Ok, Maybe One or Two More?

I've enlarged each design 150% on my printed. It takes several repositions to get all the parts and then loads of cutting and taping things back together.

There are at least two Veterans at our Seniors Center who served in the Army and Air Force so I decided to make those two seals especially for them. I can easily quilt these on my Janome because they aren't going to be any bigger than 25 inches each.

After this I'm really finished.....no.....REALLY!!!

Below are some of the stages to making the seals. I'll show the finished quilts in a lager post.

 

 

 

I use dinner plates, pizza pans, skillets and anything else that will lend me a perfect circle. Mr. Cowboy just shakes his head but wisely says nothing.

I will stitch all the pieces down before quilting everything.
In a couple of previous posts, someone asked about the types of fabric adhesives I use. I love Steam-a-Seam Lite but it's sometimes hard to find so I'm using Heat-N-Bond Lite at the moment. When quilting everything together I use either the 505 Spray or Loctite Spray Adhesive (the Loctite is found at JoAnn's).

Another Veteran's Quilt Started

I'm thinking of making eagle blocks to go on each quilt because many aren't going to be red, white & blue themed. So I want something patriotic on each.

I found a clip art image to work with, enlarged it & traced the parts that I wanted to use onto Heat n Bond & pressed those into my fabric choices.

So far......

Got the eagle in position & added feather markings.

I've started making HST to highlite the eagle.

More progress to come soon!

I've Found My Mojo!

Many thanks to everyone who have given me pep talks. You all soothed my soul while also energizing me.

Here's why I'm so excited.

I have "many" quilt tops in my stash. I've been making quilt tops for years with no real idea of what to do with them. I've decided to.................shhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

give them away at our annual Veterans Day service at our Senior Citizens center.

All I need to do is get them all quilted.

This is the first quilt I've enlarged by adding a multi-square border.

I'll be showing other quilts as I get them ready to be quilted.

Again, thanks to all you helped me out!!

Monday, Monday

Judy at Patchworktimes, is a fantastic hostess. Each Monday she allows any quilter who wishes to participate, to show off his/her work or home projects. Sometimes I forget to just say thank you to her and that I really appreciate the space she allows us to share with one another.
Make sure you pop over so that you can see what others are up to on the wonderful Design Wall Monday!!

Another finish for me!!

I started this hand embroidery quilt when my mom had heart surgery about 2 years ago. The work kept me sane while she recovered after being released. That was a hair-raising experience but the doctors are excellent and she is now doing very well for the age of 80. 

Anyway, the other day I ran across the quilt top, decided to add a border and quilted it with black thread. I'll be donating it to my helping hands group next week. Maybe some child will become inspired and study Insects in Science or something.

And, hey, no teasing me about making this quilt when I'm so not into anything that flies, flutters, slithers, hops, crawls, meanders.......well you get the picture.....LOL!!

2013, What a Year!

What a wonderful year 2013 was.

I got into making mug rugs and could not stop myself. I loved making and giving them away.

I made a few quilt tops and actually machine quilted a couple.

This past Autumn, I was inspired by a little boy whose mom was worried about his inability to speak. One day, and I'm not sure about the entire thing, he heard Katy Perry's "Roar" on TV or radio and he began to listen and sing to it. Needless to say, his mom was over the moon about it.

I heard about this on TV and was overwhelmed and of course cried like a baby because I thought we don't know what can touch or help another person...and wasn't it great that a song could awaken a child and give a family hope.

I decided to put Katy's song to my 2013 slide show. I hope you enjoy the show.

Who knows what I'll get into in

2014!!

Hands2Help Next Step

Whew! I've finally managed to sandwich and machine quilt my two choices in this endeavor. Needless to say, I was terrified of messing thing up but I was encouraged to try.

Here are some of the steps I did to sandwich the quilt tops.

Measure out the backing and press it . I know it doesn't look pressed but it is.

Using "masking tape" tape the edges of your backing to whatever surface stretching it taunt as shown. 

Lay batting next. I tend not to tape the batting but I'm sure that some do.

Next I lay the quilt top on and using the large safety pins, pin all layers together before removing the tape and relocating the sandwich at my sew machine.

 

 

  I meandered each quilt and was fairly happy with the outcome.
Binding is next and then labeling.

The quilts are quilted and the binding is all done.

I went with a unique labeling. Since I'm donating to Hands2Help, I decided to make a hand for each quilt as labels.

 

 

 

QOV

I'm working on a Quilts of Valor  that Marjorie is hosting, and am making progress. There's a "GO" challenge but I'm just doing a quilt.

 Found this quick design "Crazy Nine Patch" .... love it because it's a quick, strip piecing type project.
My PFAFF was smoking through the 12 blocks.

 Each block finished at 19 inches..... I know that's a weird measurement but remember who you are dealing with...... LOL

Block sewn together.... looking pretty good to me

For some reason I decided to do piano keys... OMG, it's taking longer to make those than the whole quilt.... LOL
Please note: I used only fabrics from my stash!!

Quilted

This little quilt is all quilted and off to a Silent Auction for a Head Start program.  My "Wacky" pal, Kathleen did an excellent job quilting it.  The quilt measures roughly 30 by 42 inches. 

BTW, this was my celebration after the snake incident.......LOL