April's One Monthly Goal - Check

My One Monthly Goal, hosted by Patti over at Elm Street Quilts, for April was to complete a top for Quilts of Valor.  Not only did I get one top finished, but two.  Below are pictures of the making of the "Goal" top and the second top I finished in April. 

The beginnings are pretty messy, but it works for me.

 

Lots of stars

 

Trying to see what works, and what doesn't

 

Almost done

 

Done and finished before the 4/15 deadline

 

Top Two

This Block is Party Hats and found HERE (free pattern)

 

Blocks all in a row

 

Lola at attention honoring our military

 

Second top for April finished

 

 

One of my 2017 goals was to make three Quilts of Valor tops and I have now reached that goal and it is only April.  Our wonderful QoV leader had kindly put together a kit for a top for a member that hadn't picked it up so, being that person who rarely says no, I took the kit.  I've never worked from a kit before, but it looks like it will be fairly easy since everything is right there.  I hope to get it made before returning to Nevada in November.  Yep, we head out for Oregon on May 5th where we will be working as campground managers at Cape Perpetua Campground near Yachats, Oregon.  So if you are in the area this summer, please stop by and say hi.

Linking up with Elm Street Quilts for April's One Monthly Goal finish.  WooHoo!

Happy Stitching

One Monthly Goal for April 2017

It is going to be a hectic two weeks as my One Monthly Goal for April will be to complete a top for a Quilts of Valor quilt.  This one has to be done my April 15th so that it can be quilted and awarded to a very special Navy Seal in our area.  Wish me luck on getting it done.  Want to know more about One Monthly Goal, head over the Elm Street Quilts HERE.  Patty does a great job hosting it and it really helps to have a set deadline to get things accomplished.

I have no pattern for this top and have something in the back of my head about using the cut up panel I got, a lot of stars and maybe some crown blocks. Oh and some leftovers.

I had bought a stand up design wall awhile back that doesn't work well, so I've folded it to fit on our coat closet which doesn't allow for much design.  The blocks on it now are only 14" square and there are two of each shown that I cut out from the panel.  Living in a 5th wheel doesn't provide much in the way of walls.  Another draw back from the stand up design wall is that fabric blocks do not "stick" to it and keep falling off.  I need to find an alternative.  Any suggestions?

I made a few blocks while at my quilt guild's retreat the first week in March.  I used a new tool I got from a vendor at our quilt show in February.  It really works well and you can purchase one HERE.

 

They are easy to make and don't take too awful long to piece together.   I've been string piecing them which make them go faster.

 

Pieces and parts

 

I'm making all different size stars and hope I can figure out how to place them so they are random and appealing.

 



While at the quilt show, I also bought a pack of Liberty Crown by Quiltsmart which is a different way of doing paper piecing, at least I think it is.  They use printed fusible interfacing and I've started one block, but at a stand still as I need to buy some invisible thread and my LQS doesn't open until tomorrow.  She is only open on Mondays and the second weekend of the month.  Otherwise, I'd have to travel into Las Vegas to find some and I didn't feel like driving 140 miles roundtrip to buy some.  Call me lazy.

Pack with the interfacing beside it

 

First partial block

 

I'm not sure if I'll use some of these or not.  Time will tell after I get the invisible thread.

 

Another idea I have is to use a lot of small triangle pieces I had left over from the last Quilts of Valor top I made.  I mean a container full of red, blue and off white ones.  Lots of possibilities for them in this top.  Will I use them?  Not sure as it will take a lot of time to sew into HSTs (half square triangles), trim them and piece them.

 

Leftovers

 

I do need to get some redwork blocks done if there is any chance of getting it finished in time to hang up for Christmas and since I have to have the QoV top done by April 15th, I should get several of them done.

 

Happy stitching!