there.....

but now I get to choose a February goal - yay!!!

Linkin to:
Can I get a Whoop Whoop
TGIF Friday
Finished or Not


AND!!!
One Monthly Goal

Quilts of Valor - and! A mystery Reminder

Happy Wednesday Morning to you!!!

We have a Very Very Sweet Quilter who Teaches out of the Lyons Quilt shop. Her name is Donna Mae!!

Just recently they held a Quilts of Valor workshop - and the Quilts!! Oh they are beautiful!!

Here are 4 of them that they completed - there are more... and I will show you those too.... but I am going to string you along ;-)

aren't these awesome!!  Please don't mind the feet - I take help whenever I can get it!!

I definitely think that the Veterans who receive these quilts will be ecstatic!!

and now for the Reminder

The Patriot!!

It begins on January 31st

with the fabric Requirements

then on February 14th the First Clue will be posted

You will definitely want to do this quilt in Patriotics!!

You can use Scraps or Yardage - I provide info for both

So far the clues have taken me right at an hour - sometimes a little longer cuz I like to play

And when it is over you will have a gorgeous Quilt of Valor!!!

It will finish at 62 x 80 inches

Clues will be posted here on the blog

and on the 

MysteryQuilts4Military Yahoo group

Hope you will join in!!

Scrappy Heart Quilt Block Tutorial

I am so tickled so many of you liked my Heart quilt - and the amount of requests for my pattern blew my mind..... are you ready???

Here is my pattern :

Technical Right???

So I am going to walk you through it

I used 2 1/2 inch strips - I chose random lengths - all over 10 inches

( you could use 5, but I had longer ones and I wanted to stitch quick)

.

After you have 4 strips sewn together.

I sub cut them into 5 inch pieces

So now I have the half pieces - they are 

5 inches by 8 1/2 inches

Then for the outer corner of the hearts I used 2 1/2 inch squares.

I stitched a 1/4 inch seam, sliced off the extra dog ear, and used that for the inner piece of the heart

( see I saved ALL the scraps)

you can kinda see this process in the right top of the photo below

I apologize I don't have a ton of photos

I had no idea anyone would want to know how I did it ;-)

For the bottoms of the heart

I used 5 inche squares

Folded them in half and stitched along the line

Then I made another stitch about 1/4 inch away

( see the bottom left of the photo below)

I saved those pieces and made scrappy half squares

So each heart measured 9 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches

I ran out of strips

( okay not really, I just got tired of making hearts)

so I started throwing them up on the design wall

I filled in the parts with solid white squares of 9 1/2 x 8 1/2 inch pieces

Then I used all of those scrappy Half Squares from the bottom of the hearts

and made a border.

Ta da!

That is how I did it

I hope that helps some of you

If you make something like it - I would love to see it - I think they are SO fun!!

Enjoy!!

Linking to:
Design Wall MOnday
Main Crush Monday
Mondya Making

Hiking the Mariana Buttes

I thought it was just a golf course..... but as we started looking at maps - we found out it was a hike as well - sort of an Urban Hike.....  but Urabn meant it was close to Pizza , and if Pizza was close.... that meant I didn't have to cook Dinner!!!


That's about all the incentive I needed to head out to this little hike.

We arrived at the parking lot and headed up.... we got to the top of a look out and could see everywhere - it was awesome - that photo is of Devils Backbone.... we hiked there once too. It doesn't look as intimidating as when you are really there..... just sayin'

and llok!! Hiker Dog!!

Doesn't he look like he belongs in the adventurous life??

I got all my boys to pose for me

( yep I even have a boy dog.... totally outnumbered)

The hike took us around the back and through some woodland

It was quite fun and pretty

and the Pizza...... Yummy!!

Rainbow Scrappy Challenge - Blue Update

Oh la la - I have made a *Leetle* bit of progress  on my RSC Blue Quilt for the month....

But I will take any Little bit!!

All the blocks are stitched.... I may have a border plan..... emphasis on the May.... I have a tendency to by wishy washy......


Link to the pattern is in this post:   /im-so-blue-ue-ue-blue-ue-ue-ooooo.html

Linking to:
Rainbow Scrappy Challenge
Oh Scrap

Love is in the Air.....

On the Loooove Boat......

now you will have that song stuck in your ear all day - ha ha .... Sorry


I made this Scrappy Hearts Quilt last year/this year. I started it as an *inbetween* project to play with my 2 1/2inch patriotic strips....

and Now!!

It is all quilted!!

And!!

All my children have gone back to school,

and my Puppy is not tall enough to hold the quilt up!!

What is a girl to do!!! 

All the Border squares are the cut off of the Bottom of the hearts!

And look

There is a weird thing on the left of the photo

Is it an Alien??

A close up of the quilting

I used a Bubble Pantograph

Maybe like Champagne Bubbles???

it measures 81 x 81

Yay!!

Happy Dance

Finish #2 for the year

( and that is probably the last of my counting..... )

Linking to:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Busy Hands
TGIFFriday

Quilts of Valor 2018

You May remember back in October the Univ. of Northern CO Softball team came to stitch with us?

They created 4 quilt tops,. and I am slowly but surely working throught them

This is the first Quilt of theirs I have quilted

I am also working with a High School Group - and these are two of the Quilts they have made so far.

We had a lot of fun stitching them

and then they chose the quilting designs

My son and I quilted them up

You may recognize this pattern?

I have made several similar to it - but when Kevin the Quilter

did his Block drive -- I really fell in love with it again

AND! His directions are so easy for everyone to follow!

every Year I say I will keep track of how many QOV's I Piece and how many I quilt

and every year - I do good for 3 months and then - Bam! There are just too many Veterans

So I am not even going to try this year.... But this is the first 3 quilted for the year

(ha ha)

Hiking in Colorado

As you know ( or if you don't , you will soon!) I LOVE the Out of doors. There are times that I am not that fond of it, like when I am forced to do chores in a blizzard - but I get over it pretty quickly.....

I also might be pretty fond of my camera - So I forced my family into the car and we headed South to a lake. I had heard there were a lot of birds there, and a lake hike.

I always warn my family - if I don't like it I will leave, but if you don't like it - you are stuck with me till I am done ( it works too - sometimes I have to bribe with a dinner out.... but not too often)

The hike around this lake is 9 miles

and yep! I packed a lunch

The day we decided to go it was Gorgeous!

It started out cool

and then got up to about 50 degrees

Aren't those skies amazing?

This is really what you saw in the camera

The last 2 hours of our hike

the temps started dropping

and these clouds moved in

it was just awesome

The play of the clouds in the sky and the colors

and by the time we were leaving the sun was setting and the whole place just changed

by the time we got back to our house

the temps had dropped into the teens

and snow was starting

We picked the absolutely most perfect day!!

and the boys did chores!!

And I quilted ( yay)

Linking to:

Thru my Lens
Our World Tuesday
Wed. around the World

Rah rah Ree!!! I have a finish!!

Yep!! there is a lot of cheering going on about now....

I have a finish... and for this week - that's pretty amazing. My week sorta came in like a Lion.... ha ha!

Are you ready???

My EnProvence is Quilted   and 

Wait for it.....


Bound!!!!     Oh yes it is!!

See the blue at the edges - Binding!!  Ha ha

And a sorta Full on view

( hiding the kitchen table!!)

The artsy Shot

and the Back

I did a swirly quilting on it to give it some Star Movement

Like you are traveling through the Galaxy

( sure - we will go with that!)

>

So.... should I reamend my One Monthly Goal?? Maybe this was really supposed to be it - ha!


Anyways - we can't wait to snuggle under it.  I think this is my 3rd Patriotic quilt that I have kept - so each of my kids should have a Patriotic Quilt !   Yay me!!

Linking to:
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
TGIFF and Rainbows Bunnies

Quilts of Valor 2018

There is another Ah-Mazing quilter that I know in Arizona - and I am so grateful for her!! She is a whiz with the Accuquilt too!!   These are the Quilts of Valor that she just finished up and will be hugging a Veteran VERY soon!!!

Sue just does such amazing work!!

Aren't these just stunning quilts?

And these two!!

She is probably already a fan of the churndash

But I am going to think I inspired her by all the gatrillion churndashes

I might have made last year.... ha ha

AND THEN!!!

I got another awesome package - It was like Christmas All OVer again at my house!
Kate who blogs at:  https://kate-life-in-pieces.blogspot.com/

Sent this Quilt of Valor

Am I not just the luckiest person - Not only do these quilters help us Love on our Veterans.... I get to see the quilts first!!! Love  ( and luck)

Inspirations.....

Linking to:
Wed around the World

A Glimpse into my world

aka  this is why I don't finish things.....

you all understand , Right?

I told myself - I will finish my KTQ mystery before I start anything else/.....

well - I will use my Wonky Star blocks as the leader/Enders and piece a QOV at the same time.....

well  - Blue is the RSC color.... I'll just pop those blocks up and see where I am....

and now!!

This!

See the Wonky Stars are growing...

and see them peeking out behind my RSC project

and see my pile that needs to be ironed?

and see my pile to be stitched?

This!!

This people is why I pull my hair out

Ha ha ha

Oh ya - and My On Ringo Lake is mixed in there too

That is all

Linking To:
Desgin Wall Monday
Monday Making
Main Crush Monday
Lets Bee Social