PILLOWCASES

Sharon and I spent the afternoon finishing up another sewing project.  We serged 84 pillowcases.  Jacquie had sewn the body and cuff together on 50, but we put together the others and then pressed and serged away the afternoon.  Hopefully tomorrow, my other good friend, Dar, and I will get all the cases turned and and tucked ready for use.  22 of the pillowcases will be used on the Quilts of Valor/Heart Strings quilts that I will be delivering at the start of July. 

Many hands make light work!  Thanks to my dear friends for helping complete another task before the move.

Fun Surprise



One of us is always a "goof", but we love him.


Our friends have been our friends since before we started our Navy travels, They are another reason for us wanting to move back home to South Dakota after our year in Vermont.  Tonight, we gave them the quilt that was made by my FIL, husband and myself.  They were very surprised!

Guild Happenings

Went to guild for the last time.  We had a final UFO activity where 37 members had signed up committing themselves to finish just one project to share tonight.  Many members got up saying that I had inspired them to do at least one project.  A few made me choke up because they said they did it because they wanted to honor our friendship.  What an amazing feeling to have!  I had my top done, but I was relegated to the "Hall of Shame" along with about 10 others who did not finish.  Of course, my excuse seems valid enough ---- I was quilting up lots of the Heart Strings quilts so that I could pass them on for binding.  (The group still heckled but it was all in fun.) 

I had a car full of quilts and items to distribute during the meeting.  I delivered 10 finished quilts, 5 quilted but not bound quilts, and 4 tops with backs and bindings.  I brought home lots of Quilts of Valor but have not counted them up yet.  All in all it was a win-win night for me.

My friend, Sharon, presented me with a purse she had made to honor the memories of all the Heart Strings and the cutting of strings.  One side is made up of squares of patriotic fabrics.  She did a great job of honoring my life as a Navy wife, as well.   The other side is representative of all the kid fabrics. (Is there a message in that about never growing up?)  It is so cool!  I know there is a pattern for this, but I do not know the name.

Show and Tell

Damask Rose quilt by Pam and Lintott enlarged 4 times the original.

 Mnay of you have seen different photos of the blocks going into this quilt.  The original pattern is called Damask Rose and came from the book Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott.  It was a lap quilt.  Enlarging it was one of those mathematical things.  The quilt is actually 4 x the size of the original.  I do not work in muted florals very often but really do like how it turned out.  The binding was not on this quilt when the photo were taken.  The binding is made up of all the fabrics.  Each piece is 12 inches long, so piecing the binding took more hours that I thought it would.  The person receiving this quilt is delighted with it and that is what counts most.

Kevin's design using embroidered blocks stitched by his dad.

This quilt is a project for Kevin, my father-in-law, and me.  Each of us did part of the quilt.  I still have to do the hand sewing on the binding, but that will wait for a couple of weeks.  The scrapiness comes from the fact that the blocks were all cut for other projects.  (Obviously Kevin and I did not count when we were cutting them.)

Now that Kevin is going to fine furniture building school later this summer, I don't think he will be making many more quilts, so this one is special.  Hope his long time friend loves it.

Thursday Efforts



Child's quilt



I actually quilted 3 quilts today.  The first was one of my Quilts of Valor.  The two small ones shown are going to be passed on for someone else to bind and then donate.  I mounted another child's quilt to be quilted tomorrow.   In the next few days (during the daytime) I will quilt several more quilts for children and several others that will be donated to a women's shelter.  Once all of these are quilted, they will be passed on to others to bind and donate.  The quilts tops were made earlier this year by my quilt guild during our Heart Strings sewing day. 

Child-sized wheelchair quilt

I also have 5 more Quilts of Valor to finish and maybe another one or two other Heart Strings, but I believe it can be done.  It is just a matter of sticking to the plan.

This evening, with Kevin's help, I trimmed the two large bed quilts I quilted earlier this week and set everything for binding.  Attaching the binding is my first task of the morning.  This my priority.  Never imagined how long it was going to take to make the pieced binding for the king-size quilt but I think it will have quite an impact on the quilt.  I will spend the next few evenings binding like a maniac.  Somewhere along the way, I am going to have to do some packing of my studio, but I am thinking that my daughter would LOVE to help me with this on Father's Day weekend.  (Hint, hint, hint, Jamie!)

Another Big Thank You

       I am continuing to collect Quilts of Valor for an upcoming Returning Warrior Workshop/Weekend.  The quilters from Fabric Town provided these.  There are 10 patriotic ones and 14 beautiful more feminine style quilts.  The generosity of so many quilters continues to amaze me.  Just wanted to share it with all of you.

Wednesday Efforts

This was Kevin's last day of leave so he spent most of the day sorting, cleaning, and packing his wood shop.  I spent most of it making binding and quilting a queen-size quilt, but also spent some time at the chapel like I do most Wednesdays..  We did manage to take a few 15 minute breaks together and had our meals together as always when he is home.  I finished off my quilting time by loading another Quilt of Valor to be quilted first thing in the morning.  I have another ready to be loaded after lunch so I am beginning to feel like I am whittling down the piles.  The June 17th deadline is fast approaching for packing up my longarm, I will have a few weeks with my Bernina for any other sewing. (I figured out that I can do the attaching and hand stitching of the bindings after all the tops are quilted.)

Just have to remember to take time to breathe.  Probably will go to the Y for swimming tomorrow.  I have not been for a while, and I know it is something that energizes me.

Quilted but needs binding, ETC, ETC

The very large queen, or is that a king, quilt that I have been working on has been quilted.  It felt like a monster as I loaded it.  It was the largest quilt I have ever quilted.  It was basically edge to edge on my table.  Now for the binding.  It will be started in the morning, but tonight we(both my husband and I) are putting together another large quilt and hopefully loading it on the machine.  The clock is ticking for putting away the machine for 14 months, so I will spend most of my daytime hours quilting and organizing what other things will go into storage.  Life is wonderful, but moving is always a challenge.  What do i need to finish before I pack up the things I want stored in a special unit, what should I take with me to Vermont, and finally what should I let the movers have for storage. This is the most unique move we have ever made.  Life is not dull!