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Yesterday, we awoke to a surprise as it had snowed overnight. I knew it was predicted for the higher mountains to the north, and saw a few tiny drifting flakes on Sunday night, but it didn’t seem like we would get much. Opening the curtain on Monday morning just after dawn was a beautiful sight.

When the ground is white, and the leaves are off the trees, it is easier to see the land. This is out our back door looking west. The drop off isn’t that far outside the fence that goes down to a stream in ...

Every day this week has been filled with activity, but I was still able to make good progress on the Quilt of Valor for the June ceremony. When we left off, I had it on the quilt frame with the same pantograph and thread as the previous one. The pantograph is Blue Star from Urban Elementz and the thread is light blue Glide and Bottom Line.

I made good progress on it but I didn’t finish it. I had to stop on Wednesday and begin packing for the meeting and the two day class.

We had a supply list ...

Last week, I finished the first Quilt of Valor. It took just two days to get it quilted with the star and swirl pantograph called Blue Star. I removed it from the longarm and spread it out on the floor to check the stitching and take a photo.

Next was to trim it, and make the binding. I put this on by machine this time, as time is of the essence right now. I sew the binding to the back, then fold to the front and topstitch.

I used the same light blue background star print as the print sections ...

Another cold weekend, with a lot of wind blowing down branches caused power outages yesterday. Luckily, we were not affected. The snow melted away, and it is now just bitterly cold. But this won’t last, it is doing to warm up to the 60sF this coming week. More gorgeous sunrises this past week brought color to the dawn over the mountains to the east.

I didn’t have a lot of time to take more photos of the birds that I know you all love to see. Here’s one I didn’t show from before the snow melted ...

The first Saturday of February is the Quilts of Valor (QOV) Foundation’s National Sew Day, and this year, we’re joining in on this special day of sewing, connection, and gratitude by making a few of the 2026 Block of the Year, Echoes. Keep reading to learn more about this year’s block, the National Block Drive, and some of the National Sew Day 2026 fun you can expect when you register to participate!

Echoes – 2026 Block of the Year

The 2026 Block of the Year, Echoes, was designed and written by Nancy Cann and finishes at 10″ square ...

Once again this year, I am coordinating a Quilt of Valor ceremony for six veterans in our car club. It is only fair that I help make the quilts so I have offered to longarm two or three. I thought it would be nice to make one myself, so pulled out my stash of patriotic fabrics to make some stars.

I used the Chain Piecing Half Square Triangles method shown on that post to make a bunch of HSTs.

I used a 6-1/2-inch square for the center of the star.

Later that day, I had 6 stars done. My ...

Time for a Sunday Chat, so get a cuppa and settle in for a long and picture heavy post. I have so many things to share today as these past couple of weeks have been busy! The bird feeder has been very active lately with really cold nights. My Sweet Babboo has kept the birds happy with the premium sunflower hearts again, after they rejected the other seed he bought. The suet cake is being consumed at a rapid rate and we have to put out new ones regularly, so much so that I ran out of ingredients to make ...

For many Christmas’s, my five siblings, and I, rotated through our names and each made a hand crafted gift for another. I almost always make a quilt. I had previously made three (sadly no photo of the first…) for this … Continue reading →

Last week, during Virtual Retreat Holiday Edition, I worked on the Quilt of Valor top. I needed to get this done so I could move on to the quilting. When we left off, I had the basic idea for the design, fabric choices made and most of the stripe blocks made.

I made the rest of the stripe blocks, then sewed together the ones that would be placed below the panel. I needed to sew a border onto the panel to make it large enough for the blocks below to fit. Then I added the blocks to the left side ...

Lots of piddling around was done yesterday, starting with this ornament that I began at the November guild meeting workshop, and didn’t finish. These are easier than they look. Our presenter had done the fabric fusing for us, and cut the basic square shapes. All we had to do was the folding, cutting and gluing.

Next was to glue the pieced together at the sides, making sure all the bits were facing the same way to make the colors alternate.

Pull the bottoms together and begin gluing them. I found gluing half at a time worked well.

Then, glue ...

Last week I needed to get busy on two Quilts of Valor. This one was loaded onto the longarm, but I didn’t get it done until midweek. I really like the way the piecer, Judy, did the borders around the panel, with pinwheel blocks and small eagles creating a frame.

I quilted it with my favorite pantograph for QOVs, a star and swirl design called Blue Star from Urban Elementz.

I chose a light blue Glide thread for the top, and a matching color Bottom Line in the bobbin. I thought the pale blue would blend well on the ...

Saturday, the Fiber Fair was held at Beginnings Quilt Shop and we set up a large booth space with quilts, quilted table toppers and runners, embroidered towels, and small items. The spectacular quilt from Pam B was on display with a placard stating that proceeds would be sent to Interfaith Assistance Ministry. Unfortunately, it did not sell. So, I am in the process of identifying a way to get it sold or raffled for the benefit of hurricane victims.

I sold a few things, but the wine inspired runners and placemats are all still available. If you are interested let ...

A busy week is behind me, with three full days of retreat then a lunch meeting on Friday that was more fun than work. I also had displays to set up at the library Friday morning, so I had to just drop things in the sewing room and put off cleaning it up until Saturday. I’ll talk about retreat this week, after I get all those photos processed and have time to write about it. But for today, as always, we have a variety of subjects to chat about. So get your cuppa, and settle in.

As I was ...

There are two veterans in our club and I'm going to propose a QOV award for them. 

When we left off the Quilt of Valor, I was about halfway finished. Continuing on, I finished the white in the flag, quilting wavy lines like a waving flag. Then I changed the thread color to red, and quilted the red stripes in the same way.

Advancing the quilt down, I outlined the lower wide stripes, and began quilting feathers going up in the red.

Moving the quilt down again, I did the red stripes along the bottom. Note that there are seams in the colors, but I ignored those and treated the stripe as one unit.

I rolled the ...

This quilt is for a special friend, a really interesting guy. When his wife told me she was making it, I actually begged her to let me quilt it. I said I would do a nice stars and loop pantograph on it, one I use for most Quilts of Valor that I quilt. When she let me have it, I was excited to be a part of this tribute.

The pattern she used is by Needle in a Haystack called Stars and Stripes.

I loaded the quilt, and began auditioning thread colors.

But the more I looked at it, I ...

It has been such an interesting week for projects, with a lot of things in the works. I’ve been working on a Quilt of Valor on the frame, my Japanese art quilt in my chair doing handwork, and crafting in between. We’ve had wildlife visits, too. I’ve been cooking up a storm testing recipes for the upcoming Mountain State Fair, so My Sweet Babboo has been eating pretty well. The highlight of the week was a visit by a pretty female hummingbird, perhaps the mate of the male I was able to photograph recently. It was a ...

Are you looking for a free pattern for Quilts of Valor? Download one for a panel quilt and one for a bench pillow!

Fired Up! Quilt 1

Hi, there! I went to Brazil to visit my family and returned to a pile of work! Now that I dug myself out from under that pile, I have a bunch of free patterns to post here and decided that the ones I designed for Fired Up!, a collection by Blank Quilting, will be featured first. The collection is already in stores, so get the fabrics and start sewing.

Quilt 1 measures 44 ...