Quilt of Valor.....Birthday Celebration

As you can tell recently.....not so good with the blog thing!  Part of my problem is to just start....I sit at my laptop and look at the screen and wait for the words to flow or stumble out or whatever.....I need to be more disciplined about this really!

My other excuse.....this will be lame for sure!  Since the first of the year I have been working on several gift pieces for some very special people and I could not write about the work I was doing or post photos either.....they were of a surprising nature, you see!  :)

So if you don't mind, I am going to back up a bit and get you and me, both caught up!

We are going back to February, after my dad's 80th birthday party in January. We have a trip to the SW looming.  And I have another project in my head to get started & finished....how is that for planning ahead....not so much!

Our friend, Bud, turned 90 in November and is a WWII veteran.....served in the Army and the Air Force.  He was involved in the Battle of Remagen bridge in Germany.  He has many stories to tell and we always enjoy hearing some of them when we are together.  They have been able to go back and visit that bridge several times.....I can't imagine, what that is like!

 I had this idea to make him a Quilt of Valor for his 90th birthday and to honor his service in WWII.  

It was so fun to attend a quilt day at the Grout Museum.....see the block pattern in the background.  I had my patches all cut & was ready to sew on Bud's quilt.  I got a very good start on it right until.....

My little sweetie of a machine, went out of time in the afternoon and I didn't have any tools with me to fix it.  I got a good start on this project, glad for that.  It was a good day out with my quilt friends and my Singer 221 got repaired by the Silver Fox  when I got it back home. 

I got the top finished several days later and then machine quilted it with a pantograph that had flags and stars......very nice!  Stars & Stripes Forever  Oh and added a label too.  It was already to be packed in my luggage and fly away to AZ.

The moment of reveal....reading the label.

I think we blew them away with this gift.  I really wasn't sure if this would be something he would like.  But I could tell right away this was so meaningful to him and I was so glad I had gone with my instinct and done this for him.  I mean, really what do you give to someone who is 90? A new tennis racket.....OBTW, did I mention he plays tennis like 3 days a week?  I am lucky to walk to the end of the drive and back once a day.....but let's not go there.

 For you quilters out there, can you find the block?  You might need to go back and look at the drawing by my sewing machine above.  The blocks look like NOTHING by themselves!  Pinwheels Plus is the name of the pattern and it is found in the May/June 2012 issue of  Fons & Porter Love of Quilting.  

Thanks, Bud for your service to our country, for your love, friendship, hospitality, and spiritual mentoring over many years.  We love you & Nj dearly!!!

And for you quilters out there.....I will show you where the block is......that is the best I can do since this is copyrighted material.

Patriotic Flag Banner Tutorial

I wanted to share this idea that I put together the other day.....This would be a very fast project that you could still do for this weekend!

I happen to have an old piece of clothing made out of the red ticking, so I deconstructed my garment, and I had some chunks of fabric to work with.  I was going to use some yardage of star fabric on a navy background until my eye fell of this stripe, that I had cut off the cuff of a pillowcase that had fallen apart.....thought to myself.....that is perfect!!!  Up-cycling clothing and a pillowcase.......awesome!

I cut the red ticking into 7"x 10" rectangles.....I just picked these numbers and partly because that was the width of the star stripe that I had to work with.  :)

Then I got out a package of Heat and Bond and cut strips that were 6 3/4".  Slightly smaller than the width of the star stripe to keep my iron clean.  And following the directions I fused the Heat and Bond onto the back side of the star stripe fabric.  Set it aside and let it cool.

Take the red ticking rectangles and trim the bottom edge to make some nice points.  Cut 1" up on the folded edge to the outside edge at the corner as shown and trim.  Do this to all your rectangles.

This what your rectangle should look like at this point.

Sorry I forgot to take a picture of cutting the star fabric.  You need to cut the star fabric 7" x 5".  Now if you are using a stripe you need to pay attention how you cut that, so you stripe is vertical.  Next you need to trim both sides as shown below, just like you did the ticking fabric above.  1" from the folded edge to the outside points.  When you have done both side it will look like this......

When you open it out, it will look like this......peel the paper fusible backing off the star fabric

I opened it up and creased it in half horizontally.  I am going to encase the top edge and iron the stripe on both side.  The ticking can be seen on both sides, so it makes it reversible.  A nice touch.

Following the Heat and Bond directions, I fused the star fabric to the top of the banner on one side then....

Flip it over and fold and fuse the other side encasing the top edge of your banner.

Then I pulled out my decorative rotary cutters and did a sample on a piece of paper, so I could see them and decide which one I wanted to use.  I chose the larger scallop.  And trimmed the sides of each banner piece.....sorry I forgot a picture of that part....I just used my ruler and took off a scant amount so that the scallop showed on both sides.  Very cute!

I hung them in my dining room with the letter banner that says "Duty......Honor.....Country" using those tiny clothes pins that you can buy at the craft store.  Like those too, easy to change things up.  If you like the Letter Banner, you can find it here.  I back my letters with black card stock.

Now I have a question for you, I have two of these star "bags"????? not sure what they are.  They are double layers, but you can put you arm or hand through the "handle"  or top part, the part that I have clipped to the twine.  My Grandma Kullmer or Great-grandma Weaver crocheted them and I have two of them.

The only thing that I thought of was putting your crochet cotton in the bag part and have it on your arm and use it to feed your crochet cotton as you crochet on a project.  It's an idea, not necessarily a good one.  Any thoughts on this.

Hope you enjoy this tutorial.....and I would love to see your banners.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Veteran's Day

Words cannot adequately describe the sacrifice and commitment that it takes to serve in our nation's military.  I just wanted to take a moment today and honor that debt that we often times take for granted today. 

This little piece of clip art reminded me of the day our son-in-law got to come back home from Iraq to the cul-du-sac.....and the warm reception he was greeted by neighbors, friends and family.

The emotions are still so unbelievably fresh as I gaze on these moments in time.

Thank you Shane for your service and sacrifice.   

Thank you Lord for bringing him back to us safe and sound.

9/11 Memorial

My heart goes out to those family and friends who were directly devastated by the horrible events of that day 10 years ago.  I pray that each person finds the courage to continue on as their loved-one would wish for them each day.  This is such a vivid reminder to each one of us to live our lives with no regrets, doing those things that are meaningful and significant.  And most importantly loving our family and friends, while making sure they know of their importance in our lives.

I have a special date book that I write significant dates for our family and this was
the entry from that horrific day.

This little cross stitch piece I worked on while we were traveling on vacation.  I love the charms.  My dad cut down a vintage frame to fit it and I just put it together the other day.  It will be ready to hang next year when I get my patriotic decorations out.  It certainly makes for an appropriate memorial piece.  I love the blue stripe in the frame and the serendipity of it....that I would even have a frame like this in my stash of old frames.

Still in Patriotic Mode

I wanted to do a few pictures of my patriotic tree before I take it down later this month.  A lot of the items have been gifts to me over the years.....some I have collected from travels and little "gifty" stores.  Others I have stitched and those are probably my favorites.  I keep my tree in the doorway between our kitchen eating area and our living room.....so it is like a night light in the evening that lights up the whole main part of the house.  I have it set on a timer so it goes off and on without any effort on my part.  I used to keep a full size tree up, but I bought this one several years ago at one of the local craft shops after Christmas.  It has a wooden tree trunk and is tall and skinny with pine cones glued to some of the branches.  Very quaint and it doesn't take quite as much room, but seems to handle all the weight of the ornaments......there are quite a few...... but I always say more is better.........

Here is Abe & George, that I stitched several years ago.  You can also see in most of the pics several red metal ornaments....those were all given to me by a dear friend.  The shiny tin Uncle Sam is very fun.  The little flag is just put together from printed flag fabric with a fusible webbing to secure it to a backing fabric.  I added some buttons and ribbon to make the hanger with the glue gun.  You could do this with any shape and make a garland type decoration.

This little stocking was done on Herta cloth I think...about 5-6 count and you use 6 strands of embroidery floss at a time.  There is a little patriotic Beanie Baby bear in the background....BTW.....I have a few of the seasonal type Beanie Babies that are very cute to decorate with....the last time I looked on eBay you could buy most of them very cheap.  You might want to check it out.  :)

The little Betsy Ross doll is a vintage Hallmark piece...maybe from the the bicentennial.  A quilt friend gave that to me and I love it.  Also I came across some red chandelier drops, so I added ribbons to them to hang.

The bunny with the heart and the log cabin were both gifts to me from quilt friends and the little crocheted medallion pin was done by my grandma....I added ribbon to hang it.

A patriotic angel is finished in a tart dish....also a Christopher Columbus ornament from Hallmark.  I usually check their patriotic ornaments each Christmas season and most of the time you can purchase those after Christmas on clearance.  :)  The little patriotic kitten is ceramic.

A sweet little patriotic angel that says ......

"Her little flag

She grandly flew

And cheered the

red, white and blue.

Happy 4th of July

Here is wishing you a Happy 4th of July!!!!


I haven't done much sewing this past week.  My mother had some medical issues and we continue to work on our bathroom makeover.  The "Silver Fox" laughs as he measures again for the umpteenth time......he tells me he doesn't get paid by piece work.....I believe it.    We are progressing slowly, but everything that is done looks great.  So slow and steady seems to be working.  So this week I am going to share some sights outside my front door.  We have had such good rains that everything is just lush here in Eastern Iowa.  I also tucked in a nice piece of clip art to share with you.

 Here is the view outside my front window as I sit in my living room and write to you.

I keep my hand garden tools and my knee pad in the old mailbox.

 We built a "civil war" type fence in the background.  The kind that go zig-zag....which I have never understood the concept around that.  But we have piles of wooden fence posts around here and it was a good way to use a bunch of them up. 

Let's just say these are even more breath-taking in person.  I love the lime green buds against the red flowers.....stunning color combination.   These babies are about the size of my hand.

I have tucked in a special piece of patriotic ephemera for you to save. Right click on it to save it to your computer.  I love to collect pieces of paper history....repros and originals.   This would make a wonderful pillow......print this out on fabric and sew it up.

Tis the Patriotic Season

I have been collecting Americana for a very long time.....

 long before it was popular or collectible.

It is probably my favorite season to decorate.....maybe because it is during the warmer months of the year or because I LOVE red and blue or because I enjoy the history of our country, 

 or all of the above.

Well my goal is to always have my patriotic decorations up before Memorial Day....so we can enjoy it all for not only that weekend, but Flag Day and July 4.....but this year I didn't get quite that far.  I did get my tree done...only to have one of the strings of lights burn out on me.  UGGG!!!

I don't have a window above my sink....but I do have a mirror and two lighted glass shelves and I usually place some of my favorite pieces there to enjoy while  I work in the kitchen.

I still love this piece of Rowe pottery from Wisconsin that I bought many years ago.....it is filled with vintage kitchen tools from my grandmothers laid on a vintage crocheted  red, white and blue potholder.  The patriotic angel was made by one of my quilt friends and the little sailor is a fun Hallmark card, setting on a patriotic doily made by Grandma K.  I am not sure Hallmark makes those kinds of cards any more.  At least the last time I looked, which wasn't recently.....they had nothing like this.

This little still-life includes a sweet framed print, Longaberger flag basket and an old "American" scale loaded with dish towels ready to use.

This shelf includes a metal ice bucket from a thrift store, and a wonderful paper honeycomb decoration of George Washington.  I got a set of these from a special life-long friend.

Another Hallmark card surrounded by a vintage food chopper and a wooded flag bowl.

Hope you enjoyed these little vignettes above my kitchen sink.