Batavia Quilt Show

I helped in the Quilts of Valor booth at the Batavia Quilt show last weekend.  I thought you might like to see a few pictures.  The first pictures are of the challenge quilts.  I took a picture of the Challenge theme info.  It was easier than trying to remember all the info and retype it.

challenge info sheet

 Here are a few of the challenge quilts.

Thelma's 'box' quilt

made from men's ties

a chemo jacket, embellished for her mother

recycled scarf

recycled jeans and shirts, she used the cuffs of the sleeves, too.  She also machine quilted, hand quilted and tied this quilt.

This quilt used lots of 'non-quilty' items in it.  It really caught the attention of the kids and the men.

Sesame Street recycle quilt

I took a picture of her description, too.

I loved this quilt, using the tags from clothing.  I even took a few close-up pictures so that you could get a better look at some of the tags.

clothing tag quilt

close up, see the 'junk food' label? 

close up of the clothing tag quilt

Just to show the Quilts of Valor booth that I was helping in.

Rita, our fearless leader

Here are some of the other quilts that were in the show. 

love those funny faces

selvedge string quilt

3-D dresses, made for baby's 1st Birthday

Yo-Yo's

lots and lots of hankies

the blue screen of death

vintage quilt

3-D quilt

loved this dragon!

I also made a few purchases from the vendors.  I'll show some of those in another post.  Hope you liked the quilt show.  Wish I could have shown more, and taken better pictures.  I didn't have an entry in the show this year.  Oh well, there will always be next year....

Busy past few weeks

The past few weeks have been busy for me.  The most important part was that my mother got married!  Yipee!  She married a wonderful man, that our family has known for over 3 decades.  Our families went to church together, and, grew up with his kids, in church and in school. 

the happy couple with their wedding mini quilt

I've shown pictures of this quilt on previous posts...

I didn't want to show the completed quilt, since it was a surprise.  Now I can show the completed quilt.

mom's wedding quilt

The wedding was wonderful, and we made many memories, as a family, over the days leading up to the wedding, and during the wedding and after.

Melvin, my new 'stepfather' is a hoot!  He has a wonderful sense of humor.  My oldest son has had me looking for him a purple tie at thrift stores.  His favorite color is purple.  Well, when Melvin heard this, he told me he has a purple suit that he'd give to Christopher. 

Connor, mom and Christopher in the purple suit

After Christopher came out in the purple suit, Connor decided that he had to try it on, too. 

Connor 'rockin' the purple suit

 Well, since the suit now belongs to big brother, Connor wants me to find him a leisure suit, too.  Guess I'm gonna have to hit those thrift store again, darn!  He's gonna need a white belt and shoes, too, to complete that outfit.

Well, I did get a chance to visit a few thrift stores while I was in Texas (before the purple suit tryon).  I didn't get much, but, I did find some lovely wedding ring placemats, and 18 thimbles.  Wow, 18 thimbles!

placemats & thimbles

2 Christmas thimbles

2 wooden thimbles

2 flower thimbles

2 airplane thimbles and a bird thimble

2 animal thimbles

a mermaid thimble and a Bahamas thimble

New Oklahoma thimble

I also picked up a few patterns at a thrift store.  The vest pattern has the Alamo on it.  Gotta have a pattern of the Alamo, if you're from Texas.

4 patterns

 My BFF of over 35 years lives in the same town as my mother (and in-laws and brother...)  Here is us at the wedding.  I'm in the blue dress.

Cheryl & Michele

I've been wanting this pattern for a long time, but I couldn't find it, or the pattern book at any of my local stores.  I've been looking for it for a few years now.  Well, I mentioned it to the local quilt store owner in my hometown back at Thanksgiving, while Michele was with me.  They ordered it, and, now I have it. 

Route 33 pattern

 When I got home, I stopped in at my LQS, and purchased Bonnie Hunters new book, and also got a squishey in the mail from @pril at Kool Beenz.

Aurifil thread from @pril & Bonnie's new book

Thanks @pril and Aurifil!  Oh yea, Bonnie's new book is great!

Lots happened while we were away, like our mail box getting blown up on July 4th!  The pictures are on my phone, and, I don't have web access on my phone, so, I can't show you, but, just know that it is now in multiple pieces.  Oh well.  Also, on the drive home, we had to pull over to take a picture of this 'spider' that I'd seen on the way down.  We also took a few other pictures next to the spider.

car 'spider' in Stamford, Texas

Stamford host the Texas Cowboy Reunion, too

truck beds buried in the dirt in Stamford, TX

Now to try to get back to 'normal' again.  I don't think that will happen for a while, since we never knew what 'normal' was to begin with.