Quilt Of Valor--pattern by Mark Lipinsky

I watched the PBS special on TV and fell in love with the quilt Mark was making. The pattern appears in Fons and Porter magazine this month. I was going to figure out how to make it just by looking at it. I was really glad to have a pattern. I have plastic templates for the Drunkard Path from another quilt that I made. I sew them using 3 pins. I was a little bored using the same red as I usually make a much scrappier QOV. I do see more of these in my future as I really enjoyed the process. Next time I will experiment using lots of reds. I think the blue needs to be consistent though. Navy with white stars would be very pretty. I did find the fabric he used for the blue online. I seldom use what the pattern suggests but found the fabric on sale. I bought enough for 2. It is really a black background. I quilted swirls all over. I have a very simple machine and hate doing pantos. I decided on white thread as I thought any color in the white would detract from the quilt. It was a good decision. This will go to Afghanistan through Quilts Of Valor. I hope it lets the recipient know how much we care.

Show And Tell Bag

I saw this bag when I went to MAQ quilt camp this summer. I just had to make it. The directions are really good. There were still some difficult parts for me and I am not sure if I did the zipper packet right. But I made it work just fine. It will hold alot of quilts and has inside pockets. All fabric was from my ample stash.

It got pretty thick along the top with all the layers. I love the way these straps are made.

Missouri Star Tutorial Diamond Rail Fence

I love the Missouri Star Website. They have so many wonderful video tutorials on there. The latest one was a Diamond Rail Fence. I love adding diamonds to what can be a rather boring quilt. I quilted stars in the center of the larger diamonds. Next time I will not add the smaller ones. They are fiddly to put on. I also will trim the blocks a bit to get them to a perfect exact size. I cut lots more strips so I will be able to make another one without cutting too much more.

This quilt will be mailed off to our troops in Afghanistan through Quilts Of Valor.