Sew Day for Kennel Quilts

Despite being a small group, happy to report a total of 84 kennel quilts were completed at the Pawmetto Lifeline Sew Day.

They provided us with a great classroom, excellent lighting and space.  We even had some dogs and cats serenade us with woofs and meows.

The Heart & Quilts of Valor

Wrapping a Veteran in a Quilt of Valor touches the heart; not only of the recipient but the presenter and those involved in the piecing, quilting and binding of the quilt.

My doorbell rang early this morning with a delivery from Simplicity Floral of the most beautiful and fragrant flower arrangement I have ever received.

The flowers are a thank you from the recipient of one of the Quilts of Valor I pieced and bound.  (Quilted by Donna Royson)  The flowers included a card that expressed how much this quilt means to the recipient.  Another teary-eyed moment.

I am fortunate that South Carolina has an active QOV Program and I am able to participate.

Done

Except for pressing, the scrappy medallion Quilt of Valor is finished.  It turned out much nicer than I imagined.

This is why you have to go to the Quilt of Valor sew days at Pieces & Patches in Lexington, SC.

My “finished” quilt was smaller with two borders.  Nicki (Nicholl) Ransom and Barbara Webster suggested adding one more row to the top, bottom and sides using background fabric to frame the design.  Thank you ladies for the wonderful suggestion!

On to the next scrappy quilt.

Pillow Panel Quilt of Valor

If you have shopped at the Foust warehouse sale, you have come home with an appreciation gift.

Several sales ago they gave out these patriotic pillow panels.

My gift sat in a QOV stuff Rubbermaid tote for a while.  Just as I thought who I might give them to, that individual gave me a gift of the pillow panels she received.  They were multiplying and I just didn’t know what to do with them.

The QOV Foundation tells you to keep the quilts neutral, unless you know specifically who it will go to.

I mentioned the challenge these pillow panels presented at a QOV Sew Day.  It was suggested I cut them in half and border them with strings.  That’s another reason these QOV Sew Days are so valuable.

I do know who this quilt is for.  And I know they will appreciate Psalm 4:8 as part of their quilt.  The recipient is over 6′ tall, so I’ve made this one pretty large to accommodate his stature.

Time To Make More Blocks

Making progress on the scrappy medallion Quilt of Valor.  But, I need more blocks.

A quilter always has an opinion, sometimes more than one.  I’m looking for feedback.  Even if you aren’t a quilter – is it a waste of time to make more blocks?

Time To ?

The closing comment on every episode of Flip or Flop is “Time to find another house to flip.”

Translated in to quilter language, it becomes “Time to make another block.”

It’s hot outside.  Uncomfortably hot.  And truth be told, I would rather be sewing than working in the yard.

I’m playing with scraps of patriotic colors.  Some are from Quilts of Valor I have pieced and some were passed on by other quilters.

Not exactly sure what I’m doing; this one is in the “design” stage.  What do you think of a scrappy medallion Quilt of Valor?  Is it too early in the design stage to form an opinion?

Either way, it is time to make another block or 2 or 3 or 4.

More Quilts of Valor

This is one of the four quilts I plan to present in July.  The words are quilted in the light fabric in this Rail Fence.

Four Veterans, who live in different states, are scheduled to attend a function at Fort Jackson next month.  Not so unusual.  Except they were all MPs and served together when on active duty.  That’s all I know.

The other three are in various stages of completion; I’ll post those as they are finished.

Pieced by me; quilted by Donna Royson.

A New Acquisition

The latest acquisition is home and ready to join her Featherweight sisters.  We have one manufactured the same year I was born; white (celery green); a 222 free arm; 1936 and a 1950 I purchased on eBay for a steal (it was listed in crafts which I would consider the wrong category) and now beige.  The family is complete.

This is one of the reasons I went to Aiken, SC/Martinez, GA yesterday in that horrific rain.  The previous owner, Mary Colley, attended my April Scrap Busting String Quilt class in Athens, GA.  I admired her machine and told her of my unsuccessful search for beige.  Be still my heart, when Mary said she was thinking of selling it.  We talked, agreed on a price, a date and location to meet.

Featherweight Poppy, John Bryant, is always on the lookout for Featherweights but in the past few years has only seen beige in very bad condition or overpriced.  I saw Joyce Greer walk away with one tucked under her arm, two, maybe three  few years ago, when John was a vendor at the Quilting Expo in Columbia, SC.  That is the last one he has had for sale.

There is nothing like sewing on a Featherweight.  These little workhorses just keep on keeping on.  Brush out the lint and a drop of oil every other bobbin, and they will be around another hundred years.  The 2016 Quilting Expo will be at Jamil Temple on July 22nd and 23rd and John will be a vendor.  Even if you only want to ooh and aah at the machines he will have for sale, stop by and talk Featherweight to him.

Exotic Flowers in my Garden

I spotted red this morning as I loaded my sewing machine in the car.  Grabbed my basket and headed to the garden.  Perfectly ripe, the tomatoes fell right off the vine into my hand.  Then the irrigation system changed zones and I had to make a decision.  Stay and get soaking wet or come back later.  Gary tried a few cherry tomatoes and rated them “Very sweet.”

Distracted by another red, I had to get pictures of this beautiful canna.

The Cleopatra Canna.  “There are many exotic cannas but this one is really high up on the list. Some of its flowers are yellow with red freckles and some are half speckled and half dark red. The bright green leaves will sometimes be half green and half purple. It can’t make up it’s mind what color it is. It’s wonderful.”

Diane Dell’Omo gave me my first plant.  She and husband Jack volunteered at Riverbanks Zoo & Garden.  Lucky me, when it was time for volunteers to divide these, Diane had more than she could use in her own yard.  Volunteers can take the excess plants home.

Over the years, these have grown and multiplied; they accept the heat, humidity and drought like conditions and remain picture perfect.  I’ve passed many along to friends and neighbors.  There is an unwritten rule in gardening.  If you receive a plant; you must pass along a plant.  You can’t kill these – but you can eat them.

I discovered this when the voles came.  They made a smorgasbord of anything and everything with a bulb/tuber.  Everything.  I quickly moved plants to containers.  This beauty survived.

Quilts and Cats

The annual North Springs Home and Garden Club Spring Social was held last night.  Everything was perfect.  The wind blowing over the lake made for a comfortable evening.  Lots of food and fellowship and even some dancing!

We were fortunate to have Donna and Lee Royson join us.  Donna is our angel, quilting the Quilts of Valor the Garden Club presents to veterans in our neighborhood.  Donna and Co-President Julia Tansey wrapped Phil Latham and Steve Coombs in their quilts as part of the ceremony.  Even in the heat, neither Phil nor Steve were in a hurry to put their quilt down.

On to cats.  A few days ago my friend Beth Karr gave me a pattern for a pop-up pet tent she purchased but never got around to making.  Lucky for me, Bette (Midler) and Janis (Joplin), her two Maine Coon babies would never fit in the tent.

This morning I pulled some cat fabric out of my stash, started cutting and sewing.  Ta-Da!  My cat tent is finished and Catmandu claimed it within minutes.