Where has she been????

I know...I've been a bad blogger!  Time is such an issue for all of us, isn't it?  But I have been busy in artistic pursuits...mainly art journaling.  And of course playing with the grandkids and working full time...you all know the drill! 

I have slowed down on my quilting endeavors....#one reason, Jim retired and $$$ are tight, so I stay away from the quiltshops.  But I have been digging out my scraps and using them to make quilts of valor.  On Veterans Day, our Kansas City Area QOV awarded 9 wonderful quilts to very deserving Vietnam veterans.  What an honor to meet one of the only living Medal of Honor recipients and present him with a quilt.  It was truly an honor to meet the men and women who served our country and received very little thanks upon returning to the USA. 

Korean war veteran

Medal of Honor

This year, starting January 1, 2013....I am taking an online course called Lifebook 2013.  Also, starting February 1, 2013....another awesome online class with Joanne Sharpe, Letter Loving 201.  Another project that I have started is an Artjournal Calendar Challenge with Kate Crane.  Here is a view of my December and January pages.  It is a great idea and forces me to journal just a little bit everyday!

I have had the week off, and spent a couple of days in my pajamas playing in my studio...what have you been up to?

Hoping that all of you have had a Merry Christmas, and that you will be blessed in the coming New Year!  

Color Lovin' Bonus Lesson #34 Build-a-Doodle

Hello all of you Color Lovelies!  and for my quilt friends, you might want to grab a pen and paper and play with us today.   How does one doodle?  How do you explain how to doodle?  I just do it, and I don't think about it...you know that "art trance".  So I sat and thought about it, and decided to break it down for you.  Use basic shapes like circles, teardrops, some curleques, and start building!

 I have labeled the Tangles that are used here.  You can go to Tangle Patterns for great instructions on how to make these.  They are Dragonair, AHH, Angel Fish, and Soo Flowers.  There are so many choices, use these or whatever appeals to you the most. 

A few more "doodled" pictures for you...

Ready to color.

I started this one while sitting and waiting for my car to be repaired!  Who knows what else I will add to it?  That's the fun of it!  Sometimes I just put it down, and go back a day later and keep on adding until it looks just right!

One of my favorite CZT's is Penny Raille. 

Check out her blog and note the breakdown called

Stacked, Unstacked, and Seperated. 

This really helped me get started, and I hope it will do the same for you. 

Be sure to check out the two videos in the sidebar, they will show you how to tangle!

Here are a couple of other links to videos that will hopefully inspire you!

Flower Explosion

Flowers Are Fun!  (don't you love the music?)

You will want to check out her Dangerous Doodle videos while you are there.  Lots of inspiration!

Your assignment, should you decide to take it,

 is to build-a-doodle using your favorite background method. 

It can be a flower garden or just an abstract object. 

Color it in with any of your wonderful supplies that we have been using.   

You are welcome to use any of the above drawings to get started...sometimes it is just easier. 

Can't wait to see what you come up with! 

Have a doodlicious time.....

Bits and pieces for now

Glam Girl

 This summer, I have been taking a couple of online artsy courses from Joanne Sharpe.  They are so much fun!  And I didn't even know I could actually do this!  It has been years....and I do mean years since I have really tried to do much art.   Most of what we are doing is creating art journals.  Here are a few of my pieces.

Jordyn, Art Girl

Max the singing cat

Last Saturday, we had our Quilts of Valor Sewing Bee...here is a little bit of show and tell for you...Enjoy!

This is a sampler made from orphan blocks that have been donated to us.

OK...all of you Elvis fans stop drooling!

This was an unfinished Round Robin that was donated and finished by a member of the sewing bee.

Yellow Brick Road pattern, but I think we will call it Road to Freedom

Scrappy Stars...don't you just love it!

Hope you are all doing something today

 that makes you happy!

Barn Quilts

I am sure most of you have seen barn quilts on your travels.  When we travel through Iowa, it is one of my favorite things to do...look for the barn quilts.  If I still lived on the farm, I would have quilt block on my barn.  But what block would I choose????

Today, I have a treat for you...a guest blogger!  My guest is Suzi Parron from Stone Mountain, Georgia.  She has co-authored with Donna Sue Groves a new book featuring Barn Quilts across the United States. 



Sharon, thanks for inviting me to your blog today.



I was in Missouri for the first time recently—Hatton, to be exact—to share the story of barn quilts with a group of interested folks in the area. On the way to a terrific farm-to-table benefit dinner, we stopped to see this Farmer’s Daughter block. Just picture perfect!

Some of you may not be familiar with barn quilts; they are quilt blocks painted on plywood and hung on barns and other buildings for passersby to enjoy. There are over 4000 of them in 46 states!


I am not a quilter of any renown, but when I stumbled upon this barn near Cadiz, Kentucky, four years ago, I recognized the Flying Geese pattern.

The owners told me that barn quilts are a way of publicly honoring quilters and the generations of women who worked on family farms, as well as a means of bringing a community together to celebrate their heritage.


Soon, I was hooked and began traveling the country, gathering the stories of barn quilts. I was blessed to be chosen by Donna Sue Groves, who founded the barn quilt movement to honor her mother’s quilting art, to tell the story of how the quilt trail began in 2001 in Ohio and spread throughout the country.


I love this photo of a block called Pappy’s Pride, in Marion, Kentucky. The farm has been in the Miles family for a couple of generations, and as you can see the barn is still in use to dry the tobacco crop.

One of my favorite barn quilt stories came about when Donna Sue sent me an article that featured this barn. She called it “elegant,” and I have to agree. Margaret Shipler, who was 83 at the time, painted these quilts in honor of her husband shortly after he passed away. She chose the simple patterns that he loved in her quilts and the patriotic colors that reflected his military service. What really struck me was the sashing that she created in between each of the blocks, complete with painted stitches!


Margaret’s story was one of many that I heard of a barn quilt being painted as a tribute to a deceased loved one, but Margaret insisted that her husband would have done nothing but grin with delight at seeing it. “He loved his parties,” she told me, “and one of his favorite things to do was to get together with friends. This isn’t just a row of barn quilts. It’s my husband’s block party!”

My three years of travel in writing the book took me from my home in Georgia to far-flung states such as Michigan, New York, and Colorado, and enriched my life tremendously. What’s not to love about a farm-fresh breakfast after sleeping under antique quilts?


Since the book’s publication in February by Ohio University Press, I am on the road again—this time to share the story of the quilt trail with quilt guilds and other groups. Quilters have been so enthusiastic about this new form of “quilting,” and I have been overwhelmed with hospitality everywhere we have visited. Right now the fridge is full of Wisconsin cheese, and there is a jar of farm-fresh maple syrup ready for Sunday’s pancakes!

The cover of the book features a Corn and Beans barn quilt—the most common pattern and a reflection of the two major crops grown across the U.S. This one is in Kankakee, Illinois—a great destination for a barn quilt tour.


For more information on barn quilts or the book, visit www.barnquiltinfo.com Be sure to check out the map; it is amazing to see all of the places that barn quilts have sprung up in only eleven short years.


Thanks again, Sharon, for your hospitality here on your blog. All good things to you!


Suzi

And the winner is.....

The Random Generator has selected Jeanne

to receive the mug rug!

I hope all of you have enjoyed the Red White and Blue Blog hop.  I have some serious catching up to do, and have enjoyed all the beautiful blocks and inspiration on everyone's blogs.

A big thanks and hugs to our hostesses!

Back later to show you what I have been working on...

Stars and Stripes Block

Stars and Stripes

10" block

Welcome to the Red White and Blue Blog hop! I hope you are finding lots of inspiration as you make your way through all the wonderful blogs.  My block is fairly simple...contains one of my favorite blocks...the Sawtooth star.  I will try to provide cutting and sewing instructions for you...please bear with me!

Cutting Instructions

For the Stripes unit:

Cut six red rectangles   1 1/2" X 5 1/2" 

 

Cut four white rectangles   1 1/2" X 5 1/2"

For the Star unit:

A.  Cut eight white background squares   1 3/4" X 1 3/4"

B.  Cut eight white background rectangles  1 3/4" X 3"

C.  Cut sixteen blue squares  1 3/4" X 1 3/4"

D.  Cut two red squares  3" X 3"

Sewing instructions

Use a 1/4" seam

You will make 2 of the "stripe" or railfence blocks.

Sew together in the order as shown in the picture.  Press towards the red.

Each unit should measure 5 1/2" square.

Now you will make 2 of the sawtooth star units. 

First make 8 "flying geese" units from B and C.  To make one flying geese unit, place a blue square (B) atop a white (C) rectangle with outer edges aligned. (right sides together)  On the back of the top square marek the diagonal and sew on this diagonal marking.  Cut off the excess seam allowance.  Press the remainder towards the corner.  Repeat this with another blue square on the other end of the rectangle.  Make eight of these.

Now lay out all of the units as shown below.  Sew together, pressing the top and bottom row seams to the center and the middle row to the outside.  You will make 2 sawtooth blocks.

They should measure 5 1/2" square.

Now you are ready to sew your block together.  Place the railfence units and the sawtooth units together as shown below.  Now your block is finished!  It will measure 10 1/2" square. 

Now what will you make with your block?  I would love to see what you come up with!

Here is a quick and easy mug rug made with just a sawtooth unit and a railfence unit.

Or maybe just a simple wall hanging or banner with your choice of a border.

Or...a quilt to be donated to Quilts of Valor......

If you would like a chance to win this mug rug, please leave a comment telling me

what the 4th of July means to you. 

At the end of the Blog Hop, I will announce a winner. 

Be sure to visit these wonderful and inspiring blogs today for more Red White and Blue inspiration.

Snoodles

The Raspberry Rabbits

KrisD

Quilts From My Crayon Box

Elaine

And tomorrow you will be able to visit the following  increcredible blogs for even more fun and inspiration.

Heather K

Just Carol

Quilt Doodle Doodles

Sheila's Quilt World

Teresa in Music City

Wishing all of you a safe and happy holiday with family and friends!



Are you ready for the Hop?

In just a few days the Red, White and Blue Blog Hop will begin. 
You will see hundreds of blocks, lots of inspiration, and a some giveaways! 
Please join us on July 1st!

Quilts of Valor

Today I finished a top for Quilt of Valor, it was 95 degrees outside...a very good afternoon to sit at the sewing machine!   I love this pattern, it is called Summer Breeze and you can find it in Kim Brackett's Scrap-Basket Surprises.  This is the second time I have made this pattern, the first was done in pastels. 

If you are interested in learning more about Quilts of Valor, you can check out the website.  Also, some Public Broadcasting television stations are airing a 2 hour special about the quilts and the people that make them as well as the recipients.  It is heartwarming, so I hope you will be able to view it.

I belong to a local QOV quilting bee, we meet again this coming Saturday.  It is a very prolific group of ladies!  If you would like to help out, we are always in need of fabric.  So if you are cleaning out your stash and have some fabric, 2 1/2 inch strips of fabric or a UFO quilt top that you think would make a nice quilt to give to a soldier or veteren, contact me, and we will be glad to take it off your hands.  Maybe there is a group close to you?  At any rate, it is a worthy cause!

Hope you are staying cool on these hot summer days...