Not so Top Secret Project Two Part 6

Quilting the Quilt:
I quilted mine , and my youngest son quilted the Top my Mom made. So we are two more quilts ahead. But after the Quilting.... there is still one more step. You need to bind the quilt. There are lots of great tutorials out there. Instructions in Quilt Magazines and YouTube videos.
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I use 2 1/2 inch strips for my binding. I measure the quilt ( eg 54 x 72) then I add 54 + 54 +72 +72+15 and that is the length of binding that I need.


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I make a double fold binding. Then - because I don't like to do any handwork - I apply the raw binding edge to the back side of the quilt. Then I bring the Binding to the front and use a decorative stitch to sew it down.

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Now if you are sending it to a LA'er and forwarding it this way - you don't need to worry about the binding. We will get it done here. I have been recruiting even more folks to do this process!!

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Hope you all have a great day - a thunderstorm has just moved in - so I must sign off!

More on Quilts of Valor

This soldier was from Guam. He was wondering when he would be able to get back to the tropics. He was stationed here 3 years ago when we had our "Big Blizzard" It was the first time he had seen snow, and was excited for about a day. Then he said he was over that! He has had two full tours in Iraq and was injured during his third. He was a lot of fun to talk to. Since he didn't have an appointment for a half an hour - we entertained him. Or at least we thought we were - he might have been trying to get away....



This soldier was helping us carry some quilts into the vault. These will be under military security. There were a few soldiers who weren't able to make it to formations, so we made sure they would have quilts delivered to them. The one in the picture had four daughters, and he said he was wishing for a son too. So I let him have my boys - for about 2 minutes. He tried to trade - but told me his girls were very girly and would not like to do outside chores. I politely declined.

Next - we were put to work. And please note - I use the term "we" lightly. This Platoon leader said all the men in his presence must complete their P.T. So I looked very busy when he yelled hit the deck and give me 10. I was sure he was only speaking to the men - and in no way was I included in that command. I very kindly reminded him that I was a General in my own mind, so I outranked him. It seemed to work until the Chaplain was able to rescue me.....

Answering the call

I recieved a call asking for more quilts for another group of soldiers. So we loaded up and headed out. Do you know how cool this is - to just be able to load up and go? Knowing that I have enough quilts for each soldier that needed one. And that there was no worrying if I would have enough? No staying up late to finish that last one? I am wondering if I have Thanked you all Enough - that you helped make this happen?

We started giving quilts out as the soldiers were standing in formation. One soldier said No thank you. - This has never happened before, so I said are you sure? And he said Yes - I have enough stuff.
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We continued to hand out quilts until the Sargeant hollered " Att ten SHUN!" and we ran back to the front. They did their formation drills, and then asked me to speak to the men. So I did. I told them about the people who made these Quilts. That they were Quilts of Valor, and what a Quilt of Valor meant. I explained that they were to be used, and to be a hug to them,a hug that we could not physically give to them.
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I then pulled out this service Star quilt( to the right). I said that all of these quilts have a lot of thought put into them, into the colors and the patterns - all with the hope that the soldier recieving it will just love it. I gave a little history of the service star and then presented this quilt to a special soldier.

They were told that if they hadn't recieved their quilt yet to come see me. I went back over to that soldier and said - are you sure you don't want a quilt? And he said - "Yes I would. I thought they were some cheap thing - those are beautiful and I would defineatly USE it." So we fixed him up right away.

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He did not want his picture taken but told me I could get him in formation. Then he approved the photo. He is the foot with the word "Here" on it *grin*

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Although you can not see him - you can see some of the rest of the formation. And I can guarantee you he was really smiling as he walked away. And I really wanted to share this with you. I wanted you all to know how much these really are appreciated, and how much the soldiers "want" them. They are so appreciative that we are thinking of them. Many of them tell me that they can not believe that someone would make something so nice for them.

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And this last guy - he was a smiler! He posed for me with the picture on the outside so we could see what quilt he got. He told me to pass on a Big Thank you to the maker of this quilt.... so Maker - Thank you!!

Have a great one!

Not so Top Secret Project Two Part 5

The Backing:
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All quilts need a backing. I machine quilt my quilts on my Long arm - so I am going to give you the directions to have a quilt quilted by a Long Arm Quilter.
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There are many different ways to make a backing.
This one was designed by Mary. I love it - I use it a lot, just to mix up the way a backing looks:
http://maryquilts.com/off-center-4-patch-backing
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I also saw someone make a back out of 10 inch squares. It was very scrappy and added interest! Also I made some that were just strippy. And then there is the easiest way to do it - buy a wide backing. Then it is all one piece, no seaming!
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Any way you decide to do it, Most Long Arm quilters prefer 6 to 8 inches extra of the backing. I always err to the side of caution and try for 8. This allows me a chance to square up the backing. Since I want a square quilt, and a non wrinkled backing I need to make it square to load it on my machine.
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My Quilt Top finished at 54 x 74.
So this means if I will add 8 Inches :I want a backing of 62 x 82
If I Will add 6 inches it will be 60 x 80
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Now you have your backing made.. you can move on to the quilting. Are you making this as a Quilt of Valor? If so - over at http://www.qovf.org you can click on Request a Long Armer. A form will come up , you fill it out, you get a reciept in the email, and within a week you will get a name and Email of a Long Arm quilter who will then add the batting and quilt it up with in a Month. Most of them do not do binding. These Long Arm quilters are volunteers and put these quilts into their schedules to do quickly!
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If you use this option, they will send the quilt back to you, and then you bind it. You will then make a presentation case ( a pillowcase). When that is all done you can go back to qovf.org and request a destination.
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If you want your quilt to come this way - for presentation to a soldier at Fort Carson. You can let your Long Arm'er know this and include my address. They can then send the quilt to me and my guild ladies, or my new trainees will bind it and get it to a soldier.
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Do you need some great tutorials for a presentation case?
http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/field_trips_in_fiber/2007/05/pillowcases.html

I know there are a few more - but I can't seem to find them at the moment.
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Any questions? Let me know. I hope you all liked that pattern. I liked mine and am getting ready to quilt it up. So after I am done I will be back with it!

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!!

Not so Top Secret Project Two Part 4

Whoo hoo - are you getting excited?

First step - Lay your quilt out and place a straight edge ruler along it. I trimmed those little flanges off so I had a straight line to apply the borders.
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Second:
Measure the top. I measure thru the center and on both edges. Then I take an average of the three to get a length. I have been told that this will help you square up the quilt. But I have to be honest too... not many of my quilts come up *perfectly* square.
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My Top measured 44 x 59.

I then went back to my 2 1/2 inch scrap bin and chose a creamy print to make a 2 1/2 inch stop border. I made 2 strips 2 1/2 in x 44 inches long. Applyed them and ironed. Then I measured the next direction. Mine was 64 inches long.


I made 2 2 1/2 inch by 64 inch strips and applyed those. I ironed again.I ended up using a pretty busy cream print. But I like it!









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Now for the border choices. When I first drew this up I put solid borders on the quilt. But when I looked at my strip bin, I thought - wow - if I use those for a strippy border I wonder if I could empty the bin? So I did - and you may not like how it looks. You may wish to do a solid border. Either way - the quilt will be a perfect Quilt of Valor size.
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Option One: A Solid Border. You will need Approximately 1 1/2 yards of fabric. You will measure the top again. Mine measures 48 x 64.
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Cut 5 1/2 inch strips the width of the fabric and make 2 48 inch long borders. Apply those and remeasure. It should measure about 74 inches. Cut more 5 1/2 inch strips to make 2 74 inch long borders and apply. Your top is done! It should measure around 58 x 74!


Option Two: A Pieced Border:
I started grabbing 2 1/2 inch strips and sewing them together in sets of five. You can sew them in any amount of sets, 5 seemed to work well.
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After I ironed the sets, I then took them to the cutting board and cut them 5 1/2 inches wide. For the Top Border my strip set ended up being 23 strips long. So I sewed enough sets together to make a long border of 23 strips. I then applyed it to the top and ironed it.
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Remember - I am not always the best sew - er so I had a little overhang... this is where rulers become my best friend. I just trimmed it up to square again! I did the same thing for the Bottom Border.

After the top and bottom borders were done I re- measured the top - it was 74 inches long. So I made 2 Strip sets. Mine ended up being 35 strips long. Then I applyed those, ironed and trimmed it up. And here is the final picture of the quilt top.

I still have a few strips left - but my bin is getting low on 2 1/2 inch strips. And the cool thing to me is that other that the setting triangles this quilt is really a "free" quilt so far. All the strips came from trimmings of other quilts, or left overs of other projects.

My top was 58 x 74 when finished. I will be back with the backing preparations and more info for you. So don't stop now ;-)

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...

A Birthday Party

My oldest son had a birthday. If I had my way it would have been his 5th birthday, but Noooo he had to turn 14! So he invited some friends out and we had a shooting party. ( so if you don't like guns don't read this part)
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We have a little target range on the other side of our arena. It shoots into a 30 foot bank of dirt, so the whole world is protected. Of course there is nothing behind the bank of dirt for 30 miles...
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We have a table set up to keep all the stuff - so here's the guys. They have to shoot from behind the table.


Here they are checking the targets.

The smile on my sons face made it all worth it.

We said the party would last till 8 so we could all eat dinner, but imagine our surprise when all the guys wanted to stay out and shoot until dusk ( which is 8 around here) instead of eating! All the kids had their Dad's here, so we knew we didn't need to call and get permission for them to stay later. So about 10 pm I started shooing folks out ( grin) I had to get up at 5:30 to get moving for a swim meet.

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We made it to the swim meet on time - it lasted till 3 pm, we all came home, did chores and crashed. What a way to go!

A part of the past

My Mom's Mom was the seamstress in her family. She was quite handy with a needle and thread, and even a sewing machine *grin* She had a treadle machine set up in her sewing room, but I don't ever remember seeing her use it. It must be because she had a new fancy electric one. Well maybe not even fancy - but still electric.
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Grandma had 3 girls ( and 1 boy), and I am sure all of them know how to sew, I just don't think they do! They always told me it skipped a generation. Although I do remember my Mom helping me make a dress or three, towels, and tote bag, a swimsuit.... so sewing must not have skipped her as far as she thought it did. Between my Mom, Grandma and Annie across the street - I learned how to sew fairly well.
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Good thing for me - my Mom saves everything. My Grandma passed away quite a few years ago, but I still have things that remind us of her. This Baby Quilt my Grandma made for me, and Mom kept it. She brought it to me, and now it is hanging in my house.

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It is very soft a cuddly - maybe she destined me to be a quilter?

Oh and by the way - My Mom can sew!! I think she is on quilt 6 or 7 now... she is unstoppable! And she has even trained my Dad to buy fabrics for her.... smart gal.