Doing a Good Deed

A while back, Kevin, one of my co-workers, approached me about quilting one of his mothers quilt tops. I was shocked when he showed up with a bag of about eight flimsy, and that wasn't all of them. He also has grandma's which he will bring in one day for me to take a look at.

Anyway, we looked thru the bag and decided I would quilt the Christmas Irish Chain. Mrs. Kevin was delighted since this was her favorite one and it was a bonus for her to know the name of the pattern given her ancestry.

To say this top is "vintage" is an understatement. Created before rotary cutters and templates, with many of the points flat and the seams a little askew, and two blocks in the lower right hand corner pieced oddly. I asked Kevin about this and he told me that mom lived over 30 miles from the fabric shop and if she ran out of fabric, it would not be uncharacteristic for her to make do with what she had and put something else in. Also I need to ask him if there was a factory of some sort nearby because there was some strange thread used in piecing. It was loosely twisted, nylon and stretchy. It reminds me of serger thread that would be used on swimsuits. (At one time, many of the factories allowed employees to take home remnants or short spools and I suspect this was the case.) If only these vintage quilts could talk, what a story they would tell.

Quilted all-over using a feather design, I am quite pleased with the result. I hope Kevin and Mrs. Kevin enjoy this quilt for many years.

So, what's in your closet? Do you have grandma's or mom's UFOs waiting to be finished? What wonderful treasures to finish up and share with family and friends.

Brown Paper Bag Adventure

Last year Crazy Crafter, Blondie and Piecrust had a ladies night out in Dawsonville, GA at one of our favorite quilt shops, SM. We worked on on a quilt pattern where you put all the strips in a paper bag and sew them together as you pull them out. Then, you know how it goes, we cut them apart, and then sewed them back together again. This is what we created. (Note to self if I ever make this pattern again, it's huge!)

Once again, I'm giving away a quilt. (#49) Tomorrow is Frank's birthday and I plan to have it wrapped and in his office when he arrives. Hope he likes it.

Quilt Going Home (#46)

We've all got them, you know, the UFO's stashed in our closets and dressers which seem perfectly harmless. However in this case, it was a flimsy UFO from the mid 90's which had been moved to three different states and I was not going to move it again. You may recognize the pattern, it was from the "J" store around 1995 as one of their first BOM's. Gotta love the color scheme.

Anyway, quilt buddy "Blondie" encouraged me to get it quilted and enter it in my guilds quilt show last year. I did complete it in time for the show, but what to do with it now?

After Christmas, one of my co-workers and bowling team member Dave, found a present on his desk. Wrapped so lovely with a card which read, "To: Dave and Mrs. Dave." He's one of the good guys and I knew he would give it a good home.

International Round Robin

I've heard all the horror stories about participating in round robins, but I am going to do it anyway.

This is my block, a feathered star and I am about to send it to CeCelia in Australia. I'll keep you posted on the progress and let you know how it goes. Someone else should be sending me their block within the next two weeks and I can't wait to see it.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I hope I am not setting myself up for a let down.

BTW: (TSC)194-1=193

Quilt Going Home

I work with an amazing group of people. One of these wonderful gentlemen has a son, Michael who has served our country in Afghanistan.

Having survived several IED's, Michael returned home a bit battered and bruised with his arm in a cast. I can only imagine what he has gone thru and the difficulties his family has endured.

As a small token of my apprecitation, I am sending Michael a quilt. It may not be much, but it is my way of saying thank you for your service and sacrifice.


(In the box is the 'Bali Chop' quilt shown on an earlier post.)

BTW: (TSC)199-5=194

Mystery Quilt

Once again I have taken on a mystery quilt.

Kristina's web site was hosting a mystery quilt and I decided to play along. The project required 3 fabrics: a focus fabric, a contrast fabric and a background fabric. After much searching and with the help of a friend from work, MSB, I decided on a yellow bug fabric, a green seed fabric and a pink swirl fabric.

Ta-da-ha! This is one of the completed blocks. I haven't completed the assembly of all the parts, but I am quite happy with the results so far.

Well, the quilt show is over....

Family and friends, please take note. The next time a quilt show approaches, please remind me that I can not enter every quilt that I am currently working on. This year I was determined to enter 5 quilts, 3 of which were not quilted when I entered them and 1 was still in pieces. I worked diligently on them until the very last hour. The night before they were due, I was up until midnight finishing up the hanging sleeves and rounding up the pillowcases.

I am happy to say that my work paid off. In the large two person quilt category, I won! (Along with Shannon, aka Doodlebug.)

This quilt is titled "Never Again." If you have this pattern or kit, you will understand the name.

BTW : (TSC) 200-1=199

Getting Ready for the Show

Here is another entry for the CES Qult Show. I am sewing like a mad woman these days to get my quilts finished. I should have learned my lesson last time and not enter more than I can reasonably finish. This year I am trying to enter 5.

"Bali Chop" is made from two bali pops and is my own design, if you can call a block made from 25 squares a design. I quilted it last weekend at GSQ and I love how it turned out. My goal was to quilt it very densely so there was quilting in every block. It took forever and I'm sure the ladies at GSQ were tired of looking at me.
BTW: (TSC) 201-1=200

Quilting Friends

Thanks to all who participated in the Sisters Choice block swap. I received a wonderful assortment of blocks.

I have decided to enter this quilt in the CES Quilt Show in September under the "group" category. Problem is, I would like to place all the names along with location on the quilt label and some of the names are quite hard to read much less find. Also, I would like to make sure the names are spelled correctly.

If you have a block in this quilt, would you please drop me an email at vmaloy@gmail.com with your name and city, state/country.

The quilt show is September 18th and 19th in Alpharetta. Location is the Old Milton High School Gym. If you live in the Atlanta area or plan to visit around those dates, we would love for you to attend the show. More details can be found on the CES web site or drop me an email.

Charity Blocks

Doodlebug sent me an email the other day and asked me to be the tester for a pattern that she is going to use for a charity quilt. She is going to make a quilt which will be raffled off to benefit her favorite puppy shelter.

Here are my first two sets. (Notice that with each set you have a blue center and a white center.) I plan to make a few more sets after she gets the instructions and pattern posted to her blog site. If you would like to participate, I'll post a link to her web site when it is ready to go.

New Addition to the Family

If it is Friday, then Thelma and Louise are on another road trip. So, yesterday, piecrust and doodlebug were in pursuit of a featherweight. I wanted one which was pre-war and I found a 1937 gem of a machine. Her name is Myrtie and if you know anything about my family, you know where the name comes from. Gertrude nor Hazel fit and I sure wasn't going to use ThelmaLou. Thanks to Jerry and Karen for hunting these little jewels down and giving them a new life.

After we acquired Myrtie, we headed to Powder Springs in search of a new quilt shop. We found KQ, but had a difficult time finding the entrance. If you go in search of the place, turn into the Waffle House parking lot and follow the road around to get into the strip mall. It's weird, but it works.

Wouldn't you know it, I found several pieces of fabric that just had to go home with me.

Broken Star Block

My home quilt guild, Chattahoochee Evening Stars, is having a star block challenge. Tonight I finished one of my submissions. I do not know the correct name for the block so I am calling it Broken Star. This block isn't the easiest to make, but it did present some issues. When I make flying geese, the easiest methods make 4 geese just alike. As you can see, I have 2 of each color. Normally, this would not be a problem, but I was using a scrap piece of fabric and would not have enough if I did that. So, I made them the old fashioned way, one piece at a time. What a pain having to deal with the bias. My next block will be a little more conventional.

If any of the CES members are checking my blog site, don't look at this.

BTW-Happy Birthday E.J.