What Are Quilters Blogging About Today?

The lovely temperatures last week made quilting a joy with the windows open. A gentle breeze filtered through the open windows bringing fresh air in the basement. I was able to correct the tension issues, and quilting went fairly smoothly after that.

I worked on it off and on through the week. It was nice to advance to the bottom, knowing I was getting close to done.

The final rows of pantograph went quickly. This one is Fascination from Urban Elementz.

When the quilting was done, I removed it from the frame and trimmed it. The thread color did well ...

Sometimes our local chapter of Quilts of Valor receives a quilt from someone outside the organization that just doesn’t meet the standard for our veterans. This one was such a dilemma, as it had some gorgeous blocks, but it had significant issues. We loved the quilt idea, the workmanship of the embroidery and the effort of the quilter, but it couldn’t be awarded as it was. Our veterans deserve only our very best.

The embroidery was beautiful, just look at the eagle block. But it has significant excess fabric around the motif, and no quilting.

The pretty dove ...

Download these Red White and Blue free quilt patterns now and make projects that will be loved for years to come!

Anthem Quilt 2

I am loving the fabrics in the Anthem collection by Blank Quilting! Think of all the projects you can make with them, from quilts to clothes and accessories for the home. I tried to capture all their glory in two designs which you can download now and get ready as the fabrics will be shipping to stores in a couple of weeks. Yeah!

Quilt 2 above showcases the fabrics in easy heart blocks with a mix ...

While most Quilts of Valor recipients prefer a patriotic theme color scheme, there are some that would rather have one that is more suited to their decor. Some also have issues with post traumatic stress where a patriotic theme would be too painful to see everyday. With that in mind, we like to have a few Quilts of Valor in the closet to award that are more everyday in colors. This particular quilt top was made by a lady in Oklahoma, specifically for a veteran who lives here. The top is all batik fabrics. The backing is a thin polyester ...

A lovely Quilt of Valor was given to me to quilt, and I finished the work on it over the weekend. The design is simple, basically a churn dash with a star center. For each block, you’d make four flying geese units, then place them with some half square triangles, additional bars, and a solid center square. Then the quilt top was sashed to bring it up to the minimum size for a Quilt of Valor.

The backing was a wide back, my favorite to use, but there was a minor problem. The corners were clipped, presumably to keep ...

Our local Quilts of Valor chapter has been quieter than usual this past year. There have only been a few presentations in private ceremonies, and a couple of outdoor ones for just three or four veterans. Because the group was unable to do the large ceremony for military nurses we planned for last November, we have a bit of a stockpile of quilts. So it has been a while since I was asked to do one. When I got this one, I was delighted to be able to contribute again. This was pieced by a friend, and she does nice ...

She bought the pattern so her Northwest Quilters Quilts of Valor volunteer group could make it.  

Actually, 91 year old Joy Nichols pieced the quilt, and Jane Ratcliff longarm quilted the quilt.

I adore their red, white and blue version and I am so, so honored they chose my Plantation Stars pattern to give to a ...

When you give a quilt, you’re giving so much more than a simple present. A quilt is a gift of time, a gift of patience, a gift straight from the heart with love in every stitch! There are so many wonderful charitable organizations that welcome handmade quilts with open arms. If you’re looking for an opportunity to give love, we’re here to help you find a place to send your beautiful quilts, fabric, supplies, and donations. Thank you so much for everything you do! Together we can change the world one stitch at a time.

How We ...

This Quilt of Valor was brought to me for quilting, and it is a wonderful study in design.  Often, our local chapter of Quilts of Valor receives boxes of fabric scraps and orphan blocks.  The supplies moved from one storage space to another, and the group had just found a nice space for monthly quilting time at Beginnings when lockdown happened.  Our leader, Didi Salvatierra, was going through some of the bounty, and found a wonderful patriotic embroidered block.  She decided to use it in a quilt, along with some pinwheels she found.  Note that the pinwheels are two different ...

We are not yet back to doing Quilt of Valor presentations, but the construction of quilts goes on.  At some point, we’ll need a closet full to cover the backlog of veterans in line for a Quilt of Valor.  So, we continue to sew, piece and quilt, in i-sew-lation.  This one was pieced by Didi Salvatierra.

Joyful news, the borders are straight.

So, I began with stitching the edge down.

I used white Signature thread on top and bobbin this time, all cotton with a matte finish.

The pantograph is Pipeline by Urban Elementz, a medium density.

The white ...

This quilt came off the longarm about a week ago.  It is a Quilt of Valor, and was a bit more of a challenge at the beginning, as the backing had several problems.

This is what I call Frankenbacking.  There are four vertical seams and two horizontal ones.  The friend that gave it to me to quilt was so proud of herself, telling me she left the selvedge edges on for me to load it, and that she was able to use a pretty piece of floral fabric.  I was not expecting this though.  First, the print is directional.  Normally ...

On our recent retreat at Febuary Hill, one of the days was spent working on another Quilt of Valor.  I had enough stars left from you, dear readers, to do another To The Nines pattern.  All I needed to do was to make some nine-patches.  I had cut squares and brought them with me, this time using the same light print in the center.  I used the web method to speed piece the blocks.

I put the stars on the design wall and began filling in the nine-patches, when one of my friends said something didn’t look quite right ...

Our sewing day for Quilts of Valor was a fun day of hard work by a small group of very motivated sewing enthusiasts.  We set up the night before, with the door prizes displayed, refreshment table set with nice decorations, patriotic quilts on the walls, wool batting sample gifts for participants set out, and information on our local Quilts of Valor group in case new friends wished to join.  I want to thank my wonderful husband for all his help.  He carried the heavy stuff, helped volunteers with their things, kept us on track with the hourly door prizes, took ...

Checking the mail this week has been fun, with wonderful blocks arriving for the National Sew Day.  Tomorrow, From My Carolina Home is hosting a Quilts of Valor Sew-In at Beginnings Quilt Shop in Hendersonville, NC, an all day event to make blocks and tops for Quilts of Valor.  We’ll have refreshments, and hourly door prizes!  Plus Beginnings will open early at 9 am, and have a special sale that day too.  If you are local, come in to see!!

So far, 42 blocks arrived from our star block drive, thank you so much!!  If yours isn’t shown ...

The Quilts of Valor Live Blog Event is in just over a week!! I hope that there are some blocks going in the mail today!  But if you are almost done and need to mail Monday, that is fine.  If you do not sew, you can still participate, just make a donation to your local QOV group to help them buy batting and backing fabrics.

As long as I have the blocks by next Friday, I can use them for the event.   I am hoping to have several dozen star blocks to pair with the nine-patch blocks we will make ...

Whether you are a quilter, sewist, home cook or amateur gardener, do you like taking classes?  I certainly do!  I always learn something new, and I get to have a whole day of sewing with friends, and meeting new friends.  Even better when it is taught by friends!  This quilting class was actually a bit extraordinary as I came away with a good tip I want to share, and three tools I know I can no longer do without.  Links are provided if you cannot find these at your local quilt shop.

Here is the first tip, and somewhat of ...

Save the date, Saturday February 1, for a first time LIVE blog event, with lots of ways for you to participate whether you are local to Western NC or live elsewhere.  From My Carolina Home is hosting a Quilts of Valor Sew-In at Beginnings Quilt Shop in Hendersonville, NC, an all day event to make blocks and tops for Quilts of Valor.  We’ll have refreshments, and hourly door prizes!  Plus Beginnings will open early at 9 am, and have a special sale that day too.  You have to come in to see!!

For locals, and those within driving distance ...