Clarification

I made a statement in a recent post that I am in charge of the quilts for veterans in our local quilt group and that I try to make at least one quilt top each month. Since I had lots of “kudos” comments, I felt I needed to clarify a few things.

First  -  I generally only make tops, because I stink at “domestic” machine quilting and I don’t own a longarm. Most often they are quilted by a wonderful member of my quilt group, Sharon Patterson. She is a fireball when it comes to whipping these tops into shape.

Second  - Many of the tops I make are from blocks that are made by people in my group and I just assemble them and pass them on to a machine quilter. Which is why I can produce one or more a month! The blocks are not always perfectly pieced (or even the same size), but I enjoy the challenge of setting them all together into a quilt that I know will be appreciated by one of our veterans.

Third  - We don’t call ours, Quilts of Valor, because the specifications for that particular organization are quite specific and we (as a group) don’t always qualify. But, we have found numerous local Veteran’s homes and services that will take a quilt of any size so we make as many as we can.

I am a very patriotic person and this project is very dear to me. My Dad was in the Navy and I think of him every time I work on these quilts.

The only downside of this responsibility is that I am not (and never have been) a fan of the color scheme, red, white and blue. However, this is a small price to pay to add a little joy to a veteran’s day.

And finally – The reason you don’t see many of these quilts is that I am usually finishing one ten minutes before I have to leave for our meeting. I will try to be better about this in the future as they do deserve to be seen.

Here is one I finished last night to take to Thursday’s meeting. The blocks in this one were made by Donna Zimmerman and are expertly pieced. I didn’t need to trim or fudge one block! Thanks Donna. 

The pattern for the blocks was from Dar (Dar's Patchwork Garden). I learned about her wonderful quilts through Kevin (Kevin the Quilter) and his fantastic efforts to create quilts for veterans.

And the border fabric came from the collection of Joan LaBar. Joan was a fabulous quilter and the mother of my dear friend Laurie. Joan passed away in October and Laurie has generously been donating her fabrics to fellow quilters. I know Joan would be proud to see her fabrics being put to use for our veterans. Thanks Joan!

So, you see I can't take credit for something that is truly a team effort. Thanks to all who make these quilts possible. It truly takes a village!