Newest Quilt Of Valor

Two more quilt tops came my way from Bernina Connection for Quilts Of Valor, QOVF.org.

Here's the first of those quilted with freehand peacock feathers.

I really like this scrappy traditional quilt.

The backing below, where you can see the quilting much better.

Hoping to get the second one on tonight, just taking a wee break from baby quilts, LOL.

Wounded Warrior Quilts

When I went to the Post Office today I sent off some more QOV's.

Here are two of them with their presentation cases. They both got a flag pantograph, you know how I feel about pantos but I find them very useful and appropriate for some of the QOV's.

The first was pieced by an 85 year old lady in CO. I was really moved by her contribution and I sent her a nice letter with a picture of the finished quilt, she chose great patriotic fabrics and did a very nice job of the piecing.

The second is a PIG that flew to me from Elizabeth in TX- it was a BOM from her QS that she had never finished and it makes a terrific quilt for a soldier, thanks Liz!

I like to make the presentation cases, it's a good opportunity to use up half yard pieces, FQ's and other odd bits and pieces from my stash that go together.

This evening [after dinner at the new Vietnamese restaurant up the road] I finished putting the borders on that strip stash quilt-the sample from the magazine has an additional un-pieced border but I think I have decided to just quilt mine as is, it's already a good lap size probably for a QOV.

Do you think it needs something to set it off? Maybe I could just put a wide binding, red? I looked through my stash but couldn't see anything I thought suitable for a border and in the photo it looks as if there's a lot of pink but in fact there is a pretty good mix of every color under the sun!

Or how about a two inch pieced strip on the outside similar to the narrow stop border between the large blocks of the quilt and the pieced border? Hmmm that sounds worth a try and it will use up a few more scraps! This quilt cleaned out my 2" scrap basket and I am now working on the 2.5" bin that I'll also use for binding. Using my scrap strips will be one of my focuses for 2010 along with working on my collection of kits.

Tomorrow is the 43rd. birthday of DS #1 and he and DIL are coming after work, I promised roast lamb dinner and tiramisu for dessert so there will probably not be a whole lot of sewing though I really want to get back to my two WIP's before the weekend when the cookie baking has to begin!

QOV#1

I have two QOV tops here to quilt before I head off to CO. Friday. I finished number one this evening & pinned on number two & got about one third done when the bobbin ran out so I decided it was time to call it a night. After all it was well after 11 p.m. time to pack it in, right, even for a night owl like me!


My QOV partner in CA, Meredith, is a batik afficiando so most of the tops she sends me to quilt are batiks & this one is no exception but I think she did an exceptional job of design, fussy cutting each of the "compasses". It's very graphic & I think some wounded warrior will love it. I used a light aqua thread & quilted freehand echoed swirls.

Here is the back, it's really a much prettier, brighter aqua- blue but I didn't use the flash [so the quilting would show up] perhaps that's why it looks kind of faded.
Tomorrow, QOV#2!
P.S. Anyone know if ants will mess up a laptop? I have a plague of tiny ants on my desk! DH does too...... I am using those traps that supposedly destroy the whole colony but so far the ants are winning the war, persistent little buggers!

Five more QOV's

A busy week- hmmmm, what am I saying, they all are, but this week I focused on the final details of the last five from the current batch of QOV's I had completed. Two of these are my OC mystery quilts - I think pictures have already been posted as I quilted each of them.
It's a strange phenomenon, the last bits & pieces are always the hardest but now the quilts are all packed up & will be in the mail tomorrow to the Veteran's Hospital in LA. They get a lot of the wounded Marines so they always need more quilts & I am ever so pleased to be able to contribute, I wish I could make one for every single wounded hero.
I struggle with the labels, it's a bit tedious making them on my DSM & when I mentioned this on one of my Yahoo quilt groups one of the other members contacted me to offer her expertise so I am very blessed to have them made for me in the future. The labels may seem like a small detail but it's one that really bugs me!
I launder them in a non- fragranced "green" product and make a "presentation case" for each quilt, just a simple bag to keep them clean so they go to the hospital as uncontaminated as possible.