Stitch it and Gift it!!

I love this idea for a blog hop - it kinda gets you in the spirit... and pushes you a long to finish the ideas you have.... That being said!!

If you are reading my post - you are now SWORN to SECRECY/..... Got it???

and!! Even more important - if you know any of my family.... you may not speak of this to them....

and EVEN more important.... if you know my Brother in law... do not tell him that I like him... we operate on the - who can pick on each other the worst........

Did you swear? are you able to keep a secret?
Alright - then you may read on....

A few years ago I decided that it would be cool to make him a quilt with pictures of his family and some old photos.  His family is one that has been in Wyoming for a million years ( that's how old he is - bwahh haa haa)   And they have quite the history... so I worked with his Sister and Brother and we found some really great old photos.

His Dad was a WWII pilot and we found some of those photos - and we found some goofy ones -

Then I worked with Erin and Fabric on Demand  and I made fabric of those photos,... that is one awesome company - they are SO helpful and SO great to work with.

And then! I had to find fabrics - oh the torture.. oh the shopping - Ok .. not really -

Whoops - that is not it... that is just a photo of a few of my horses... that was a test - just to see if you were ready to keep a secret...

TA DA
There is the top!! I framed each photo with Dark Brown cowboy fabric ... in ... of course a Churn Dash!! I thought it looked like a frame for each photo.

I thought that would be the end of my post - I didn't know if I could get it completely finished by today... but you know what?? You beg your husband to make dinner and you work in the dark... and

you get it DONE!!
Whoop Whoop

( and by Done - I even mean... are you ready???? BOUND!!!)

it turned out King Size - which was sorta my plan - but not really... I was going for Queen - but you know ... Math.... It changes a lot!! Works out pretty good tho! They have a king size bed.

I am so glad that Creatin in the Sticks gave us this push to get something done in time for the holidays - and in my case - something pretty big... It took me 2 years to really make this.... We have been collecting photos that long...

Go check out all these other blogs too - they are also participating:

Tuesday, November 12th

Life in the Scrapatch

Alycia Quilts

Kaholly

Words & Stitches

Quilt’n Party 

Patchwork Breeze

desertskyquilts

And here is a link to the complete list of blogs participating this week:
Stitch and Gift Blog Hop


are you working on anything for Christmas?

Happy Veterans Day!

Happy Monday too!!

So one of the things I love the best about being a part of Quilts of Valor is that we get to show the LOVE to our Veterans any day of the week, any week of the year - but!  When it happens on Veterans Day Weekend  - its just a little extra special... and every time I see the tears of a Veteran - it makes me want to go sew some more and quilt faster!!!

The Darling on the Left - she is so sweet and such a giver - she always wants to make sure her *people* are taken care of first ( the sign of a great leader)... so we were so excited to surprise her with her QOV this time. And she is a fan of Eagles - so you know that we had to get some Eagles in this quilt!!

This one got me, we wrapped him in his quilt, and he whispered something to me, so I reached over to him, mostly to re-hear... and he reached out with tears in his eyes and gave me the hugest hug.

you ALL - I am passing that along to you - he was so emotional about finally receiving a Thank you for his service and that this was made for him - man.... he almost made me tear up ( that's all I will admit to !! ha ha)

and although my son has not had the experiences of these Veterans

 and is just starting on his journey

I have to brag on him here

Because I am his mom

and I love him

and I want him to come home now

( PS - I want the other two to come home too!! ... now!)

Happy Veterans Day

And thank you all

for helping us Love on our Veterans

linking to :
Design Wall Monday
Monday Making

QUILTED!! and! It's Finished (Or Not) Friday

Happy Friday!!!

I kinda feel like the cat and life is the cow... its just pushing me along.... and hoping I keep up - haha!!


Isn't that funny? - we have two baby barn cats and they are not afraid of anything!

I learned that my horse can now be considered broke.

I was doctoring his back foot while the kitty was swinging from his tail.... and I lived to tell about it..... I needed one more hand to take a picture - but it was funny....

Here is my Finish for this week.... Note the snow... It melted - but I hurried to find a pretty spot before hand...

I think it made all the bright colors even brighter!!

Alright - so has Life moved you along this week? Show off your *stuff*  Lets see it!!!!


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You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Linking to
TGIF Friday at Faith and Fabric
Confessions of a Fabriholic

Winter Quilt a Long - one Hour per week

at the Korean War Memorial in DC

This is a fun easy quilt - with a cool visual to it when it is done!  



This Wednesday ( the 6th) I will give you the Fabric Requirements - and that is your job - shop your stash - you can also go scrappy and I will give you hints for that

Each Wednesday I will give you 1 HOUR of a step - It will be based on my timer - I will stitch one week ahead of you - and when the timer buzzes 1 hour... I am stopping ... and that will be your step.

This pattern has already been tested , I am varying the version just a little bit ( because I can - and its fun 😋  )

And when we get to the part to put it together - I will show you the whole design so you can choose to put it up on the design wall right then,
or just plain ol' finish it!

and then!! we will have one more Quilt for a Veteran!!

If you want Chit Chat about it - head over to https://groups.io/g/MysteryQuilts4Military  and sign up - its super easy and hopefullly we will have photos to share.

So today!!  
It is FABRIC REQUIREMENT Day!!

A PDF of the Fabric Requirements can be found here:
Winter Quilt a Long Fabric Requirements PDF

or here you go:

Winter Quilt a Long

2019

Fabric Requirements

Red: 5/8 Yard

White: 2 ¾ yard

Blue: 1 ¾ yard

Basically you are looking for TWO contrasting Darks (ie: Red and Blue) and ONE Background that will let those darks shine.

In mine I will be using Red Blue and a Light Blue – because I cannot find a white that doesn’t have prominent patterns.

If you are going scrappy – same color rules apply – you will need larger scraps – like 7 inches or more in size… the little ones need to go to the bottom of the pile to shine another day ;-)

Have Fun – Alycia

http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com

Elephant Seals

I have nothing that I can show you on my design wall... because!!! I am working on a project for the Stitch it and Gift it Blog hop hosted by https://createinthesticks.blogspot.com/  that starts on November 11th!!!! 

Instead - I will show you pictures of the Elephant Seals that we saw along the coast. We headed to Cali a few weeks ago - they were having rolling black outs - and we went to the coast... it was fun!!

Can you see them swimming in the water? There were so many of them!  and even tho they look small they are huge - Males can weigh like 3200lbs!!  No dieting for them!


The walkway that you stay on - so that you don't interrupt or get in their way - gets you pretty close to them!

Aren't they cute? If they weren't so loud I might want one....

There are three peak times of the year that have large populations of seals – January, April, and October. - we were there in October

Starting in November, adult male elephant seals start to arrive on the shore. Adult males will stake claim to female pupping areas on the beach. When another adult male challenges a pupping location, a fight for dominance ensues. Adult males will fight for mating rights from December through January. Elephant seal bulls can reach 16 feet in length and weigh up to 5,000 pounds.

Sooo cute - right?

But when then do this (below)

They are scary - 

and noisy

you can learn more about them here:
http://www.elephantseal.org/

Happy Stitching!!!

SSSSQ a Finish!! for Finished Friday!!

Happy Friday!!!

What a difference a week makes - right?  Last week we were complaining about Wind... this week - I am loving on the SNOW!!  Whoop Whoop!!

Here is my Finish for this week!!

It is the SSSSQ mystery hosted by Kevin the Quilter over this last summer!!!

and my gate.... It has snow everywhere!! can you believe it!

I Quilted Baptist Fans all over it - AND I used Quilters Dream Puff for the batting - its going to be so fluffly and warm and I can't wait to use it!!

PS - No Quilts got too snowy in this photo session... but! me trying to do this without boot prints... ahhh not so much!!  

Lets link up your awesome finishes for this week!!  ( there were 24 last week - that is so awesome! )

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You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Also linking to:
TGIF Friday at Slice of Pi
Can I get A whoop Whoop

Hugging our Veterans

I just LOVE how Quilts can give our Veterans a Tangible Hug

And they remember it ForEver

It is so fun to be able to tell each Veteran about their quilt, who made it, where it came from, How it got started - it just amazes them that each quilt has a story... and a story that finds its way to them.


Check out these lovely blocks!!
Sent in from Pride City Quilt guild in Pueblo and the Scrappy Ladies Quilt guild in Rye  ( Both in Colorado)

This is a Mystery quilt that we did here called:

Stars and Stripes

It was made by Barbara, Nancy and Sara

and Quilted by Cheri D

This beauty was made by Jackie W

in Willcox Az

( and you can see which Veteran got it in the photo above)

This beauty was made by sister Debbe and Joan

and again - check the top photo 

You can see the Veteran who received it

( and the tears in their eye BTW)

And just cuz

I mean

Look at him

We are under snow and ice and warnings to stay off the roads

and I want to be him ;-)

Dinosaurs and Design Walls

My design wall is growing a bit... I can not believe I am still on the same project - usually my QDD kicks in and I have started 32 more.... but alas.... I have not... ( okay maybe 1 more project but who is counting?)

I like how it is coming together!

( it is called Urban Log Cabins - pattern by Terry Atkinson 

of Atkinson Designs)

We went on a Dinosaur Hike!!

It was so cool 

and I learned so much!

 about the Jurassic Period

This place is kinda hidden out in the middle of Nowhere

They have an active Dinosaur Dig site 

and you can see things like this!

Fossils!!

And all sorts of weird rock formations

I kept telling the guys

Doesn't that look like a stegosaurus was found there?

and yes!!

a skeleton was found there

Too cool!

Part of a Backbone

I just think it is too cool

that Fossils are still being found in our earth

Trying to take a Dinosaur selfie

This is just a rock

But what does it look like to you?

If you know me - you know we have had horrible trouble with Natural Gas

and Oil companies closing our gates

So when I saw this - I just had to take a picture

and of course!!

Close the Gate!!

We also went to a The Dinosaur Journey Museum - it is all about the Dig sites

and the fossils they have found in the Morrison Layer

They looked pretty real

and a few were animated

we had a great time with one of our kids

and we hiked a lot and got to be outdoors.

Which was great - as the has snow started now!

Linking to:
Design Wall Monday
Monday Making

A Churning Finish

Ha ha? Right? Aren't we always trying to come up with Catchy titles.... well - I am not sure this is one... but it fits the bill

I have a finish.... Got My Scrappy Churn Dash all Quilted, and ready to go to my QOV sew day and get its binding ;-)

This finish was a part of the My Favorite Quilt Block Hop ( organized by Creatin in the Sticks)

If you remember...my Quilt holders have abandoned me ( mostly) - so I thought - I will use a gate!

and then the wind came up and it laughed at me!! - So I sorta got it stuck against a gate...

And then I tried again - and it just kept falling and the left side kept blowing up - But I like the color with the sun shining ( see there is always a positive!)

Just so you can see where I was.... ha ha

And then! I walked up to the house and there was a flat space with out any animals or *farm stuff* piled on it... that might be because I made a list for Fall Cleanup - AND ! my List actually got read!

It's a little crazy so I converted it to black and white - just to see if the camera really thought my interpretations of Dark and Lights were the same....

So!! Let's Brag about your Finishes or Not Finishes....
It's supposed to Snow Sunday - so I need an excuse to pass chores off.... and get quilty!

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You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Also linking to:
https://confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/
TGIF Friday @ Quilting Gail
Beauty Pageant at Bolt to Beauty
Peacock Party and Wendsy Quilts and MOre
Friday Foto Fun

Quilts of Valor being awarded

I LOVE to Make Quilts of Valor - but I LOVE seeing them awarded even more!!!
I LOVE the stories that come out, the smiles that emerge, and the little ( or big) hug you get for thinking of them.....

So....
Here you go:

I love how the right quilts make their way to the Right Veterans

This one below - he was beyond happy with his 

He told us afterwards how they had just redecorated and this was the whole theme

( Diamonds and Patriotic)

This one was in the army and told be he bleeds army green

He quilt had Army Green as the background - 

Too cool!

This one was in Vietnam and he was super quiet about his service

After Receiving his quilt he came up and told me some crazy stories

He was stationed near the DMZ 

This one

Oh this one - what a sweet heart

He is a lot sicker than he looks, but he was just happy to be there.

he could not believe us quilters would make something so beautiful for him

The above photos were all one award ceremony

Below

Another group

I went to their meeting and they were Just Amazing!!

They were just so tickled to  be recognized for their service.

The one sorta Kneeling is a Marine ( on the right)

and when he learned I was a new Marine Mom - he gave me all sorts of tips!

It was cute

This group - What a group - I tell you each group has a different feel - but this one was true brotherhood - and not only Military but in  LIFE!   The 5 on the left and the one below - all went to the same high school .

 They all were in different Branches of the military during Vietnam - and they all went on Honor Flight together.  Isn't that cool - and the one on the far right? He is the younger brother of one of the *group* and he served during desert Storm ...

The man on the far left was the high school quarterback - and the man next to him was the center on their HS football team, and each one of them had the best stories - they were all such Great friends 

We didn't want the Ceremony to end - I loved them all.

So now... go sew 

Make a QOV - I know you want to!

Ha ha!