Thank You, Marine...

I enjoy the privilege to quilt other people's ("OP") quilt tops a lot as part of my job...it's wonderful! All of them are special, but sometimes I feel particularly honored to work on a special project for someone.  This lovely patriotic quilt was made by a grandmother for her grandson who has given the last few years of his life serving us in the United States Marine Corp.

I won't show his name here as I don't know him personally, but what I thought was so very special about this quilt is that Grandmother wanted me to quilt in the names of his duty stations while he was a Marine.  

So in the red stripes of this patriotic quilt, I stitched in words (click on the photos to make them larger if you need to, my phone-photography is not great)...

 Of groups that he served with...

 Bases where he was stationed...

 Ships that he manned...

 ...Far away lands where he was deployed, and risked his life to protect and preserve our nation.

It was an honor and a privilege...Thank You for your Service and Sacrifice Marine!

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day.   Join us at the shop for our Free Veteran's Day Quilts of Valor Sew-In! Come for the whole day, or stop by on your lunch break to help us sew together blocks to be put into quilts for Quilts of Valor.

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Getting Caught Up on some Quilting

I've been enjoying getting caught up on some customer quilting lately... 

I've got a few more in the works, and I'm working on finishing a fun T Shirt quilt now...some days I just love my job :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

From a Holiday Star Bundle...

Today I was cutting, cutting, folding and tying...

 ...and binding...

 ...after piecing and quilting this tree skirt yesterday from the above Star Fat Quarter Bundle.

The Star Bundles are now available in my shop, and with the purchase of a Star Fat Quarter Bundle, you will receive a Free Pattern to make the Christmas Tree skirt!

The fabrics are from the Holiday Classics fabric line just like the Kits for the Holiday Classics Quilt that Mary made in This Post. (These projects all make up really quickly ~ so there's still time to get them done before Christmas!)

...and it's Maddie approved :) 

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

Another Rootin Tootin Version

It makes my day when someone takes one of my original patterns (like my Rootin Tootin Cowboy quilt pictured above) and makes it their own ~ and then shares photos with me!
 

Janell Roberts from Colorado sent me these photos of how she used the appliques from my pattern and made her version of the Rootin Tootin Cowboy quilt.  She made it for their Undersheriff who is expecting a baby.  Mother-to-be's hubby is a rancher, so she went with the cowboy theme.

Both parents-to-be are volunteer firemen, so Janell used this cuddly flannel on the back that has dalmatians and fire hydrants ~ her fabric choices are so well thought out, and just perfect ...and I need to find some of this flannel for my firefighter son :)

Janell shared with me that she has inherited over 1500 yards of fabric that she's using in the quilts she makes, which I think is so special in carrying forward our craft.  (It beautifully illustrates the value of our fabric stashes and the legacy that lives on through them.)  Thank you Janell for sharing your sweet quilt, I know it will be loved :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

PS ~ You can go to this past Blog Post if you want that shows a different version of my Abby's Owl quilt that another quilter friend shared with me :)

January Quilty Progress

Wow, January is almost gone!  How did that happen?  I have been able to get some projects done this month though. 
 

These first two are sneak peeks at a couple of quilts that I've made that are scheduled to be in some upcoming publications ~ I've been getting some practice in on my HandiQuilters :) 

[Note: The first quilt is made with a fabric line called Indigo Blues by Fabri-Quilt, and the second one is made with a fabric collection called Robotics from Birch Organic Fabrics ~ both lines should be in quilt shops by March]

This one is a customer quilt that I finished today (can you tell that I'm enjoying the loop-d-loops?)

Here's more of the customer quilt...I love the Kansas Troubles fabrics in this one ~ so warm and rich :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

A New Friend in my Quilt Cave

It occurred to me that I haven't blogged about my new friend!  I mentioned her on my Facebook Page, but I never posted about her here on my blog.  This is my new HQ Avante.

I haven't named her yet, but I've been spending lots of time with her lately, and we're becoming good friends ~ she's helping me immensely :)

I've quilt three quilts on her so far.  One I can't show you yet, I'm boxing that one up and shipping it off for photography for a magazine publication, but these two are for me.

This one is my High Cotton that I made with swapped blocks with Starlyn and Mary.  It's going to be my new throw quilt on my comfy chair ~ I love making quilts just for me.

...And this is my Jelly Roll Race quilt finished except for the binding.  This one's going to be a Christmas gift, but I'm not telling who the recipient is just yet ;)

It's so nice to be able to bring these quilts to a finish so easily, thanks to my new friend!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

October UFO/WIP Wednesday All Rolled Into One Project

My UFO Challenge project for the month of October was to take my Walk in the Moonlight quilt to the next level by finishing all the blanket stitching.  (I started this quilt several years ago when I was hosting the Sloanies Club at the quilt shop where I worked, so it's also my WIP Wednesday project.)

 ...so this week I've been blanket stitching...

 ...and blanket stitching...

...until ~ Taa Daa!  All blanket stitching is now finished and tonight I'm piecing the backing, and putting all on the pile of "To Be Quilted" projects! (Well, one of the piles)

(The Walk in the Moonlight quilt is a Pat Sloan design, and the pattern can be found in her Learn to Applique with Pat Sloan book published by Leisure Arts.) 

Check out more October UFO projects at Judy's Patchwork Times Blog. The UFO number for November is #9 ~ On my list that is to piece the blocks for the Jo Morton Warm Wishes quilt that I started a while back.  If I can fit that in this month it could be finished just in time for Christmas decorating :)

And you can check out other WIP Wednesday projects from my friends on the Quiltsy Team.  Lots of Inspiration today!

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

PS ~ A little note about my Hurricane sewing on Monday.  We did lose our electric for a while, so I switched to knitting by oil lamp, but we got our power back up yesterday.  We were very lucky, our only damage from Sandy's gusts were downed tree branches that we have to pick up all over the yard.  Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes and prayers that were sent our way, please keep our neighbors in your thoughts and prayers, there are so many with damage.   

Some Hurricane Sewing

 

What a difference a day can make.  We spent the weekend enjoying the Autumn leaves, but today Hurricane Sandy is bearing down here.  We still have our electric, so I'm getting some machine sewing done while I can.
 

These are some felt Baptism Banners that I needed to make up for my church that I finished up (I had a couple to make with the names and dates for children who were already baptized before I took on the job).   

 ...and I'm making up some extras that will be all ready to have the names added when needed.

 And blanket stitching on this month's UFO Challenge project.

Almost finished, as long as we don't lose the power, I should get it finished in October ~ and then there is always my knitting and hand applique :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn 

A Gift From One Quilter to Another :)

This is another of the projects that I was working on last week.  It was a surprise though, so I couldn't show it to you until now.

I've traveled out this week to Kentucky to visit with my mom, and to take take her to her next chemo treatment (she's battling off Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma ~ very gallantly I might add!).  Well a few weeks ago I realized that I've never made a quilt for my mom ~ she's a quilter herself and doesn't really need a quilt from me, but since she's a quilter I knew she would appreciate it :)

So I gathered some really bright and happy fabrics, (some you might recognize from the Flamingo quilt), and I made up my Chutes & Ladders pattern in a throw size quilt.  I even used a vintage sheet that I had as the light yellow inner border.

...And the vintage sheet worked great for a soft and cuddly backing too.  And just as I thought, Mom did really appreciate it :)

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn

**PS ~ If you haven't cast your vote yet for the AccuQuilt Barn Quilt Contest, I'd really appreciate a vote cast for my little design - #26 :) You can use this link and cast one vote per email address through tomorrow, (April 18th): 

http://www.accuquilt.com/barnquilt/entry.html

Some Good News & A Friday Finish :)

Today, in the middle of frantically trying to get all of the work done for my day job, Spring Water Designs deadlines, pick up some groceries and get my household squared away before taking off on a week visit to spend some quality girl time with my Mom, I received an email with some good news that really perked me up ~ My entry for AccuQuilt's Barn Quilt Contest has made it to the Finals!  Now I need the help of my friends to go and vote for my design.  If you don't mind taking the time, here is the link to go vote (My design is #26):

http://www.accuquilt.com/barnquilt/entry.html

In between all that, I did finally get my Flamingo Challenge quilt quilted today, so I do have a Friday Finish too!  It's the first larger quilt that I've quilted on my HQ Sweet Sixteen :)

...Well I do still have to finish the binding, but it's pretty much finished!

I was running out of week quickly, so I didn't do anything fancy for the quilting, just my regular all over meander, but I think that will make for a nice comfy donation quilt.  I wanted to get it finished before leaving on my trip, because right after I get back I have to have it turned in for our Guild's quilt show display of all of the Flamingo Challenge quilts.

I used every last bit of the Flamingo fabric, with the last piece used in the backing :)

...And since it'll be a donation quilt, the guild gave out special stamped labels that I signed and pieced into the backing too.  It was a fun quilt to make, I hope someone gets lots of love from it :)

I'm a little late for WIP Wednesday, but you can still check out the Quiltsy Team blog to see what others are working on.  

Enjoy the day!
~ Dawn