Memorial Day Quilts

In honor of Memorial Day and those who gave their lives for our freedom, I am reposting the quilts I made for the American Honor Challenge last year.  

(I will post some Design Wall Monday pictures later.) 

In Your Debt

There is no way for us to repay you for all you did and the sacrifices you made.

Thank you seems such a shallow thing to say, but since there are no other words, 

Thank you and know that I am forever in your debt.

  

Heart and Soul

You are the heart and soul of our nation. 

I will hold you in my heart forever and never forget your sacrifice.

Freedom Rings

Because of you, I have freedoms that are not enjoyed my many others. I know that freedom is not free and that you paid the ultimate price to ensure that freedom does ring for me.

Thank you Blank Quilting for sponsoring the American Honor Quilt Challenge and for continuing to offer wonderful patriotic quilting fabrics. 

Thank you Tana Mueller for designing such a wonderful fabric line. It continues to be my favorite to use for my 

Quilts of Valor and other patriotic quilts.  

Friday Works

I have done nothing to The Wave quilt.

You can read about this quilt HERE

I have made some progress on the Sundance quilt and will post a picture tomorrow or Sunday.

Hopefully by then I'll have The Wave completed as well as a couple other QOVs.

Two Quilts at the Same Time

I love it when I can be really productive!

I've finished the 80 blocks for the QOV project I started working on Sunday, and I've sewn them into rows. The rows are paired up and sewn, so I just have four more seams and this will be ready for quilting. Yay!!

I really like how this has turned out; and I am really happy to have been able to use a lot of scraps to make this quilt. The blocks finish 8" and the layout is 8 x 10, so they finished quilt will be 64" x 80". Perfect for a QOV!

I will make this quilt again, using strips and scraps as originally planned. Check out Monday's post HERE to see how the blocks will be pieced differently and the layout will change.  

I have to get my husband, the official "quilt namer" thinking about what to call this quilt. I have a few ideas, but he always comes up with some winners. 

While I was finishing up these blocks and sewing the rows, I was piecing some blocks for another Flying Horse Camp quilt. I love to chain piece when I can and it worked out perfectly to be sewing blocks into rows at the same time I was making new blocks.

I have six of the 30 blocks pieced for the next quilt! Yippee!

Check back tomorrow when I share details about the dinner I had Monday night with a couple of really fun people.

Design Wall Monday

I have been quite lazy with my blog postings lately so it's been quite a long time since I've posted for a Design Wall Monday. Really, I have been busy but the timing just hasn't been right to post something in progress on a Monday. 

Well, today is different and I have something on the wall on which I'm still working. I should be happy that I've been completing things and don't have them "in progress." Yep, that's the story I'm sticking with. :-)

Hopefully the next time you see this it will be a completed table runner. Done, done and done (pieced, quilted and bound)!

I like how this is turning out. The pattern calls for this to more scrappy but I wanted to use up the left over four red and blue fabrics from a previous project. As a matter of fact, the gold and white are left-overs as well and I'm hoping to have enough of scraps for the binding as well. I think I'll go for the gold and piece the backing totally from scraps; and I am positive that I have a big enough batting scrap to use too. :-)

What's on your design wall today?

Check out what other quilters are creating today.

Go to Judy L's Patchwork Times

and

Monday Making

Memorial Day and Patriotic Quilts

There are few words that can describe my gratitude for those who have served and currently serve in our military. 

Your selflessness astounds me!

And unfortunately, not all of the brave are "in" the military. I am in awe of your strength.

Thank you military families! 

Over the past few years, I have tried to give back as my way of saying "Thank you" in honor of those who have served our country, especially for those who lost their lives while protecting my freedom.  

I've made Honor Flight Quilts (click on the tab at the top of the page to see those), I've made Quilts of Valor, and I've simply made patriotic quilts to give to individuals and families to say "Thank you." 

What I do, have done, and will continue to do really amounts to peanuts in comparison, but it's what I can do for them. I will continue to make and give these quilts for as long as I possibly can. 

The following two quilts were made using the same pattern, but with much different fabrics. They were both given to family members.

I got this Patriotic Rail Fence pattern from the very generous Mary at MaryQuilts.com

This was donated to Quilts of Valor

This nine patch and half square triangle quilt that I call Simply Patriotic, is a variation of Mary's 4 Patches on the Diagonal.  I've made multiple variations of this quilt over the year and have donated all of them. I think it's time to make another one, but make it scrappy. 

This wall hanging is at my house and I display it in honor all of of my family members who have served, or who are currently serving. 

I am proud to be your daughter, aunt, niece, or cousin. Thank you!

This large (king size) pineapple log cabin quilt is also at my house. This took me a very long time to complete (it was packed away for a while), but it was well worth the time and effort. This quilt has served me well over the years, but not in how you may think. Besides the obvious use of a quilt, this particular quilt is a reminder to me of how to persevere and complete what I start, no matter how challenging. 

I ran into a number of obstacles while working in this. Since I was pretty new to quilting when I started this and wasn't following a pattern, I was not very generous with my required fabric amounts and therefore had to come up with some very creative piecing methods. I was also teaching myself a new technique and that was definitely a challenge. 

I am proud to have met my challenges and finished this quilt; but I'm even more proud to be an American. Whenever I use this (it is always on one of the beds in one of the spare rooms), I am reminded of the dedication and perseverance of our military and I am forever grateful.   

And this quilt top, (Simple Gifts is the name of the quilt and I know that it's in a book, but I can't find the name of the book - or the book.), is ready for quilting. It has been done for a while, but is still in the "To Be Quilted" bin, I need to get that out and resolve that.

I have a few other patriotic quilts ready for quilting and I already have homes for them, so you should be seeing pictures of those posted here soon.

In closing... 

Celebrate our freedom today.

Celebrate and Honor the lives of those

who paid the ultimate price.