Thank you

These wonderful Men and Women of our Armed Forces say Thank you.... and they let me take their pictures so you could see for yourself how much these Quilts of Valor mean to them.... 

This gentlemen is new to Colorado, and was to tickled to recieve a quilt. Most times, if we have the opportunity to, I let them choose the Quilt that speaks to them. 

I wish I could have taken pictures of his eyes as he looked at our quilts.

This dear girl had a mega watt smile, she also spoke Spanish and English, but was so overcome with the fabrics in this quilt she said Estrella and Luna while running her hands over it. It was really cool, and then she realized what she did and told me how she loves the stars and the moon out here in Colorado - and this really reminded her of them ( this quilt was made my Meredith and her California Quilters )

Mind you, it was about 100 degrees and these folks really wanted you to see them in their Quilts!!! And she was even wearing her ACU's....

This guy right here ( above) is awaiting a serious heart surgery. So tell me how old you think he looks?  Alright go ahead....he has 4 children!!! I know I looked shocked, as he burst out laughing!!!  (Dee Dee - recognize this one? ) It will be prefect for snuggling with all those kiddos during recovery!  

This one fell in love with the plaids! I know I say it a lot, but you do know that these quilts speak to their new owners right?   It is quite amazing.

I have more pictures, but I will let you digest these for now! 

Thank you all so much for you support, both in words, quilts, pillowcases and time.

Our thanks speak volumes of healing to these folks!!

Middle Bit

Middle bit is getting old.... and tall... and I look up to him... and remember I. AM. TALL. Oh my!

We all went to see Spiderman - even me, and .. I liked it.

But it made me old... cuz my kid got old... 

(he is third from the left)

And of course, it is fair time for him as well - 

so he is busy quilting away.

Deadlines.

*sigh*

The flag in the background was flown in a plane over Iraq 

Very intense work.

Relaxing in the evening. 

I now have two cameras ..

and I now have to figure out how to keep my photos straight

It is sort of hurting my brain, and as I was organizing them

I found a few I forgot I had taken...

Have a great day

Hug your loved ones! 

A LOT

A great day for Quilts

Good morning!! Hope everyone is ready to be inspired!!   If you had a chance to read this Post you will see how wonderfully important these Quilts are in the start of healing.  


First off - here' another recipient... he is recently home from Iraq. He is the shy quiet type, and had a really hard time accepting his quilt. I asked if I could wrap it around him, as he gave off that *don't touch me* vibe. He reluctantly agreed.... and then... gave me a hug!! 
All the guys in the background thumbs upped us!!   See - they work wonders!!! AND!! He smiled, although not for the picture!

On to today's quilts!! These are all made by the Cane Cutter Quilters in Houma LA.

Check out the embroidery in the center of these squares.... pretty cool!!

This one kind of reminds me of the ocean.... soothing

Check out the way these braids are set!! Isn't that cool? I don't know that I have seen a quilt like this yet - so it was very interesting to study!!

And the border.... Ohh Laa laa

Bright and Cheery - this one will make you smile!!

And Patriotic - I love the zig zags!  

MMMM - one of my all time favorites. I have no clue why the rail fences call to me, but I love them. Probably cuz there they best kind of fences I get to make. The ones with shovels, and post setters, and post hole diggers... not my favorite :-)   You can find this pattern for free here

Another great use of strings!! My sting bins are getting a little full - so I am thinking of ways to use them - this looks great!

What a great color Combination!! I love it

Nita - thank you to your quilters in Houma - you Cane Cutter Quilters are so wonderful! Thank you for these lovely Quilts of Valor. I hope you know how important they are to our recipients, and how much they are cherished

Stocking Up

I have been seen at the grocery store a lot lately... and teased!! We go to two different stores, and each time another quilter has seen me there. And of course, asked how come we have so much food....


Just so you know - the grocery store isn't all... thought you'd get a kick out of this!


My Amazon Order.....

I have Celiacs - hence all the gluten free stuff... that's how we all eat now... how long do you think I can make it with all this stuff???




I also pulled out my Orca Bay to see where I needed to get started - Look what I found! I guess I will get started getting that last block right!!

Have a great day!!

Design Wall Monday

The great thing about this time of year is it is light for like a gazillion hours, the bad thing is, you forget to come inside and so *inside* things..... like quilting. So I have to set myself reminders.


This is what I have been working on lately - 


Made by Marilyn...

Quilted with Feathers....

Oh look - I got my Round Robin Row done..... Yay ( its only due this Tuesday!!)

And border....

For more design walls go to http://www.patchworktimes.com - 

The start of healing

In my line of work, I get to interact with a lot of different Veterans, both active, and retired, and every so often one specific story really touches my heart.  


I am going to try to tell it without naming names or units, so that no one's personal information gets used, but the point of the story is - Quilts are the start of the healing process in so many Veterans lives. 


A few weeks ago I was with one of my favorite groups. We were able to present Quilts of Valor to them, and then hang out for a while. One particular Veteran really got choked up over his quilt.  First off - he had never, ever, been thanked for his service. 


He chose a quilt that was Red, White and Blue, even though, when he came back from deployment ( a 6 year deployment) he was denied medical benefits, as they had no proof of his service. At that time the guys who went off the radar had a very hard time being tracked. A commanding officer finally got all the paperwork filed and he was good to go.


He came back to the US, and promptly hid all of his war *stuff* ,  all of the photos, the memory book, the uniform... ALL of it, and his service was not mentioned much. 


A few weeks ago, when he was presented his quilt, it brought back a lot of memories. His quilt was made in the honor of the Quilters Father, who was a WWII vet. This spoke to him. Another Veteran was honored in the presentation of this quilt.


His Quilt was quilted by a person in a town that his daughter had briefly resided in. I say briefly, as she was killed in a head on collision a few years ago at a very young age.


His Quilt spoke to him, it told him that it was going to be alright, that as long as he had the love and hugs that were worked into this quilt - he could survive.


Fast forward to last night. I was invited back to present quilts to some new members. He happened to be there, knowing full well that I would be there as well. I walked in to the first room, and he jumped up to hug me. 


He said I brought you something. I was slightly shocked, as most of the times my arrival dates are kept quiet... He said, I went home that night and I pulled out my box of military memento's, and I wrapped myself in my quilt, and I was finally able to sort through it. 


He brought me a copy of a picture of him and his unit, he brought a picture of his units patch, he brought me a map of all the places he had served, and some of the places he had been. 


And he said - that this quilt was better than and "Doc Meds" they could give him.


I was brought to tears... I am not the crying type - ever... and he got me. 


My point of all this is to convey to you the importance of our quilts, to let you know that we may never receive a thank you, we may never receive the *story* of the quilt, yet we are changing these veterans lives - one quilt at a time. 

Running and Kickboxing

Bet you are wondering what those two words are doing in MY vocabulary - right? 


Well - my boys are all runners. Where they got this gene I will never know, as I can swim, ride horses, and keep the couch from any levitation.... however.... my children think it would be really "cool" to run a 5K together.  And somehow they are using their Jedi Mind Powers to make me think it would be fun.....


Last year, after the passing of my cousin and her girls, there was a 5K planned, and they added to it - to be a part of their Memorial... so that is the 5K we are working towards ...slowly.
My children helped me download a Couch to 5K app - and I am on day 6... ugh... double ugh... and yesterday they made me run hills - and today we are going to gently jog around the pit ( the pit being about 1 mile...I don't see this as gentle people!!)


But to top it off - I have always, always, okay maybe for year, wanted to try kickboxing... so guess what two of my boys and I did Wednesday????  Kickboxing class at a real kickboxing gym, with a real professional kickboxer.... did I mention that they take no mercy?  


Just kidding, our coach was AWESOME and he was totally cool, and he was almost my best friend because he thought I was the older sister to my kids, but then he made me sweat, so that whole Best Friend thing? Didn't happen...


I can totally tell you that there are muscles, or joints, or , lets be serious here - pain, where I did not think it could exist!!  It's not that bad, but I can feel it  ;-)

So if you see any of these three - be sure to tell them that I deserve a LOT of chocolate okay?

And if you see this little dog with his tongue hanging out... don't look too much farther - he and I are hiding... so Shhhh.... be vewy verwy quiet please!

More Beautiful Quilts

It's Wednesday - and you know what that means.... Inspiration and Beauty!! It was cool enough here last night that I think I could actually stand a hot chocolate or a tea this morning.... but Dr Pepper is really my drink of choice..... tee hee

 First we start off with Three Lovely Quilts made by the Bingham Ladies Fellowship in Nebraska, and quilted by Jody M.  They work together as a group to make these and I think they did an awesome job!!!

This one was made by Denise in my Quilt Guild. It was a mystery quilt at the last retreat she went on... someday I am going to join them... isn't it lovely? 

I love how the quilting shows up on the back SO well!!

This quilt was made by the Pieceable Friends Quilt Guild and my QOV sew day... we made all the blocks a few months ago, and Sue took some home to put into a top... and as a Bonus!! She quilted it ( oh and Bound it!! - she rocks!!)

This quilt was pieced by Sue out of blocks made by Mary Jane. Mary Jane passed away last year, and her husband graciously donated her fabrics and blocks to be put to good use!

Check out the back!!! I love this quilt!!

Ros in Arizona sent me a great big box of Quilts of Valor - I tried really hard to get all the info down correctly - but you know... I am out of chocolate - so I can NOT be held accountable - Just kiddin' let me know if I get something wrong!!

This yummy string quilt was made by Nancy and Quilted by Ros!

This Disappearing 9 Patch was made by the AZ Huggy Bunch and quilted by Ros.

Another beauty by the AZ Huggy Bunch - I really like that name - they are quilters, but have a great way to give hugs!! Perfect!!

And the last one for today is made by Nancy and quilted by Ros. I am really loving the white center strings - I may have to make some like that!!

Hope you enjoyed today's Quilt show!! And I hope you keep coming back to see all the lovelies! Its fun to show them off - and to give you a glimpse of what our wonderful military is receiving.