Saturday was the annual Quilts of Valor National Sew-In day! We had at least 35 people sewing, ironing, and cutting on Saturday, at our location. Our area had 2 different locations hosting sew-in's.
We presented 4 different quilts during the day. First, we presented quilts to a former Navy man, a former Marine and a former Army guy.
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| Navy, Marine, Army |
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| showing the back of their Quilts of Valor |
Jerry, the Navy guy, also worked with us most of the day. His cousin, Rita, is the state coordinator for Illinois. Jerry ironed blocks for us. Thanks for the help, Jerry.
Later in the afternoon, we got to award a Quilt of Valor to a Chicago lady, who was in the Navy during WWII. She has been in the news the past few months, since she was mugged and beaten, while standing in front of her building, waiting for her daughter to pick her up for a dentist appt. At least they caught the guy (he has done this to at least 2 other elderly ladies).
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| being wrapped in her Quilt of Valor |
It is always special to see a Quilts of Valor presentation, and get to meet the veterans that we sew for.
As I said, it was a large group, of 35+ that was working on Quilts of Valor quilts on Saturday.
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| ladies stitching |
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| cutting and prepping blocks |
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| more ladies sewing (see my purple featherweight?) |
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| even more ladies sewing |
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| another group of stitchers |
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| last group of stitchers |
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| 4 ladies ironing |
One lady was from Alaska. She has sewn with the group in the past, when she come here to visit friends. Always fun to see returning faces.
I finished 2 quilt tops during the sew-in. I have to give a disclaimer: the first top was done a while back, it just needed a small border cut and stitched on to be finished. I've been bad, and hadn't done the border.
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| Crosses & Losses pattern |
My 2nd finish has been in strips for a while now, I just hadn't gotten around to sewing the 5 rows together (bad me). It is now done, too. I have the backing and binding ready to be stitched on Tuesday (our regular monthly sew-in date).
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| Disappearing 9 patch pattern |
We had several other tops finished during the day.
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| panel surrounded by pieced blocks |
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| another panel surrounded by pieced blocks |
Our chapter has an Opportunity quilt every year. We sell opportunity tickets all year, and draw the winner in November. This is the new quilt.
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| 2017 Opportunity quilt |
Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. Let me know if you want a ticket.
One of the ladies wore a great sweatshirt. She let me take a pictures (and post it). I'm trying to find this online, but, I'm not having any luck so far. It is a 'Life is Good' shirt.
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| Life is Good sweatshirt |
If you see this online, please let me know, since I haven't found it yet.
Tuesday is our regular Quilts of Valor sew-in. Maybe I'll finish my 3rd quilt top. We'll see. I'm trying to get all of these UFO's done and out the door before I start any more new one's.
I found the Life Is Good shirt a while back but it was already sold out :( Evidently they (there are other ones) are made for certain places with limited runs. I keep looking! ~Jeanne
ReplyDeleteSome lovely quilts given and made! I like your dream of finishing UFOs before starting a new quilt.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Lots of beautiful quilts for special veterans. Let me know if your dream comes true.
ReplyDeleteWhat great fun, I love seeing who the quilts go to.
ReplyDeleteGreat job. I have been having a challenge with our guild to get people to head the charity committee. We do gurney quilts for the military.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos, so inspiring! Wish I could be part of something like this!
ReplyDeleteTHis is a great project. We do not have any groups in our area. Beautiful quilts. I am so glad you got to present 4 quilts
ReplyDeleteI really admire your groups and the good works they do.
ReplyDeleteYou had some great looking quilts made during your QOV sew in. I like your idea of finishing your UFOs before starting another one, but that would be I couldn't start any quilts for years since I have over 75 UFOs. lol Right now I'm working on putting together 16-18 QOV tops from my block drive. Then I will get back to MY UFOs.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely way to spend a day. And the smiling faces of the recipients of the quilts says it all!
ReplyDeleteIt's always so good to see these pictures, especially the one of the elderly woman. Keep up the wonderful work. You can set up an Ebay alert for that shirt if it gets listed. That may be the only place you'll find it.
ReplyDelete