Good Friday Finishes

Squeezing in a few more Quilt of Valor finishes prior to Easter weekend on this Good Friday.  The latest is from our Doris - picked up 3 more QOV quilt tops from her earlier this week, all ready for borders!  This first one is one of my favorites, definitely has a 'nautical feel':

A 'Doris Original' QOV w/nautical look

This is typically how we receive many of our QOV quilt tops prior to bordering out:

QOV quilt top prior to adding borders

Borders are added to ensure each Quilt of Valor meets the Standards of Excellence set forth by QOVF.org:

Adding the first border to this Quilt of Valor quilt top

Additional 'Before & After':

Before...

...after!

Before...

...After ;-)

Creating ALL these very special Quilts of Valor is certainly a TEAM effort, and none would ever be complete without ALL our incredible QOVF Volunteers and their unending efforts...Thank YOU!

And a special QOV request from our Doris, while she goes for shoulder replacement surgery.  Seems our Doris has been keeping a little secret - she has a dear BIL who has served in the military most of his life and she would like to have just one of her finished Quilts of Valor awarded to him, once she recovers.  I think we can accommodate that, don't you?  And here's that very special Quilt of Valor, bordered out and ALL ready for quilting:

Doris's special QOV request, one of her beloved Quilts of Valor quilt tops,
bordered out and ready to be quilted!

UPDATE 3/25/2016 - Another one makes 5:

One more completed QOV!

UPDATE 3/26/2016:  Two more complete just in time for Easter!

#6 QOV bordered out

#7 All complete, ready for quilting!

UPDATE 4/01/2016:  Just heard back from our Doris - she's starting to recover from her should surgery, been catching up on her reading, including the reading of our blogs ;-), and she's decided that completed QOV #7 would be a better choice for her Dear BIL.  NO worries, we can accommodate that choice for our very special Doris!  Quilting will soon begin...pics to be posted in an upcoming blog posting.

Please join us in wishing our Doris a very speedy recovery.

Linking up w/Miss Katy over at KatyQuilts - her most recent creative quilt adventure is stunning! Definitely worth a 'look-see': http://katyquilts.net/2016/03/25/it-is-finished/


Happy Easter EVERYONE!
~Deb

PS...more recent Quilt of Valor quilt tops bordered out, getting ready for quilting: http://eastcentralilqov.blogspot.com/2016/03/friday-qov-finishes.html

Some Leap Day Finishes!

Thank goodness for this extra Leap Day to bring some much needed closure to several UFOs!

First in this finish line-up, another of our Doris's Quilt of Valor quilt top ALL bordered out:

One of our Doris's QOVs w/borders, ready to quilt!

Borders cut, sewn together and just pressed - enough to border out five (5) more QOV quilt tops:

Hanging borders, cooling off from just being pressed

Pressed border ready to be attached to 5 QOVs

Clues from #3 & #4 of our Quilt of Valor Mystery finished up, ready and waiting for Clue #5:

Quilt of Valor Mystery Clues

For now, there's come 'cool' borders ready to be attached ;-)

Happy Leap Day, EVERYONE!
~Deb

Bordering out the New Year!

Miss Betty & I have taken a bit of a snooze for the beginning of this New Year as far as quilting goes BUT, that is about to change!  We've actually been super-busy trying to get a whole bunch of Quilts of Valor quilt tops finished up, bordered out and ready for quilting.  Here are a few we started out with.  You may recognize the first one - it's one of our Doris's from our December, 2015 East Central IL QOV meeting:

Doris's Camo Flag QOV quilt top - turned out really special, we think!

We knew as soon as we saw this QOV quilt top - designed and created by Doris herself, that it should be finished out w/matching fabrics in the borders:

Some of Moda's "Land of the Free Because of the Brave" fabrics

Sewing on those gorgeous border fabrics:

Adding the first RED marbled border to Doris's Camo Flag QOV

Next is a Quilt of Valor top created by another one of our Valued QOVF Volunteers, Patti.  We came up 11/2 yards short of the same color RED for the outside perimeter border and binding.  I've spent the better part of the past 6 months searching online/offline fabric shops trying to find this RED.

Last week while doing some New Year's sorting/cleaning of my personal fabric stash, I came across more than enough to finish!

Newly found RED to finish out this QOV of Patti's

And it turned out stunning, if I say so myself - just perfect!:

Patti's stunning bordered out Quilt of Valor top - all ready to be quilted!

The final one in this first group is one of my own creation.  Anyone who's followed my blog for ANY length of time knows I adore RED/White/Blue quilts and this one fits that bill nicely...including another fav, a touch of denim ;-)

Denim Stars & Stripes borders

And the finish of this neat Quilt of Valor top:

Denim Stars & Stripes QOV quilt top - soon to be quilted!

Finished up the QOV Mystery Quilt just last Friday:

Stars A Waving Mystery Quilt of Valor

And of course we're STILL working on the Allietare Mystery, one of which you'll remember will be used as one of our 2016 East Central IL QOV fundraisers:

48+ Gold Star Allietare blocks - just a few more to go!

These are just the first of MANY Quilt of Valor quilt tops that will be getting finished/bordered out and ALL ready to quilt over the next few weeks!

UPDATE 2/11/2016:  another NEAT finish of one of our Doris's Quilt of Valor quilt top:

Adding those borders!

Really like how this QOV turned out!

Another of our Doris's original pattern design for this Quilt of Valor ALL bordered out - turned out so eye-catching...love ALL the wonderful patriotic fabrics in this one:

Patriotic fabrics in this 'Doris Original' Quilt of Valor

For now, time to get back to it...

Btw - Happy Belated NEW Year!
~Deb

On to Clue #5 of Allietare!

While I still have plenty to finish on Clue #4, wanted to get as much done on Clue #5 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare Mystery so once completed, could go back and 'catch-up' on Clue #4!

The first part of Clue #5 getting ready to be assembled for Allietare #2,
a 2016 Fundraiser for our East Central IL QOV Group ;-)

Allietare #1, the one I'm keeping for me is waiting in the wings, waiting to be sewn into the necessary units:

HSTs from Clue #1, will now be used for Clue #5 of Allietare #1, ready and waiting
try saying that twice w/white chocolate in your mouth ;-)  Typing it was challenging enough!

Chain piecing these units is a breeze - especially with the great pressing instructions Bonnie gave us, they nest perfectly!

Chain piecing the HST units, they nest perfectly together w/Bonnie's pressing instructions

I have plenty to finish up to keep me busy for the rest of the day during this monsoon season we are determined to have in our MidWestern part of the country ;-).  We're currently under flood warnings until tomorrow afternoon.  Luckily our house is on high ground.  Much of our farm ground will soon be under water but, since it's not time to plant, not much of an issue for now.  Only the roads will be impassable for the time being.  A good time to sew/quilt!

Prayers for those tornado victims and their families to the south of us. The pics have been heart-breaking.


To see what ALL the other Allietare Mystery quilters are up to, Please follow this direct web link:
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-5.html

UPDATE 12/29/2015 - Finished up the first part of Clue #5 for Allietare #2:

The first part of Clue #5 for Allietare #2 complete!

Finished the second part of Clue #5 for BOTH Allietares:

Second part of Clue #5 for Allietare #1 - denoted w/light gray constant

Allietare #2 w/darker gray - Second part of Clue #5 Finished!

Now to finish up the first part of Clue #5 for Allietare #1 in the lighter gray ;-)

UPDATE 01/02/2016 - Clue #5 is now complete for BOTH Allietares!

Clue #5 ALL done for Allietare #1!

Now to go back and finish Clue #4 for BOTH Allietares ;-)

Time to get back to it.  Take care EVERYONE and stay safe!
~Deb

Let the Allietare Mystery of 2015 Begin
Clue #1 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare MQ
Clue #2 of Mystery Quilt Allietare
Clue #3 of Allietare Mystery Quilt
Clue #4 of the Holiday Mystery Quilt - Allietare
Clue #5 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt

Playing Catch-Up w/Allietare

In between ALL the Christmas celebrations, got a few hours to cut/sew on Clue #4 of Bonnie Hunter's Holiday Mystery Quilt, Allietare:

Clue #4 - getting started

All the pieces to Clue #4 have been cut - for BOTH Allietares!

3 hours later - ALL the cutting was complete for Clue #4 for BOTH Allietares

Sewing has begun on Clue #4 for the first Allietare:

Chain piecing Clue #4...LOTS of chain piecing!

There's still plenty to do before Clue #5 arrives in just a few hours...time to get back to it...

Hope you ALL had a wonderful and:

Merry Christmas cake - it was yummy!

To see what ALL the Allietare Mystery participants are currently up to, Please follow this direct web link:  http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/sewing-parties-are-best-kind-of-parties.html

UPDATE 1/25/2016:  Got the tree and 'most' of the Christmas decorations down, celebrated 3 January birthdays, endured a flood followed by an ice storm, and more recently the latest MidWest Blizzard!  In between ALL of this Fun, have been working like a mad woman trying to get caught up with ALL three Mysteries!  Here's Clue #4 finally finished for BOTH Allietares...Whew!

6 of the 12 piles

Each pile contains 20 sewn units totaling 240 units for BOTH Allietares!

I just did the math for Clue #4 = 1440 Total parts for BOTH Allietares...No wonder it took yours truly soooo long to sew!

On to Clue #6 to cut/sew the blocks together, since I already have Clue #5 completed...WooHoo!

Later,
~Deb

Let the Allietare Mystery of 2015 Begin
Clue #1 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare MQ
Clue #2 of Mystery Quilt Allietare
Clue #3 of Allietare Mystery Quilt
Clue #4 of the Holiday Mystery Quilt - Allietare
Clue #5 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt

Allietare Clue #3 well underway!

In between Christmas shopping and wrapping presents, found some time to squeeze in the cutting/sewing of Bonnie Hunter's 2015 Allietare MQ Clue #3:

Gold & Neutral 4-patches for Allietare MQ Clue #3

Again, chain piecing to the rescue!

Chain piecing the 4-patch units

Still LOTS to do before the next clue arrives!

The first batch of Clue #3 for Allietare #1 getting ready to be sewn into 4-patches

You may remember, I am creating not one but TWO Allietares - one I'm keeping just for me ;-), and the other is being created as a 2016 fundraiser for our East Central IL QOV Group.

UPDATE 12/19/2015 - Second batch of 4-patches for Clue #3 for Allietare #2 complete:

Second batch of 4-patches ALL finished!

To see and enjoy what ALL the other Allietare Mystery Quilt participants are up to, Please follow this direct web link: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-3.html

For now, time to wrap a few, sew a few...;-)
~Deb

Let the Allietare Mystery of 2015 Begin
Clue #1 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare MQ
Clue #2 of Mystery Quilt Allietare
Clue #3 of Allietare Mystery Quilt
Clue #4 of the Holiday Mystery Quilt - Allietare
Clue #5 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt

Off and Sewing on Clue #2 of the Allietare MQ

Running a bit late w/my date for Clue #2 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt of Bonnie Hunter's.  Had a previous Quilt of Valor deadline that had to be met prior to getting to resume sewing on this mystery. You'll be happy to know, Miss Betty & I met our deadline and now, let the sewing/pressing/trimming resume!

Both Clue #2 sets of Allietares have one side sewn,
just starting to sew the second side.
We'll trim and press EVERYTHING once ALL the sewing is complete!

Sewing the diagonal w/offset needle position on Ruby Sue - works great!

Chain piecing those Santa Hats is the ONLY way to go on this Mystery ;-)

Since you'll remember, we are creating not one but TWO Allietare's - one for yours truly, YES, I'm actually keeping one this year, and the second for a 2016 fund-raiser for our East Central IL QOV Group.

We're keeping this posting short - time to get back to the business of Clue #2 of the Allietare MQ.

To see what ALL the other Allietare Mystery Quilt participants are up to, Please follow this direct web link:
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/allietare-mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html

Time to get back to the Allietare MQ FUN!

UPDATE 12/10/2015: First set of 'Santa Hats' complete:

Fist set of Clue #2 - Santa Hats ;-)

Back to finishing up the second set...

UPDATE 12/12/2015 - Second set of Santa Hats complete!

Second set of Santa Hats from Clue #2 - FINISHED!

On to Clue #3!

Later,
~Deb

Let the Allietare Mystery of 2015 Begin
Clue #1 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare MQ
Clue #2 of Mystery Quilt Allietare
Clue #3 of Allietare Mystery Quilt
Clue #4 of the Holiday Mystery Quilt - Allietare
Clue #5 of the Allietare Mystery Quilt