Calico Country Quilters

They must have worked hard!!! Here are 5 more quilts from Judith and the Calico Country Quilters. They are in Illinois!
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I love how the same pattern can turn out so differently. The previous post had 4 dissappearing 9 patches, and this one has a few more. None of the look the same.
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On our home front we have been running like crazy. Thunderstorms seem to pop up evry afternoon and bring crazy weather. I get a lot nervous and turn everything off.

A couple of years ago lightening struck one of our electric fences near the house and shredded the fences. So I figure it can do some severe Damage to my electronics.

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We had a swim meet Thursday evening. Well it was supposed to start at 4 - which mean you have to get there at 3, and just as the warm ups were done the clouds got black. Good thing it was at the country club. They have a parking area for the golf carts - except we all decided to run in their to take cover.

After the rain we tried again - got the relays done and a huge downpour moved in. So the postponed the rest of the meet.
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Hope you all enjoy the pictures and have a great day!
I am heading back down to quilt - until the next round of storms moves in!!

Technical Difficulties

They are not really that technical - more like dumb! Yesterday I used my camera and took little videos of the kids playing golf, and wore my battery down..... so I can't get the photos off for another hour or two, especially since I am so organized and knew that the battery died - so I woke up soooo early to plug it in. Sure, that is my story, and as for why at 9pm the battery still doesn't work? Must be a power gremlin or something right??
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But this all works in your favor! You get to see 5 lovely beautiful quilts sent in from Judith and the Calico County Quilters! They made such wonderful quilts, and they still got here despite flooding and horrible storms that surrounded Judith!
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And I can tell you how nice today was. The thunderstorms are moving in, and I am so glad they waited until now - we spent the day at the pool. Swim team for the oldest starts at 7 ( so we leave at 6:30) and swim team ends at 11:15 for the youngest. Then we had a great lunch and went back for 3 hours in the afternoon. It was perfect....

I even * Now Sit Down* swam laps! I mean like real laps with a turn and all. *And* I did not drown, no one had to come drag me out of the pool. I exited with out a crane!

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Now aren't you glad that some power gremlin forgot to plug in my camera battery and let you in a little on these beautiful quilts and my lovely day?

Oh - we also went to Sams Club and checked out the cell phone family plans. Any one have a great family plan for cell phones? It is just my oldest son and I for the "plan" but we want it cheap!!

Have a great evening - I will post the next step first thing tomorrow morning, unless I forget to go to bed tonite *giggle*

Sunday's Post

Happy Father's Day!
I think that this might have been the first day in about a month that we didn't have to be up at 5am and start getting somewhere. It was very nice. My Middle son brought breakfast in bed to Wrangler Man. He made it all by himself!
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Two people have sent me pictures of the center of their Not So Top Secret Project 2 quilts, so I thought I would share... I love how the same quilts can be done in so many different colors!

The first one is from my Mom. This is her first quilt on point - and I think she is doing well!!
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Next is from Denise. I loooove the black in the setting triangles!
They probably didn't know I would use their pics - but they sent them and I thought - Oh that would be cool to share!! So thanks ladies.

***http://justalittlezizzy.blogspot.com/2009/06/alycia-quilts.html ***
Here is another one from Barb!! - Go check out her blog post! Loooove it!
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Tomorrow I will post another step in the process.
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The last quilt was made by Susan in TX and I quilted it. It got finished being bound and is ready for the next delivery of Quilts of Valor!
It is all fish, and it is awesome. Wrangler Man thinks that he wants to make a quilt like this.
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Hope you all have a good one. We are heading out to the driving range to do some golf type related stuff... wish me well. I was a baseball player - and the swings are entirely different...

Quilted by Gail

I met Gail thru a friend in Denver. Turns out she has a longarm machine, and she likes to quilt! She is from a warmer place ( Hawaii I think) but married a guy from Colorado, and so she is learning to adapt to the cold weather. Instead of trekking out in the winter - she quilts!! And Quilts of Valor was the reciepient of this quilting!!
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This first quilt was made by my Mom - Sue.
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The next quilt is a Not So Top Secret Project. It was a group project. I did the cutting, Rubydell made the blocks, Sue ( not my mom, another Sue in my guild) put the blocks together. Daisy put the borders on , and Gail quilted it!
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And the last quilt was made by Shari - one of the teachers from the school.
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Thanks Gail for quilting these for us!!
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I apologize for not posting more, but between the tornados, thunderstorms and childrens events - the computer has been lonely. I unplug everything as soon as I hear thunder, and some of these storms have lasted for hours.

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They are playing havoc on our fun!

See ya tomorrow for step 3 of the NSTSP2... my mom has even asked for the next step - gotta do what Mom says right??

Tired of Tornados

It is day 4 of tornados - and quite frankly - they can go away!!
Sunday - we had tornados to the east and the west of us. All the guys were in Laramie - so I told them to stay there... My dog and I stayed in the basement.
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Yesterday they cropped up just as we were getting ready to load up horses and head out.... right into the eye of the storm. Needless to say - we unloaded and stayed put.
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Today was much more fun - we watched 2 tornados from the Dentist's office, and watched them move east ( towards my house). After our dentist appt. there was still a tornado warning for my town, so we went to Coldstone Creamery and killed time. While we were hanging out, and amusing the staff, the power went out. The manager says - oh boy - now what. And my boys said - give us spoons - we will eat everything that melts. Sadly for them the power went back on.
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We made it home to some incredible flooding and lots of hail on the roads. For us to flood is quite a feat - we live on sand, and on a hill... a good sized steep hill. I am probably not the only one to wish that the weather pattern would change. No tornados touched down here - but we hear of where they did.
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On to quilts!!
These two beauties came in from Vancouver WA. Form Susan G, Claire B, and Rose Ann L. The pattern is from Quilts and More - Winter 2008. They are really beautiful. Thank you ladies for all your hard work!! They are perfect Quilts of Valor!!

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My Dove Chocolate quote for the day: "Do not look back and ask Why, look forward and ask why not?"

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Have a great one!!

It's Finally Friday

Although it feels like Thursday to me.... ;-)
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These first two quilts were sent to me by Lisa in TX. But... they were made by 7 year old Rebekkah and her Grandma Sara. I have to say that Rebekkah and I share the same taste in Fabrics. These are just cute quilts!! The Pig Fabric is just funny, and the horses are wonderful!
Thanks Sara and Rebekkah!!

















The next two quilts were quilted by Liz D in Broomfield Co - on her Statler Stitcher! The Rail fence was made by Audrey in Co and the other was from Heartstrings. I included a picture of the backing so you can click on it and get a close up - I loved the pattern.

This quilt to the left was quilted by Wavalene W. She did feathers thru the blues and they look awesome on this quilt.

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And the last quilt came from Texas by an anonymous quilter. But is sure is wonderful!

We were supposed to have tornados and rotten weather last night. We even got a call from the weather service to be on the lookout. Needless to say when the first black cloud arrived I got the dog and everyone inside. Nothing happened. Best dissappointment of my life! We got some lightening and Thunder late in the evening, but I could handle that. I assumed that we would be tucked up in our little tornado cubby.... but no. I appreciated the call - and was glad that nothing came of it!

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Today is Thursday

But you all probably knew that. I on the other hand was operating as Tuesday all day yesterday. Imagine my Surprise this morning when I found out I missed a day!!
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These beautiful quilts come from all over! The first on one the right was made by Linda in Loveland, quilted by RoseAnn in South Dakota and is ready to go to a soldier. Thanks ladies!!
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The next quilt comes from Trish K in Monte Vista CO, and was quilted by Peg C ( I think she is from Alamosa but not 100% on that). I have included a picture of the back..Check it out - my boys fell in love! Thanks ladies for the group effort!!

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And the last quilt for this post comes from Sandra D in West Virginia. You can check out what she is up to on her blog - http://sandyquilts.blogspot.com .

This quilt is from The Quilting Bee Forum at QuiltPox. The rail fence part was made by Roslyn A at Http://ros-the-quilter.blogspot.com and was quilted by Sandy on her Nolting.

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I love it when stories come in with the quilts. Not only can I share with you - but I can include the information with the quilt in the journals.

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My boys bought me a bag of Dove Dark Chocolate. I think it is a bribe to continue to use my machine. See I do have another - it is a cheapy from walmart - I use it rarely, and mostly to fix jeans and canvas things... it is a tough machine, but it is also tough to sew on and they don't like it. Anyways my bribe has little fortunes on the packages.

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Todays quote is: "Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can"

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Pretty good huh - and I will have to since I thought I was still going to wake up to Wednesday!

I have been replaced!

It has been raining all day. Swim Practice was cancelled so the boys thought they would work on their quilts for 4-H. They sort of commandeered my sewing machine. You all probably don't know this - but I don't share well. I do share - I just don't always do it well.... but I gave up my machine for the day.
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Little bit watched big bit for awhile. I think he was actually making sure big brother was doing it right - as he has 2 whole quilts under his belt already. He finished 3 blocks.
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Then Middle bit took over. He got 2 of his blocks done.
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After heading to shooting practice ( they do archery) and getting rained out we came back - and Little bit finally got to the machine. He finished one block before bedtime... not bad for a rainy day. Although I did NOT finish anything of my own....
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Maybe tomorrow?? They are kind of on a deadline - these quilts need to be done by July!!


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Now let me show you some Gorgeous Quilts of Valor!! These Three came from Carolyn J in PA. The fabrics are wonderful.


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I love the Dissappearing 9 Patches. They all turn out so differently... these color combinations are great! Thank you so much Carolyn.

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Is anyone a fan of The Beverly Hillbillies? We found a lunchbox that had 2 DVD's in it at the grocery store of all places, and I picked it up. So far we think they are quite funny!
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Have a great evening!!

Quilts for a Sunday

These first three quilts on the right were all Made by Kathy in WI. They are gorgeous!!! And the two of them are string quilts, but the top on doesn't look like it at first. Took me a moment!
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Kathy - Thank you SO much for your hard work. I sure appreciate it!!!
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This Not So Top Secret project quilt on the left was made by Cindy P in ME. I gotta tell you, it just tickles me to see the way they can all be so different. Cindy - Thank You!!

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Next is a Friendship Star type quilt from Kathryn in MA. I like the way she used the color and the white - it is quite striking! Thank you Kathi for contributing this quilt!!

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And last - a string quilt from Sue, quilted by Janet - both in Heartstrings. Sue has her own blog over at http://susan-my2cents.blogspot.com/ if you feel like checking it out. She is up to a new project.

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Today has been a long but lazy day. We taught in the 4th grade at church, and I think all the kids came sugared up. They were great - but the don't stop.... The 4th graders move up to the 5th grade class next week, so we got to go check it out, and they had JUST AS MUCH ENERGY..... need more caffiene if we make that a regular thing!

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Hope you all have a great rest of the weekend. Ladies - Thank you for your Quilts of Valor!!

Geneseo Quilters Strike Again

These folks from Illinois are awesome and prolific quilters!! They surely keep their long armers busy. Look at these beauties!

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I think the first two on the left are Turning Twenty Again patterns by Tricia Cribbs. If they are not, they are sure close. And beautiful!!

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Today was my first real day at swim practice. Wrangler Man took the oldest yesterday and the other two and I were a little busy! None of my boys are in the same age group - so we have 3 different practice times.
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I think I used my time wisely though. I worked on a quilt pattern planning, I signed a bunch of letters that I had typed up. I worked on a quilt journal and I wrote a real handwritten letter!

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Now I will have to figure out what wise things I can get done tomorrow. I have thought about taking my cutting board at times - but that might be a little dangerous.

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Geneseo Quilters - Thank you very much!!!

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Stay tuned...... Many of you wanted a hint for NSTSP2...

I pulled out my 2 1/2 inch strip Scrap Bin and was hoping to decimate it..... does that help?

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No Soldier Forgotten!