A Box Full of Quilts...With Pictures

I turned in the 15 Honor Flight quilts today. Here they are loaded in my car.

Here they are sitting on my table waiting to be boxed up.

It's hard to believe that these are done and delivered. I started pulling fabric for these quilts at the end of May and began sewing them during the annual sister's weekend the second week of June. I had fun piecing some scrappy blocks and having my sisters and a couple of nieces help lay them out to get the "perfect" look. I was anxious to see how the log cabin quilt was going to look because when Barb left the weekend, she had made only a handful of blocks and took home LOTS of skinny strips of fabric. (I knew it would look great, but I was impatient to see the finished top.) 

Although I'm really excited about who these are going to, I'm also a bit sad. As I was working on these I felt very close to my dad, my mom, and all my brothers and sisters. These 15 quilts were finished in a pretty short time frame (about 2 months), but it sure did feel like I relived a lifetime while making them.

I remembered the trip a bunch of us took to Baton Rouge to see the USS Kidd (a sister ship to the USS Ingersoll on which Dad served). Dad was our guide as we toured the ship that very hot July day. He recounted his experiences in the radio room and I can still see him sitting at the desk showing the grandkids how he copied code for hours at a time. Of course I also remember him telling stories about all the places on the ship that he found to sneak a few winks. But I think my favorite memory of that tour was when Dad had the grandkids lying on the beds and he was telling them stories. It was magical listening to him and watching them! 

While sewing these, I remember the year Mom made all of us outfits using the same bolt of fabric. The twelve of us looked alike in our matching shirts, shorts, skirts, etc. As an adult, I feel like perhaps the producers of the movie The Sound of Music saw a picture of us and decided to incorporate that into their story line. (Do you remember when Maria made the kids play clothes out of her drapes? Maybe the producers combine our picture with the famous curtain scene from Gone With the Wind. Who know, it could have happened that way.) 

Anyway, so many memories came back while I was working on these. I miss Dad and I miss John; but it was wonderful to relive some wonderful times and to feel them so close to me as I worked. Now that these all done and delivered I think I should start thinking about making more quilts for future flights - but probably not so many. :-) By the way, as I was working on these, I realized how much I love the Sweet Liberty fabric by Pat Sloan. All but one of these quilts has some of that fabric in them, either in the top or as the backing. Also, these were all quilted using Superior Thread's King Tut #919 - Freedom.  I love the continuity...

Here are the quilts, in no particular order. I know there are a lot of them, but I think it's worth a look and I hope you enjoy them.