Happy Birthday America!

I'm proud to be an American
where at least I know I'm free,
And I won't forget the men who died
who gave that right to me,
And I gladly stand up next to you
and defend her still today,
'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land
God Bless the U.S.A.

by Lee Greenwood 

 
I get chills when I hear this, or any other patriotic song! Back in the 1950's, when Ike was president, we were raised to be proud of our flag and our country and our history and we pledged our devotion to the flag, right along with our devotion to God and family. This day, July 4th, seems to bring that all back to me as we all join together and celebrate and wave our flags and feel thankful for the things that unite us. Happy Birthday America!

 I love to bring out the red, white and blue quilts this time of year. The colors always please me. I am happy to report that the quilt on the left, Homeport, will be shown in the American Quilter Magazine that is coming out this month. It is a pattern that I designed a few years ago and my friend, Kim McWherten, was asked by the magazine if they could publish the one that she made. I look forward to seeing the magazine and Kim's quilt!

This is another favorite that has adorned our deck each summer. Even in the summertime there are cool breezes and naps to be taken out in the fresh air, so we must have our quilts available.


Enjoy a wonderful weekend, whatever you are up to!

SUMMER SUCCESS STORIES

Summer has come and gone, but for once I can say that I actually got a few things done. The photo above shows my version of the little Orange Peel quilt that I made from Kathleen Tracy's book, Remembering Adelia. It was a delight to make and it gave me an opportunity to display some of my Civil War fabrics that I love so much. I even used a few 5 inch charm squares because they were so easy to find and use. I got two little segments from each square. It added a few samples of fabrics that I only had in those charm packs. As I dug through my fabric I found this Thimbleberries fabric from years ago that was just the perfect color for the border, and the corner squares are from an old Smithsonian print that I have also had for many years. I love this little quilt, and it was made even more special by Mary Flynn at Quilt Hollow who quilted it for me. She did a lovely job and I certainly recommend her if you are looking for a quilter. Mary also quilted my red, white, and blue Prairie Paisley quilt for my grandson. It is in the collage below, and guess what---McCall's Quilting is going to publish it in their Quick Quilts magazine, July 2010 issue! I thought I was really organized to have gotten the quilt completed for a baby that is not coming until December. Now the dear child will have to wait for his quilt for a while. But I made it plenty big and he won't know the difference, and I am psyched!

The collage above shows the several things that I have completed this summer. Along with my little Orange Peel, I have completed five full size UFOs this summer to the point where they are quilted, bound, labeled and delivered to new homes. Also I designed and completed two Honor Guard quilts with the four eagles; the red, white and blue American Dreamer quilt; and two Christmas Punch quilts. I feel good!

As always, more awaits me, including the directions for the Christmas Punch quilt, which I will try to complete this week. Our LQS What's Your Stitch N Stuff had Open House this past Saturday and that was very nice. Lots of browsers looking for classes to sign up for, and lots of classes to choose from, including mine. I will be teaching Indian Paintbrush again, and then Christmas Punch in November. If you are looking for a cute little Christmas quilt to teach you might consider Christmas Punch. It is fun to make and the pattern will be free! (And you can intoduce my patterns to your quilt shop owner!) Also keep in mind that there are other free patterns at my website, PatchalotPatterns.com Also, if you have trouble on my website with overlaying words or links that don't seem to work, re-open the site in Internet Explorer. For some reason the site has issues with other internet browsers. I try, I really do. I wish these various browsers would play nice.

Today is Monday and Friday will be here in a flash! Enjoy your week everyone!

THE AGING PROCESS

We had another big storm last night. Our deck, which is covered by a roof, was totally soaked. All our wicker furniture and cushions was covered, fortunately. But sitting on the table was my cute little red, white and blue quilt with a plant on it. Last summer this little quilt sat on the table all summer and when fall rolled around, I took the plant off it to bring it in the house and noticed that the center was rotted! I had the plant sitting in a clay saucer, but apparently they are more porous than I realized. Oh, my poor little quilt! I had planned to do some sort of repair job this past winter, but that never happened. Summer came and I put it out on the table again, with the rotted center covered by a plant. How ingenious.

Well, my poor little quilt took another hit. It was dripping wet from the rain when I brought it in the house, and the red fabric was bleeding. Sigh! Now I will try to save it once again. Spray n Wash all the red stains and throw it in the wash with a load of darks and a dye catcher sheet. Hope for the best. The worst that can happen is that it will come out looking like an old quilt. How bad is that? I love old quilts!

BLUE X TWO

At long last I have completed these two baby quilt tops! Last post I showed a corner of the above quilt, but, as you can see I changed the corners. I loved the Friendship Stars so much, and I happened to have several, so I took the 4-patch blocks out of the corners of this quilt and added stars. It would have been fine if I hadn't seen the stars, but I am happier with this. What do you think? Oh, and humility blocks have been discovered and will remain as they are.

The second little quilt quickly became my favorite. Those darn little stars did the trick! Now for the quilting!

A side note to my last blog post, I received a comment from Karen Dianne who reminded me that she sews in her kitchen and has her fabric stored in the pantry! Go check out her blog and see her pretty pantry! (And her progress on her Indian Paintbrush quilt, which she re-named to suit herself. Imagine!)

Have a happy scrappy day!