We have A Need For Another Quilt Of Valor

I received an email last week from a local lady asking if we could provide a QOV for a retired marine, Vietnam vet, who is fading in health. I do not have one on hand so I sent out a message to my MeetUp quilt group for help. Yesterday we met and made 13x 12" blocks with promises of at least another half dozen.

My plan is to have the rest of the blocks by our next meeting November 17, so I can quickly put it together, quilt and bind it for this ailing Marine.

Celeste with her blocks

Limbania with her contribution

BJ with hers

And here are mine.

I did not get a photo of Jen with hers but with this beautiful quilt that she painstakingly pieced, and I quilted. I think the pattern is Crystal Blue and is definitely a challenge even for an advanced quilter. I used a pantograph called Flower Burst because we wanted something a little bit contemporary to fit the quilt design.

 I think it was a good choice, quilting was not going to show up anyway and really did not need to try to steal the show from this stunning quilt.

 Last night I quickly quilted this baby quilt from my last retreat.

 I will bind it and set it aside for the next baby baptized at St.Mark.

 The hot air balloon panel made a good backing and the batting is Quilter's Dream Angel.

Back to "Normal"

My SIL returned to Australia on Thursday, though my brother is still here and preparing to drive a around the USA for the next month with a buddy. They leave next week.
I did get a quick pic of our guests with Matthew, they loved each other !

We all accompanied him to Trick or Treat, he was a vary scary vampire and again I do not have photos they are on Gill's camera!
The "normal" part is being able to squeeze in a little time to quilt and sew. The Christmas panel is ready to be returned to the owner in CA, who has the LED lights for it so she needed a thin but firm batting and I used Dream green, made from recycled soda bottles.

Freehand meander in the background and some outlining and Christmas lights on the tree.

I used Superior silver metallic thread that sews very dependably and does not shread and break

Visit from Aussie Relatives

My brother and SIL arrived 15th. November for a visit and wow has the time flown this past two weeks. We have been busy though, a first birthday party for great granddaughter paisley

and a baby shower for expected great grandson Sterling due December 25th.

 Sterling's parents love the quilt!

 Paisley enjoyed her brother's party too!

Gill wanted to visit Sedona after my brother had shown her his photos from his last trip

 This was at the chapel in the Red Rocks

A lookout near Sedona on our way to Williams, an historic town on Route 66 AZ.

 We spent the night in Williams, before heading out to the Grand Canyon.

All the pics from the Canyon are on someone else's camera so I haven't any!

But Gill loved it and enjoyed the helicopter ride over the canyon

Lunch at El Capitan

View from our rooms

 and sunset from our hotel on the beach

After a spot of shopping, cocktails and dinner at the Boo Bar

 The boys watched the football

Lunch at the Friendly Dolphin.

The decor is fascinating, so much to see.

 I had to have a photo of my brother and me, we do not have too many opportunities living 8,000 miles apart!

Lakeside Retreat Update

In the beautiful cool mountains of Arizona, my second retreat this year and oh my so productive! I do not go on a quilt retreat to relax but to cram in as much sewing time as possible and six projects is great progress and I did not even have to stay up all night to get them done.
Number one, an eye catching pattern for a large wall hanging or a modern baby quilt. It needs a good pressing before I quilt it. I modified the design a bit which required some rearranging of a few blocks

 The large work room we share.

Our wonderful hostess and chef in her kitchen

 Projects two and three, from donated 2.5" batik strips, perfect size for baby quilts.

Number four, made from leftover 6.5" half square triangles and fabrics from two other projects, another perfect size for a baby quilt. Another quilter allowed me to try out her "Block Loc" ruler to trim these HST's and wow, what a great tool. 

A bit pricey, but I had a 30% off coupon, that helps!

There is a channel/gutter across the back of the ruler that catches the seam on the HST and allows perfectly accurate cutting I loved it so much I had to buy! It comes in several sizes up to 8.5" I think. A great timesaver when you have a lot to trim.

 Number five is a birthday gift for my brother, who loves driving around the USA on his visits here from Australia. He also collects number plates, makes it a perfect gift. He and my SIL will arrive Monday for another visit and he has a birthday next month.

 hard to see the quilting since I used black thread but I simply outlined the number plates and quilted a diamond cross hatch in the background.

 A swirl in the stop border and Greek key design in the final border complete the quilting.

This kit came from Amazing Quilts in Lakeside, it is their 2018 Row By Row block. I haven't participated in Row by Row for two years because I have over a dozen from 2015, completed and needing to be combined somehow! But this one can be a stand alone wall hanging, just too cute!

 Finally the bonus project, Susan showed me how she makes luggage tags and I made a few from a FQ, this will also be a gift.

We awoke Sunday morning to 36 degrees and huge snowflakes falling!

 Unfortunately my friend's car also had a flat battery which delayed us about 4 hours!

But the drive home was snow free, just intermittent rain.

                 

Last Three?

Bragging about something can cause one to eat one's words, as is the case with "being finished with baby quilts for the year"! After Bible study this morning I found out there is probably another baptism, previously unknown, next Sunday night after 5:30 pm. service. Since I am leaving on a four day quilt retreat tomorrow morning this babe will have to wait a week [or two] for his quilt.
Last night I completed the quilt for great grandson Sterling due Christmas Day, "The Whale Tale" quilt, and no, that is not a spelling error, the pattern is called Whale Tale.

In an attempt to portray true color I first draped it over DH's truck, but then I had him hold it up for a better view.

 In daylight these are more the true colors. Below is a pic taken indoors and even without flash there is one fabric that reads very pink

With or without flash it was the same thing, a very pink tint on one fabric. Odd isn't it?

 This was great fun to quilt, the clouds were easy and the whale tail is simply meander. In the ocean I used an inverted clam shell design and every other row reversed the clam and sewed over the previous stitching to create a design that looks like fish.The birds are SID outlined.

I forgot to embroider before I mounted the backing on the long-arm so I had to sew on a separate piece for the label.

A couple of months ago I ordered labels from Finerribbon.com < https://www.finerribbon.com >and I am very pleased to be able to add one to each of my quilts now. The back of the label lists care instructions.

 I had to piece the backing and thought there was sufficient of the lighter blue but once I had it pieced it was obvious it was a bit small for the long-arm and I found this long strip of ocean looking fabric in stash that was perfect to run down the center. QD Dream Angel batting and Auriful #50 weight light blue 100% cotton thread.

Just perfect for a boy whose Dad is in the Navy!

The next two are what I thought were the final two Baptismal quilts for 2018. They are almost identical to two others I made recently with a few fabric substitutions and different backings.

 To coordinate with the nautical stripe, a sailboat backing and red pin dot binding to set it all off.

Fun to quilt these modern designs alternating in each stripe.

 Below, another look alike from a recent quilt, 24.5" MSQC Crown blocks.

Fast and effective for small bits of fabric.

The backing from stash is feminine and coordinates nicely with the front