Quilting In The BunkHouse

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Quilts of Valor

QUILTS OF VALOR ARE NOT CHARITY QUILTS.

"Just how much of an impact had the Quilts of Valor Foundation made? As of January 2014, there have been over 95,000 quilts awarded to service members/veterans. So, the answer to "Why Quilts of Valor?" is this: It is a wonderful form of National Service and anyone can to it! National Service starts at home. Make a Quilt of Valor!"

Here is a touching video about Quilts of Valor recipients: Here.

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Some photos of 60+ Quilts of Valor I have had the honor to quilt over the past few years:

Saturday, March 8, 2014

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.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

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

Sunday, March 2, 2014

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.