Took some time out this week, 8-10 hours, cleaning up, checking links, and generally fixing the website, so that it is a bit more robust and informative. Hope you enjoy it!

Working on the Website

 

Sunrise or Sunset???

Follow along as I try something different, though still 'quilted'. I will start on Quilt 56 later this week or next. I've learned that the 'service' will go back in 2028 to look for Curt, so there will be a 56, 57 and 58 quilt, I am guessing. This is just an interim project, for another though similar, purpose.

My Next Project!

 

QOV #56 - 56 Years Lost

 My cousin served in Vietnam, he was a Green Beret, his tour was up in January, but in December word came through that he was missing in action, after a firefight, in Laos. Years and years later, it was decided that he was killed in that action, however, to this day, he is still Missing in Action.

He was my cousin, however, he lived with us for awhile before being shipped out, earning money to send home to his Mom and siblings. He made the best oatmeal for us in the mornings. We were just little kids, 10 and under, very impressionable. He treated us like people, liken the very best big brother and he never came home. It's 56 years this December/January. I've made and gifted a QOV for every year he hasn't come home.

I may continue making them, but if I do, I will have to start the numbering for another goal.

QOV #55 Monochromatic Scene

 So, in the plan for the near future was this monochromatic quilt, all in gray, from almost white through almost black, very dramatic if it works they way I think it will... Well, the future is now the present, and will soon be in the past as I am currently (November 10) in the middle of this quilt. It's been a challenge, I've continued to fix issues, and hope to have it finished, soon.

Inspiration

Building a fun 'scrappy border' without duplicates

Gathering the fabrics I will need for this one

Building the lake and the twilight landscape, the bottton of the top

The top of the top of the quilt, grey sky

The finished quilt. I had lots of trouble with this one!

QOV #54 Red Dust Cloud

In the plan I have made (in my head) this is the next quilt. It's very beautiful, and the reason I had to go all the way to the fabric store, for supplies. Ordering fabric online and having them send something close, but not quite right (not what I ordered, in point of fact), as happened last month, isn't going to happen today!

That plan was fulfilled and this quilt left for it's new owner in early November 2026.

Inspiration

Red Dust Cloud, beginning!

First Quarter of the top, laying out

First Quarter of the top, assembled

The bottom half of the top of the Red Dust Cloud Quilt

The 3rd Quarter of the top, assembled

Beginning the 4th quarter of the top

And the top, but I need to make some changes

Pinning the Sandwich

Adding the binding to the quilt

Adding the Star and it's halo

Red Dust Cloud Star

QOV #53 Southwestern Moonrise

This is the plan, for the next quilt. We will have to see just how well it will turn into Southwestern Moonrise, I'll post the 'day-by-day' photos on my Facebook page.

The plan is complete, and this works out to be one of my favorite quilts, very pretty and left for it's new veteran owner in early November.

Inspiration

Next onto shaping the mountains, then building sandwiches

Awaiting the fabric to finish the pink cloud, chiffon.

Late night photo, not bound, better coming

Late night photo, better coming, need purple cloud on moon!

Moon Rise Over Mountains

Different Kinds of Quilts and Hobbiests

 Some one said, "But, is that even a quilt? Where's all the fancy stitching?"

While 'quilting' is very technically the 'top-stitching' on a quilt or garment, that top-stitching on a one layered piece is not quilting. Unless there are layers, it's not quilting. And, there have always, probably, been levels of quilting. What most people are familiar with today, and "all the fancy stitching" is really what I think of as "rich girl hobby-est" quilting. Sort of like the embroidery we've all seen in period dramas that the wealthier girls do with their time. They aren't usually making the big items of clothing, the more difficult things, just the prettier work. "All that fancy stitching, once done by hand, has long been done by machine and those machines take up a good deal of space, cost a lot of money ($5,000 - $30,000 I'm told, with all the extra's you'll need.) That's not a cost a 'hobby-est' in my income level can afford. I paid over $1,500 for my sewing machine more than a decade ago, and I thought that was pushing the envelope for me!

So, here's how they tried to convince me it would pay for itself. If I bought the big machine, I could do long arm quilting for others. Those that do long arm quilting charge by the inch of fabric, the more expensive ones work via computer loaded graphics so you just have to be there to monitor it (and know what to do if it's not working, having issues, ruining someone else's property), not only do they charge by the inch (my quilts are 72"x90", but many are much bigger,) they also charge for incidentals like $50 each quilt for thread snipping, $50 for... So, I ask, if I am doing this work, when would I have time to quilt? (I was working full-time at the time, you know 60 hours a week gone to earn money to eat. Plus general life things.) So, as you can see, this kind of quilting is actually for people with far more money than I have available, just for the quilting part of quilting, which I think of as the least important part of making quilts. This type of 'quilting' is for the rich hobbyest who have lots of time to work on their quilts, or can afford to pay someone else to long arm their quilts, and afford to say 'oh, well,' if it gets ruined, and of course, those selling all the big money machines want this to be what quilting is all about.

And then there's me, and people like me, who are here for the folk-art expression available in this textile art. We do some form of 'stitch in the ditch' quilting, not the fancy thread art, that takes away (in my view) from the art of the quilt. Whether it's a traditional quilt pattern (I've done lots and lots) or it's something stepping away from tradition toward art (I've been doing these more recently) they are all wonderful gifts and just as much 'quilts' as those the thread-art folks (and their computers) make!

Quilt of Valor #52 - Storm at Sunset

I find that I actually have the top fabrics for the next two Quilts of Valor, White Out (right) and Clearing Storm at Sunset (left). Both are in my head, with how I should proceed with each!

There are also some bowl cozy's on the table. An additional 'thank you' to the folks helping me get these quilts in the hands of veterans who served long ago, and then continued to serve as police, helping to keep the community safe.

The quilt is less perfect than I would like it to be. Firstly, the purple I ordered online does not appear to be the purple I was sent. Doesn't sound like much, but it makes a very big deal of difference. I should have made a grid and then worked out where to put everything. I worked mostly by memory, and looking at it now, can see where I might have done things differently. Doesn't make it bad, or wrong, just different. I kept making changes, trying to fix the idea in my head better to the quilt, but making changes is never a good idea... Still, there it is.

Quilt top fabric for two different quilts

The bottom section of the top of the quilt, not quite it...

The top section of the top of the quilt, purple isn't what I ordered, too red

The inspiration

Storm at Sunset, skyscape

Storm at Sunset, over the prairie

 

Quilt of Valor #51 - White Out - Yosemite in Winter

A snow-filled scene of a mountain, waterfalls, giant trees, a winter's day. A Quilt of Valor for a soldier long returned from service. I found what I think would have been the right fabric after this was finished. I am currently arguing with myself as to whether I should make another, with those fabrics, and see if it's better...

These were as close to the colors I wanted
for this that I could find.

It feels like I'm always cutting !

The first half of the top of this quilt

The Quilting has begun!

Sandwich, pinning the second half

Need to add lace to the bottom of the waterfall, to give it the look of movement. and maybe some snow laden branches across the rocky face to the mountain, to make it clearer what it is

 

Snowy branches across the rock face

Greenery under the snow

Building snowy branches, showing top rock face

Greenery at the base

I'm not that happy with the amount of green, I never found the right fabric, This is still great, but doesn't match my imagination...

Bowl Cozies

I went to the kitchen to fix some ice cream, as a celebration of getting jobs done, and found I have no bowl cozies. Whether I ran out, sending them all out to others, or someone felt their need was greater and took mine home, I need a cozy or two to make eating cold and hot foods easier. So, here I go again! I should be able to make these while still making the Quilt of Valor(s). How I made that goes into detail on how to make these.

I made 2 for me, and I made some extras, to send to say Thanks for helping me to make the Quilt of Valor gifting happen, to help these veterans be seen and remembered for their service. They all say 'Don't Microwave', because while they are made with Wrap & Zap, I can't be certain that they fabrics are all 100% cotton, some were purchased from remnant tables, or that the thread is the same. Even if everything is 100% cotton, just getting a little grease or fat on the cozy can cause a fire in the microwave. It's just safer not to use them in a microwave.

Cutting the fabric, ready to iron

Marking the angles for the tucks

Sewing the wrap & zap to the fabric

 

Quilt of Valor #50 - God's Promise to the World Gold

A golden rainbow, where the very air around it and you feels like its shimmering gold. A Quilt of Valor for a soldier long returned from service.

Buying fabric at Michaels, not roomy!

Finished Quilt - After the Darkest Storm

Finished Quilt-After the Darkest Storm

Close-up of the rainbow space

Sort of the inspiration of a rainbow