Paint Chips on Our Bed

Remember Judy Laquidara's blogging efforts to help the neighboring community of Joplin, MO who have suffered through so much since the tornado and Judy's Quilt Give Away to inspire many of us to donate to this worthwhile cause?

Judy has received $11, 470 in donations for the Red Cross as of this date! Plus some quilters sent her quilts to give to residents in Joplin.

She generously gave away 12 of her own beautiful quilts in a Quilt Give Away to people who sent in money. For every $25.00 you donated to the Red Cross, your name went into the drawing and you had a chance to win one of Judy's quilts.

We won one of the quilts! "Paint Chips" by Judy Laquidara. It looks wonderful in our bedroom!

It is so pretty! And--- If you want to make this quilt, it is one of 23 quilt patterns in McCalls latest issue of "America Quilts for the Home". We love it!

Thank you Judy for all you have done.

Update for Summer

I haven't blogged for awhile. A lot going on around here considering we live a very low key lifestyle.

We had our puppy, Sassy, spayed June 8th, and she did not do well with the procedure. We spent a lot of time day and night nursing her through it all. It was days before she would walk, or eat well. She is finally ---two weeks later---recovering.

Sassy

We had a wonderful visit from our granddaughter Holly, who we don't see often enough. Our grandaughter Amanda, who lives close by is spending part of her summer vacation with us. We are doing some gardening, and reading out under the cool shade of trees in the back yard. Summer has been in full swing here with 90 degree temps most days. But, hey---we are not complaining as it has been a cold wet Spring up until this past week. Welcome! Summer!

Bill, Holly, Angie and Amanda

Here are some results of that overabundance of rain.
Our favorite reading spot. The lawn has never been so green!










I'm sitting and quilting on "Patriots Dream". It's slow going--as compared to the long arm. But, I wanted to do a lot of straight line quilting in very small areas, and this is still the best way to machine quilt on smaller projects for me.

Patriots Dream

Hoping you are enjoying your Summer-time!

On The Long Arm Today

Actually it was on the long arm yesterday, but this is as far as I got. More quilting today as it's another rainy day.

I decided to quilt this on the frame instead of doing the traditional tying that is frequently used for crazy quilts.

The free motion quilting does not show up too well on the borders when you are looking directly down onto the quilt, but that's O.K. as it's more about the embroidery blocks than the quilting. I'm doing a bit of straight stitching on the inside of some of the crazy quilt blocks to 'tack' them down. I'm using Essential Pro Thread from Connecting threads in a light teal color. Hobbs 80/20 batting----more later.

Quilts of Valor

This Memorial Day weekend our thoughts turn to our soldiers overseas, and the soldiers who are returning home, and soldiers laying in hospital beds recovering from injuries. Thank you for all you have done. For enduring terrible living conditions, for time spent away from your families and friends. For fighting for our freedom.

As quilters some of us volunteer our time as a long arm quilters for Quilts of Valor.

"The mission of the QOV Foundation is to cover all those service- members and veterans touched by war with Wartime Quilts called Quilts of Valor (QOVs). This foundation is not about politics. It's about people, and quilters working together to achieve a common goal."

As a team: We, topper & quilter, are humbled and honored to work together to make quilts for you, our American Warriors. Here are just a few of the quilts I have been privileged to machine quilt over the years for this worthwhile cause. Meeting and corresponding with these wonderful quilters is just one of the many perks of volunteering with the Quilts of Valor organization. Thank you to all who are serving our country. God bless you and your families.

Quilt by Sheney L.

Quilt by Barbara Winkler

Quilt by Al Lind

Quilt by Women's Group, St. Francis Episcopal Church, Fair Oaks, CA.

Quilt made by Shirley and the Snowbirds, Florida

Quilt made by Deanna B., Calif.

Quilt by Linda M.

Quilt by JoAnn and Dora

Quilt by Carol K.

Quilt by JoAnn

Quilt by Southern Calif. Quilts of Valor group and Barbara Winkler

Quilt by Carla B. E, Calif.

Quilt by Judy, Calif.

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Soldier, rest! Thy warfare o'er,

Sleep the sleep that knows not breaking,
Dream of battled fields no more.
Days of danger, nights of waking. -Sir Walter Scott

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Help Joplin, MO Residents

We have all been hearing and reading about the terrible disaster from the tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri this past week.

Judy Laquidara from the Patchwork Times is attempting to raise money for the Red Cross and specifically for the Joplin area. !

To read more about this please visit Judy's Patchwork Times at this LINK.

Please spread the word through your Blog. Judy is giving away one of her beautiful quilts in a drawing!

"Sakura" and a Jelly Roll

I bet you thought I was going to share a recipe! Instead I'm going to share a quilt made with 2-1/2" stripes of fabric also known in quilting circles as "Jelly Rolls".

One evening at our recent Spring Ranch Hands quilt retreat,

We had a "Jelly Roll Race".

I had brought along a few extra "Jelly Rolls" . My friend, Barbara, borrowed one of my extra jelly rolls so she could enter the race. She raced to the finish with this quilt top.

I added some purple sashing and a batik border once I had it home. Here it is hanging on the design wall. Here it is quilted with the Circle Lord "Sakura" template board design.

(click on photos to enlarge)

Surprisingly large at approx. 64" x 68". I used the new Superior Omni thread I mentioned in my previous blog posting. "Magic Magenta" in the top and bobbin. Here is a closer look at "Sakura". This is the first time I've had the opportunity to use this template, and I love how it stitched out across the quilt top.

This following pictures is of my jelly roll top that I haven't finished---yet. I've pulled out some fabrics for the sashing and the border. I hope to get it on the long arm this coming week. If you want a fast quilt top (Barbara beat me by 30 seconds in the race!)---These jelly roll tops are a lot of fun to piece and to quilt!

PS: Love the new "Omni" thread!

New Thread

Have you ordered any of the new Superior long arm quilting thread? "Omni". I ordered a few 6000 yd. cones to try it out. Introducing "Magenta Magic". Isn't this a pretty color. Don't you wonder who has the fun job of naming thread colors? Excuse the missing "d" in the reflection of the word Threa-D. I order long arm thread online at SewThankful.com They have good prices on all their threads. Check it out.

The thread has a nice soft matte finish to it. Just pulling it off the cone between my fingers I can't feel any thread slubs or resistance---smooth feel. I'm going to test it on this Jelly Roll quilt today.

Quick Post

This was on the long arm yesterday. A Quilt of Valor top that Carla my "topper" partner sent me last month. I'm just now getting it quilted. Binding goes on today. It's so nicely pieced.

What a pleasure it's been to quilt! Flat seams so appreciated!

I used the Circle Lord Baptist Fan boards and Maxilock Swirls thread in the variegated red, white and blue. Perfect for this quilt! I'm going to have fun making the label on the embroidery machine later today! I'm still working on getting my design wall cleared off so that I can actually see the wall. :o)I have the borders finished on one of the Jelly Roll quilts, so that is progress. Have a good day whatever you are doing! I hope it's sewing or quilting!

It's our third day of rain again here in sunny Sonoma County! Just when you think Summer has arrived---It has Not!

Layer Over Layer

I don't have an overly large design wall. Whoa---I wish for more at times like this. I'm layering quilt tops over quilt tops and using my rug weaving frame to hold more. The first layer is Patriots Dream. All basted and ready for quilting. I'm going to sit at my domestic sewing machine to do this one, and maybe add some handquilting as well.
The one to the far right under everything is the Crazy Quilt top I just finished piecing. Ready for layering.


The quilt top layered over all this is a Jelly Roll quilt I going to quilt once I finish adding sashing and borders. My friend Barbara pieced this one up at quilt retreat during our Jelly Roll Race! What fun!---and over on the rug weaving frame is a rug which you can't see, with another Jelly Roll quilt top laying over it that I finished. I'm auditioning some sashing and borders for it.

Layer over layer-----do you do this on your design wall?

I've been forgetting to show you how big Sassy is getting. 6 lbs. now. I took this picture of both of us with Photo Booth on my iMac. Lots of reflections, but the camera on the monitor takes pretty clear photos.