Tomato's and Watermelon

I've fought the critters, and continue to fight. Placing garlic cloves all over the place seemed to help, but the owls really appear to be doing the job. I've finally got some tomato's and watermelon growing. The strawberries I can't get to before whatever critter isn't afraid of the owl gets them. Here's hoping all the battles for the food are over!

 

And Yet More Quilts of Valor - Here's What I Will Be Working On Next

There's always something next! Always! Maybe not immediately, but still next. The quilts of valor that I make run between 90-125 hours each. That's a lot of time. 4.5-5 yards of fabric in each - the top, the batting and the bottom. That's a lot a fabric. especially in the top, as it's multitudes of smaller pieces built up to that 5 yards of designed top. And thread, and binding, and thinking, designing, changing and re-designing. And driving, shopping, shipping. There's a lot involved in every single quilt. And I can only hope that they each serve their purpose.

Strips of all different lengths for triangles

Cut into triangles 6.5"

 

Book Shelf Quilt of Valor

 Quilt Name: Leave the Past Behind. This one is a special request from a friend for a friend. Took a long time to create, as I 'built it' on the backing fabric. The recipient of this quilt has just retired from the Army, after 30 years. The quilt is named 'Leave The Past Behind'. The books with titles included are all books that look forward, suggesting research, learning, hobbies, and fun. The yellow is representative of the area of the Army that he served, and also the a wall covering with Bee's buzzing, bee's are all about pollinating new ideas in places where they didn't perhaps exist before. 

The globe with the blue jay is a reminder of his college, as are some of the books in the bookcase. There are plenty of books available without titles that could have titles embroidered on, should someone decide to do so. It's slightly smaller than many of the Quilts of Valor I have made, which are the largest size allowed. This is the mid-size or 'recommended size' of QOV's. 

I made the books as blocks, and then added the shelves. I spent a lot of time ripping out ad starting over. Building out from the actual book shelf, I finished it with an Army fabric. Of course, his name, the quilt name and all the information I include on the quilt is on the binding. The back is not as smooth as I like, because of the way the quilt was built on it.

Making Book Strips to create Quilt Blocks

Why The Viking Was Important

With instructions for quilt care (Never Pull String, Wash in a Bag on Gentle, Lay Flat to Dry) the what's and why's and who's, all the important information about the quilt, even an apology (Sorry for the Klingon) because sometimes, the machine decides to write gobbledy gook, there is no controlling it! This is why I needed my machine back and the Viking folks were such a bane to my existence with constant dishonesty and wasting hours and hours of my time with their stupidity. I don't think I will ever buy anything from that company again!

 

Quilt of Valor - Splashes of Blue and Red

Is this seven of seven, seven of nine or seven of eleven this year? It's seven of eleven Quilts of Valor made this year. Anyway, it's nearing it's finish, and then on to the next one. I made two at the same time, in this pattern and these colors. They were to be gifted to two cousins, and so I needed them to be similar. Of the cousins, one is still serving, the other has served and moved on to other things. 

The color was changed, by that I mean, on the second quilt, where you see red here, you would see blue there. These use the traditional log cabin block, set it on point and using just two color palettes, create an intriguing design, don't you think?

..