Quilt of Valor #62

Here is the last QOV top that I have that was made by Al Lind.

Sent to Afghanistan to the 932nd Forward Surgical Team

You can see another quilt made by Al Lind and learn about this American Hero in my previous post.

I almost always quilt multi-colored quilts in gold thread.

It plays nicely with any color of fabric and doesn't fight with the lights and darks. 

I just finished up a couple of presentation cases for the quilts.

If you have not learned the sausage method of making these pillow cases, all you have to do is Google it and you will have a ton of videos and demos. I made these 2 in about 30 minutes. 

I have requested a destination and will give you an update when I find out where these will be sent.

Quilt of Valor #61

Wow, it had been a long time since I have quilted a Quilt of Valor.  I have had this top made by Al Lind on my shelf for over a year.  Al was a WWII Veteran and POW.  He was a prolific piecer: having pieced over 500 quilts. When he passed away in 2010, at age 92, he left a legacy of over 80 tops yet to be quilted.

I have had the honor of quilting my 18th top of Al Lind's today: 

Sent to Afghanistan to the 932nd Forward Surgical Team

Each of his finished quilts are sent packaged with his 7 page story.  Here is a small excerpt from his story:

"Al Lind: Drafted in 1942, the work hardened farm boy from South Dakota had entered the army strong and fit at 160 pounds.  June 18th, 1945, he returned to American soil, a survivor of 23 months and 11 days as a POW--he was 80 pounds of rawboned courage. 

He married and returned to a life of farming. When he retired he was always looking for something to do. That’s how he began cutting cotton strips for his neighbor, a quilter. She told him about Quilts of Valor.  When Al found out more about the effort, he put hours in each day cutting fabric for others as well. Within a few weeks, he was taught to make foundation string pieced blocks with a borrowed sewing machine. He now has his own machine and makes 10-12 quilt tops a month.

For him, service to country is a lifelong commitment. His quilts now honor those who followed in his footsteps: the men and women of the United States Armed Forces who each day stand ready to risk lives to protect the freedoms all of us enjoy."

What a legacy this American Hero has left to so many other veterans.
I never got to meet him but did speak to him on the phone, of which I am thankful.

Check out his video: Al Lind

Sweet Applique is Done!

Isn't she a beauty?

My client really gave me a beautiful quilt top.

  Sugar Roses, designed by Susan Guzman for McCall's quilting magazine.

I just took it off the frame, spritzed any chalk and markings still showing and cleaned up stray threads.

It's all freehand and here are the tools I used:

Yup, this is it....

I before I put the quilt on the frame, I used my big bread bowl to mark an arc on the setting triangles, so all the feather plumes would be the same size.

I also divided the triangle in half so I would have a center registration mark for setting the curve in the identical place in each arc. Then, after looking at my rulers and stencils and not finding exactly what I wanted I used a scrap paper to create the curve I wanted.  Marked so I could line it up on each triangle.

Easy peasy. 

Now,  all 8 of the feather plumes are matching and all headed clockwise around the quilt center.

 My client send a wide backing fabric that is a pretty creamy off-white on white floral print.

I am thrilled with how this turned out and will send it to Arizona to it's owner tomorrow!

Sweet Applique' ...turning the quilt.

Almost done.  I just thought I would share a peek of the quilt as I took it off last night to turn it so I can quilt the other 2 borders.

 Tommorow, it will be done.  Monday, it will be all boxed up to send back to the owner!  I will post finished photos before I send.

Sweet Applique' #6

I quilted until I ran out of thread last night....took that as a sign to call it a day. I need to wind a few more bobbins this morning as I only have one spool of this color thread left (more ordered and on the way).

See all those empty pegs toward the bottom of my thread rack?  That's where all my neutrals are and they are thinning out fast.  Cotton threads on the top by Signature.  Polyester threads by Superior fill the bottom half.  Oh, and the very top row is there all my serger threads hang out.  I make all my hubby's flannel shirts with my serger.  I think that deserves it's own blog post someday.

120 spool thread rack hand made by my hubby.

I always order at least 2 cones of each color so I have one for the bobbin winder and one to leave on the machine.  I know, some of you are thinking why I don't get the prewound bobbins....because I like to match my threads for each quilt and it only takes a few minutes to wind a few bobbins.  While they are winding, I oil and clean my machine, rails, table and surrounding area.

Anyhow, on to the quilt at hand...

I finished  up the 2 matching blocks that flank the center medallion:

Center of the quilt

Now, I am quilting in the backfill on the feathers around all 8 of these gold colored setting triangles

....it's snowing again today...

Sweet Applique' #5

This morning was a finish for 2 blocks like this:

I always have to take a photo from the bottom to make sure I have not missed a line of stitching somewhere.

It's a lot easier to fix now than after the quilt is off the frame!  However, I have done that more than once.

Sweet Applique' #4

There are several different sets of blocks in the center of this quilt.  They are all in identical sets of 2.  Once I figured out what I was going to do in each block and did the first one, the second one was fast. I didn't have to waste any staring-at-the-quilt-and-doodling-on-paper time. 

So, for today, there are 2 of these done:

And 2 of these done:

I now have the whole quilt stabilized and can roll it back and forth to finish up all the background fills.

Next will be to finish up the bottom border and the top and bottom inner borders.

Then I plan to turn the quilt to do the side borders. 

Sweet Applique' #3

...center medallion is done....

Sweet Applique" #2

Top and bottom borders are done and center of quilt are all stabilized.  SID is all done.

Now for the fun part...

Working on the background fillers today.

New Socks!

Oh my gosh, I was excited to get today's mail and find this wonderful gift from my friend Nancy in Wyoming!
Besides making Quilts of Valor, she is a prolific knitter and makes little knitted blankets for babies in need.  I had commented on one of her blog posts showing several pair of knitted socks she had made.  I innocently mentioned that that is one thing I have never had nor made (I don't knit at all!).  Soon, she sent me an e-mail asking me what color and size....

Now, you have to know that Nancy and I have never met.  When I lived in Idaho, I quilted a few of her Quilts of Valor... ...and they are amazing by the way...

I helped her to learn how to bind her quilts.  

We have remained in touch and follow each other's blog. 

I am totally thrilled with my luscious purple socks!!  

 Thank you Nancy, from the bottom of my heart!

QOV Quilters!  They are the best people on the planet~

Sweet Applique'...

Here is a little peek at my customer quilt I am just starting to work on....

Lovely needle turn applique~

Stay tuned for more as I work on this beauty...

January Wall Hanging

Better late than never~  I just finished this today!

Button Up by "Joined at the Hip"

For those of you that have been following my Mom's monthly wall hangings, I finally have 11 of them done!

You can see them all in this album: Monthly Wall Hangings I didn't get December's done because of lots of extenuating circumstances at my house November and December. But there's always next year.... 

I dug some old mismatched buttons from my button box for his vest . . .

If you look closely, you can see the tiny snowflake/stars in the blue background meander. 

For the large snowflakes, I used 1/4 inch strips of wool and just stitched down the middle of the strips leaving the tips loose to all to the 3D effect. 

Yeah, I know, he is a bit hippy, but at least he's not going to fall over!

~Here's to a Great New Year~

Joyful Tossed Posies

What a joyful, sunny and fun quilt to have on my frame!

Just the kind of quilt for a cold, snowy January... 

There are some really cool retro fabrics in this quilt and a few blocks of chenille for fun texture.  I traced the the applique shapes and used the flowers in a few of the blocks:

I used this flower shape . . . 

. . . in a few of these blocks.

I quilted this large appliqued flower in all the other square blocks:

The big square chenille blocks have a pumpkin seed pattern, that way I could use a ruler to help hold the thick fabric in place to quilt. 

The blocks are all stitched in the ditch and the remaining have wavy lines to mimic the rick rack. 

Continuous line freehand leaves in the inner border.

I used So Fine "Celery" by Superior threads.  With a black backing and so many colors,  really blends well and is not a stark as white on the back.

What a fun assortment of textures, fabrics, colors and posies~