Quilt of Valor

I thought I would write a quick post while I have a few minutes to show what I've been doing the last couple of weeks.  I'm sure most of you have heard of the foundation, Quilts of Valor.  If you haven't, this is a wonderful organization whose mission is to "cover service members and veterans touched by war with comforting and healing Quilts of Valor."

While deciding what to purge out of my fabric closet, I thought I would do something even better than just donating a box or two of fabric this year.  Like most quilters, I tend to hoard collect fabric!  I thought what better way to use fabric I no longer want than to actually MAKE a quilt to donate.  By creating a quilt to make someone feel comforted and happy, I would also get the satisfaction of actually making something quickly and feel like I got in some quality sewing time.  I did some searching to see which organizations are accepting quilts and was overwhelmed to find so many wonderful groups.

Based on the style of fabrics I have on hand, I chose to make something for an adult.  I had read articles about Quilts of Valor in the past but decided to do additional research.  After reading the info on their website and seeing what a huge impact they have had, I chose to do a Quilt of Valor in the traditional red, white and blue colors.  There is a set of guidelines that gives the basic requirements for donating a quilt.  According to their website, they have donated 115,900 quilts to date!  I think that is absolutely amazing!

This is a double Irish chain and I did a simple border on two sides to get the quilt to the required dimensions.  It went together very quickly and I got tremendous satisfaction from making it.  I will eventually quilt it in the upcoming months.  I hope to make more quilts to donate in down time when I need to "use up fabric!". 

I  put this little Easter basket quilt together the other day.  It was fast and easy to do and again, gratifying to see something finished so quickly.  And I cut into some gorgeous unused florals, even better!  

And finally, I made a bed skirt to coordinate with the Ocean Waves quilt I made for our bed.  I wound up using fabric I had on hand that I originally had bought for a quilt backing.  It worked out perfectly and once again, I used something out of my closet!  Yay!

I know, I know, there are some of you wondering where all the vintage floral pillows went!  And why haven't I made the new pillows out of the florals I showed you?  Well. . . . after I put the new bed skirt and quilt on the bed and saw how well it all tied with the existing floral area rug, I thought I would try living with it like this for awhile.  I am kind of liking this new de-pillowed, clean, calm and serene look!  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE vintage florals and will always love vintage florals.  But I was getting tired of the time it takes every morning to make the bed with a dozen decorative pillows!  Not to mention where they all wind up every night when my husband unmakes the bed!  So I'm trying this for now, I still may add two smaller pillows in front of the shams, it seems to still need a little something, but overall, I am pretty happy with the new look.

Hope you all are getting lots of spring sewing done!  Until next time. . . .Happy Quilting!

Bedroom Decorating

I thought I would share a little bit about our bedroom, so I thought I would let you all in for a peek!

As you probably know, I am currently in the process (and a very LONG process at that!) of making an Ocean Waves quilt for our bed.  It is going to be the inspiration for, what I hope to be, a new look for our bedroom.  It may take me awhile to get it all together and complete it, but in the mean time, I will show you what our bed currently looks like so you can see the "before" look.

I have had a Ralph Lauren comforter that I have been in love with for years and this originally set the tone and look for our bed.  I made the nine-patch quilt using these colors as my inspiration.  I also collect vintage floral fabrics and they happened to work perfectly with the colors and look as pillows for our bed.

I used an extra flat sheet and made the Euro pillow shams to match the comforter.  Our wrought iron bed frame is not an antique one, but I still love the look.  However it has turned color!  It used to be very white, now it's sort of an ecru.  This is one of the reasons (among others) that I am wanting to change things up a bit.

As a quilter, it's always about the quilts!  I like to constantly change things out but I always keep things flowery and colorful.  I love pattern on pattern, especially anything with vintage-style roses, and I love soft, pretty, vintage colors, and I love busy.  I try not to get too caught up in the matchy-matchy look and just keep putting things together until it "works."  And yes, I make the bed every morning!  I cannot stand an unmade bed!

Here is the "new" look I am aiming towards, although it could change at any minute!  The blue floral is a vintage drapery fabric, the pink is an old Ralph Lauren fabric and the stripe is a home dec fabric I bought on eBay years ago and have been saving for the perfect project.  I guess you could say I am going a bit bolder with color, although all of my accents and furniture pieces will be whites and off-whites.  Hopefully the color won't be too bold and the overall look will still be soft with accents of color.  We'll see!  I am still hunting for a stripe or ticking to coordinate. I will have to complete the quilt and pillows and then make a decision once it is all put together.

In the mean time, I am hoping to start machine quilting my Ocean Waves soon, the marking is just about completed.  It's a lot of work, I forgot how much time goes into such a huge quilt!  I will show more photos once I make some progress.  Until next time, Happy Quilting!