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.

Scrap user quilts

At our sewing day at the library a guild member gave me a copy of a pattern. It uses 2 1/2 strips. You keep the center strip consistent through the quilt. I made this one quite quickly from all my bright strips. I used the leftovers for a piano key border. It was fun and easy. It will go to our local hospital to cheer up a child.

I can see more of these in my future.

Kids quilts from library sewing day.

Friends from my guild and I sew once a month at our local public library. I always have pre cut kits made up of children's quilt patterns. I had one half done one month an was able to finish it up. I also got another one just about done. Quilting these are a breeze on my Handiquilter. These will go to our local hospital.

Eagels from Julia

I got confused with what blocks I put on what panel...lol. This one used the Disappearing 9 patch from Debbie. This has another panel and more of the churn dash blocks. I am almost out of them. This one turned out quite big.

Blocks already made and panels make these quilts go quite quickly. I try to stay off the internet and not watch too much TV for more quilting time.

Statue Of Liberty

My friend Julia sent me a bunch of wonderful patriotic panels. Debbie sent me some BIG 9 patch which I cut apart into disappearing 9 patch. The Church Dash blocks are from our exchange. The little corner blocks are from Vicky. The borders and binding are from fabric from Meg and Char. The putting it all together into a quilt for our military was ME.

What a wonderful joint project. This will go to Afghanistan.

For Our Military

A group of friends did a block exchange using the church dash. I decided I would incorporate them into a Quilt Of Valor. I had them sign the center of each block. I found this wonderful panel in my local quilt shop and bought several. I have enough for a couple of these quilts.

Here is a little closer look.

Camp Quilt Completed

I took a string quilt class on Sunday at camp. I picked all bright strips to use for this quilt. It was VERY easy and fun to make. This will be donated to our local hospital for the children. The blocks were 6 1/2. I am currently working on another with brights. These blocks will be 8 1/2 and put into a different setting. I use phone book pages for the foundation.

I love the binding fabric and bought it at my local quilt shop on sale.

MAQ Quilt Camp

We have an annual wonderful Quilt Camp in Emmitsburg Pa at a lovely college campus. They have fabulous teachers, fun activities and all the food is provided. This means no cooking or dishes.....that is something I could never get tired of. Besides learning quilt lessons I discovered some wonderful things I can do with scraps and strips. I have a pretty good sized stash and try very hard not to buy new fabric. The one exception is patriotic for all my Quilts Of Valor. I go through alot of that so I am always on the look out for different designs. I usually buy just one yard.

Another very good benefit is seeing all the different ways to do the class from the other students. They choose different fabrics, maybe tweak something or use a different setting. Also we are free to visit all the other classes to see what they are doing. It can be VERY inspiring. I went up with a local friend and we had another guild member in our dorm room. I met up with a dear friend who I usually see only there. This is another benefit of camp. We do stay in touch through Facebook which I love. This is a picture of a quilt that I made from a class from last year. All the quilts in the room were from camp projects from previous years. This will be a donation quilt to either Hospice or the Veterans Hospital.