QOV done

I'm trying to clean my house and this project was in the way and just needed binding.  I had binding that was also in the way, so combine the two and you have a finished Quilt of Valor ready to give to my friend who will give it to a wounded soldier who is traveling through Travis Air Force Base on his/her way home.

My daughter is having a sleepover tomorrow for her 17th birthday and she is going crazy making sure the house is spotless.  While I love having her help clean the house, I'm tired.  I'd rather be quilting!

A couple more yesterday

 Got this one quilted yesterday but boy did it give me some troubles.  I was about 3/4 of the way through the way through the quilt and all of a sudden there was a clunk on the machine and the thread broke.  The machine jumped and scared me.  I'm not sure what happened, but I figured it hit a seam or the needle hit the foot or something and then when I tried to re-thread it, the thread just broke and the needle made a couple weird holes in the quilt top.  I felt the tip of the needle and it had a burr on it so it was time to change the needle.  I know I'm probably bad, but I don't change needles as often as is suggested. I have read online that you are supposed to change needles after every quilt, or after every couple hours sewing, or at least once a week (at the rate I sew), but I can't even remember the last time I changed my needle.  It was so bad that I couldn't remember which direction to put the needle in.  That's the only thing I don't like about my machine.  I have a Janome 1600P DB and it has a round top needle, so you can put it in sideways or backwards just as easily as you can the right way and there isn't a picture on the machine to remind you how to put it in the right way.  It has a groove on one side and a little dip on the other.  The groove goes on the left and the dip on the right.  I should remember because the thread wants to travel down the groove into the hole and come out the dip.  Maybe I will write it on my machine, so 100 quilts from now, I will remember.  I put a needle in and tried and tried to get it right, but the thread kept breaking.  I finally had to look up the directions on line.  Once I got the needle in the right way, I was off again and it was so nice to sew with a new needle :)  It's like cutting with a new rotary cutter blade.  You put up with the old, dull one for so long and then when you finally switch out to a new one think, why did I wait so long?  I have a blade sharpener that I like a lot.  I got it half price at JoAnn's and it is just a little manual one, but it really does make the blade sharper.  It doesn't work forever and eventually I do have to put a new blade in, but it sharpens the blade several times before I have to buy a new one.  Every penny helps.

And one more quilt, just to test and make sure the new needle works.  Yep, no thread breaking.

Oh, and those feet I ordered for my machine, way back on July 4?  Well, I checked yesterday because they still haven't come in the mail yet.  They are out of stock.  I never got an email saying they weren't coming, so I emailed the company and let them know I wasn't happy with them.  They should have let me know they weren't sending them yet.  I'm doing ok not having the foot, but the thread still does catch on the foot when I move to the left at 45 degrees so I have to be careful when I am quilting not to move in that direction.  I'm just really frustrated that a company wouldn't say they didn't have something in stock.  I went back to see if they put it online and sure enough, you can still order the feet and there is no sign they are out of stock on the website either.  I won't be ordering from this company in the future.  They never responded to my email either.  Bad business practices.
This is the website I ordered from in case you are wondering.
https://www.sewingpartsonline.com/

They had the best price on the Janome feet, but I'd rather have the feet when I need them for $5 more and not have to wait 2 weeks to get them.  Disappointed :(

The least they could have done was send me an email to explain they were out of stock so I could make a decision to order somewhere else or wait.

Another Quilt of Valor

I had the center of this one done a long time ago and didn't have any more fabric so it sat in the 'what do I do with it?' pile for a long time.  Today I decided to add the triangle borders and then put the red with white stars.  It isn't my favorite quilt, but it is now a finished top and will hopefully be quilted and into the hands of a wounded warrior soon to say thank you for serving and protecting.  I have to keep reminding myself that finished is better than perfect and sometimes it is ok to not love every single quilt.  The red and blue center is just so busy, especially when you look at it closely.  It makes me dizzy (or maybe it is the medicine).  I increased my dose today to three pills this morning and boy am I dizzy!  Good thing I don't have anywhere to go this morning :)  I do love my summer vacation!

Binky Patrol Sunday

Woke up this morning with a super bad migraine, but what's a girl supposed to do?  How about quilt?  And then take a picture upside down :)

Headed out to Binky Patrol, not thinking I would return with a van full of quilts, but that's what I ended up with.  There are 5 boxes of quilts that will be shipped to Alycia in Colorado for the fire victims and a couple thrown in for the Quilts of Valor.

And to think I started off the day with my tubs empty.  I called my friend Mary who does deliveries for me and said to come over and take all of my quilts and blankets! They need to get into the hands of the kids and I'm not able to do it now.  We had a great talk and she left my house with her car loaded.  I'd say she had about 75 blankets.  How did I fill up so quickly?  I will probably keep about 10 blankets on hand, just for emergencies, but get the rest out as quickly as possible.  I have a couple of friends who adopted some kids and they love to take blankets to CPS for me.  Their kids love to talk to the kids who are waiting for forever homes and to give the blankets away.

Finally Finished

I made this Quilt of Valor way back in May and had my friend Carla quilt it.  It has been sitting on my sewing chair since then, patiently waiting for the binding.  Why does it take me so long sometimes to finish a quilt?  It finally got some attention today since I had binding cut and ready to go from the other QOV.  It will go to Alycia as well. I have one more QOV that is partly done that may or may not get some attention tomorrow.  I want to get the box in the mail on Monday and this is the motivation I need to get working on these UFO's.

QOV finished

 Here's the front...

and the back of the Quilt of Valor.  A small way to say thank you to a service member who gives so much to protect my family's freedom.  This quilt will be on its way to Alycia in Colorado on Monday, along with lots of comfort quilts for the Colorado fire victims.  We are having a packing party tomorrow at our Binky Patrol meeting.

QOV ready to be quilted

Quilt top finished and ready to be quilted, maybe tomorrow, I just don't have the energy tonight.

You have to read this story

http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/2012/07/start-of-healing.html

And when you are done, I hope you join with me in making a Quilt of Valor today.  I have one QOV that just needs binding, one that is a top needing borders and one that you saw yesterday that is all of the blocks finished and needs putting together.

I love making Quilts of Valor, but somehow they get pushed to the back burner with so many other quilt needs.  I make a LOT of kid quilts but after reading this, I'm going to make a commitment to make at least one QOV a month.

If you go to the official QOV site, there are a lot of rules and regulations, but if you send to Alycia, she takes quilts in all colors, with or without a pillowcase.  That's why I love to send to her.  She makes it easy to help out our veterans.

Have you ever made a QOV?  Will you join me in making quilts to say thank you?

more Red, White and Blue blocks

Today I made another 12 blocks and my daughter helped me lay them out.  I'll be sewing these together, adding a border and quilting them up soon.  They will become a Quilt of Valor soon to thank a returning wounded soldier who is protecting my freedom.