Blogger's Quilt Festival- Pete's Quilt

 In honor of Armed Forces Day (tomorrow), the Recon Challenge (today), and because I miss my boy, I'm entering Pete's Album Quilt in the large quilt category of the Blogger's Quilt Festival. 

While Pete was in recruit training for the Marine Corps last Fall, I was stitching this album quilt with a few of my bee friends. We used an assortment of modern red and blue prints on a background of Kona white. 

I presented the completed quilt to him at his graduation at Parris Island, SC in December. He wasn't interested in having his buddies sign it in traditional album quilt style. He's too cool for that. We were thrilled to have him home for Christmas! Don't you just love a young Marine in dress blues?

Since he is still training to be a Reconnaissance Marine at Camp Pendleton, the quilt is on his bed at home. When he is assigned to a permanent duty station, I might let him have it! 

His area of Camp Pendleton has not been affected by the brush fires except as a staging area for evacuees. He was doing well in Recon training, but suffered a setback with tendonitis in his knee. He has recovered and will be joining the next class when they begin phase two in Coronado at the end of the month.

I asked my friend Pat Harrison to quilt it with a patriotic design of stars and stripes. That's Pat on the left, holding up the quilt with me at a guild meeting.

The blue print on the back is from a Quilts of Valor collection that includes phrases such as Miss You, Proud of You, Home Safe. The binding is a bias stripe.

The album block was getting some vintage modern love last year, but I couldn't find instructions that were quite right for my quilt, so I wrote up a tutorial for my bee mates.

Head on over to the Blogger's Quilt Festival and vote (next week) for your favorites in every category.

Pete's Album Quilt

 Pete's quilt is finished! I love how it looks on his bed. I'll get to keep it here for a while as he continues his training. He probably won't take it with him until he is assigned to a permanent duty station. This is not a true representation of his bedside table. When he's home, there would be a phone and ipod charging, headphones, and several knives of various sizes.

If you haven't already heard, my son will be graduating from Marine Corps boot camp in December. I'll give him the quilt then, and have his buddies sign a big label for the back. One month to go! I can't wait to be a Marine Mom!!

I'd like to thank my hive mates in the Modern Stash bee for contributing blocks for this quilt. We started with modern reds and blues. I added lots of oldies and goodies from my own stash, including a bit of Boy Scout fabric to honor his past accomplishments.

 

I totally love the back. The blue print is from the Quilts of Valor collection. It includes the phrases Thank You,  Miss You, Brave One, Home Safe, Proud of You. The bias striped binding is perfect.

It was fun to bring the finished quilt to Ninigret Quilters last night for Show & Tell. Pat, my machine quilter, happened to be holding the other corner. It is always fun to collaborate with her. There is so much you can do with a simple edge-to-edge design- resizing, flipping, shifting. We moved around the repeats until we got it right and it is exactly what I had in mind!

Quilt Stats:

Pete's Album Quilt

56" x 86"

Traditional Block, tutorial here

 Quilted by Pat Harrison, Ocean Waves Quilting Co

Pieced blocks from the Modern Stash Quilting Bee

Pete's Album Quilt Top

Pete's quilt top is done! It looks a little funny in this pic with some light shining through from behind, but you get the idea. Bill is standing on the piano bench and it is almost hanging floor to ceiling. It will fit a twin bed nicely. I think that's all he'll need for a while as single Marine, hopping from one training to another. He'll be in barracks or dorm-style quarters for some time.

 

I paper-pieced the borders on my new Featherweight. The pile of trimmings is proof!

I tried adding the borders to the top by Featherweight, but had a little problem. Skipped stitches after the bulk of the seams, or maybe because it didn't like running over pins. I had to go back and repair a bunch of these holes. I'll have to me more careful.

An additional 2" of navy made for a nice, finished edge.

 

The back is pieced from a Quilts of Valor text print down the middle, a strip of white on each side, and the star print on the edge. Can you read the text? 

Thank You, Home Safe, Miss You, Proud of You

 I managed to not cry as I pieced the back, which was a major accomplishment. 

I cried all day yesterday for no apparent reason. Pete is recovering from the pneumonia, but lost his squad leader billet since he was missing training for 4 days before the initial drill inspection. He missed the actual inspection as well because he went for a medical follow up. Still waiting to hear if he is back to a full training schedule. I'm sure he'll regain some leadership role soon.

Game 3 of the World Series tonight. Go Sox!

WIP Wednesday

Wednesday is my favorite quilty day of the week. I enjoy taking stock each week and re-prioritizing the to-do list. 

Finished: The Ninigret Quilters show has come and gone. I'm happy that it was a fun and successful show. See you all in 2015!

At the top of the list: Pete's album quilt. He is half way through boot camp, so I'd better get moving on getting his quilt done! I was prepared to take it to my machine quilter with no borders. But when I took it out to piece the backing, I wasn't happy with the borderless look.

Now, I'm planning a dark blue border and striped bias binding. But Bill likes a pieced triangle border. I don't have a lot of time, so a decision must be made. It looks like I'm heading to the LQS after lunch.

Next on the list: Mini Quilt Swap using these fabrics, plus a few more from stash. My partner has a Forest of Geese in her inspiration mosaic, so I shrunk the patterns down to mini size. One and a half inch geese blocks? That's right up my alley!

Head on over to Freshly Pieced and check out the adorable blocks Lee is working on!

WIP Wednesday

At the top of the WIP pile is this fun nine patch swap top. It needs to be completed for the Ninigret Quilters show in October. If I can find my bowl of safety pins, I'll start basting soon. When our new mattress was delivered recently, I moved all the quilting supplies out of my bedroom, and now I can't find a whole pile of stuff. I hope it turns up soon!

Next on the list to be done is a baby quilt for my nephew's baby girl due in November. I have a pile of fabric and a pattern ready to go. More nine patches.

Then Pete's quilt will need to be finished in December. He leaves for boot camp next Sunday (sigh) and this will be his graduation gift.

Unfortunately, my Tee quilt will have to wait. 

 As always, it's time to link up and go surfing!

 

WIP Wednesday

 I was happy to make it back to my machine this week. I didn't finish anything, but I did start two new projects and picked up an old one.

With Anita Grossman Solomon in town, I made a pile of Anita's Arrowhead blocks. These won't all end up in the same quilt. That red and white block sticks out like a sore thumb.

When I'd had my fill of arrowheads, I started playing with stripes. I followed Anita's instructions for Xcentric and Concentric blocks.  (More about Anita in yesterday's post.)

I dug out an old WIP last weekend. I finished hand appliqueing the letters (V-Z), then assembled the top. I must have started this quilt about 10 years ago to have a hand work project for baseball games. Each letter is cut from a novelty print. A is for Alphabet, B is for Balls, C is for Crayons. I don't know what will become of this little quilt.

 

At the top of the to-do list, this nine patch top needs to be quilted for the Ninigret Quilters' show in October.

 

I might spend some time with Pete's quilt today and tomorrow while he is attending motorcycle riding class. He wants to get his motorcycle license before he ships out so he can buy a motorcycle as soon as possible. We figured that riding a motorcycle will be the least dangerous thing he'll have to do in the next few years. God, help me!

Spend some time today surfing the WIP Wednesday links. It's worth the trip!

WIP Wednesday - Sew Every Day

 Sewing every day uses up a lot of thread! Here's my first empty Aurifil spool to prove it. Yes, I think I will be saving the empty orange spools.

Day 25-28: I only managed to piece one block each day.  I was painting Pete's room while he was away at camp. At the end of each day, I'd be ready to crawl into bed and would see my machine waiting for me.

Day 29: Four blocks in one day and that brings the total to 40! There is one block I might replace, but for now, the album blocks are done.

Day 30: I realized that the wedding we are attending is THIS Friday! Since I am planning to give the happy couple Star Crazy Plan B, it jumped to the top of the To Do list. I added the inner border last night and will spend all day today and tomorrow finishing this small quilt.

 Here's a little peek at Pete's room. That was a lot of work. Stripping wallpaper border, prepping walls, and painting trim. Painting the walls is the easy part. I tried to throw away that pole lamp, but it was the first thing he noticed when he got home. He said I can get rid of it after he leaves in September.

These little beauties have been our breakfast visitors for a few days now. 

 

I'll be doing some WIP surfing later, when I need a break from Star Crazy.

Sew Every Day 18 & 19

Day 19: A little mending for a friend. We cut down a full size comforter to twin for her mom to use in the nursing home. I cut off the side borders and added binding. The top and bottom curved edges were left intact. Also on Day 19, I pieced 5 album blocks.

 

 Day 18: I lost track of how many album blocks I made that day. Maybe 2? I've passed the half-way point of block making so it was time to lay them out and see how they look together. I'm pleased with the variety of reds and blues.

 

I need to be a little sneaky in my posts. I'm hoping Pete won't see this. I don't think he ever visits my blog, but we are friends on Facebook. Now that Bloglovin posts my blog entries on FB, the first picture of each post pops up in my newsfeed. So I'm trying not to post any album quilt related photos or text at the top of the blog.  I'm horrible at keeping secrets, so he probably already knows I'm making this for him, although I am good at putting everything away before he comes home.

I can't figure out how to tell Bloglovin to NOT post to Facebook. Anyone know how to turn that off?

WIP Wednesday / Sew Every Day 16

 It's amazing how much you can get done when you decide to sew every day! Thank you, Pat Sloan, for issuing the challenge.

Actively in Progress: 

Star Crazy Plan B is almost done. It needs a batik border to make it a decent lap quilt size. I will shop for that soon.

 

Ninnie Niner is a completed top. Most of the 9-patches were collected in the Ninigret Quilters' 9-patch swap. The layout is Thimble Blossoms' Niner quilt. I need to find a backing for this one.

Sew Every Day 16: I got the rest of the fabric cut for Pete's album quilt while he was volunteering at Cub Scout camp. (There are stacks of white background pieces, too.)

I only managed to sew together one block. Now that all the fabric is cut, whenever I have a few minutes, I can piece a block. I have 13 of 40 blocks needed for this quilt. Ten of them were made by my friends in the Modern Stash Bee.

Coming soon: My nephew and his wife announced last night (at a Reveal Party!) that they are expecting a baby girl in November! This will be the fifth great granddaughter for my mother- no boys! I started a Baby Quilts Pinterest board last night, with fabric and pattern ideas. What is your go-to baby quilt pattern?

Back burner:
Tops to be quilted:
   Vintage Modern- needs backing
   Chevron & On- needs backing
   Magenta Crayon Challenge- ready to baste
   Swap Soup- ready to baste
   3X3 Swap- quilt by check after furlough
   Bears in the Farmhouse- needs a border and backing
Blocks to Assemble: 4X5 Modern Bee

Have fun visiting other WIP Wednesday posts!

WIP Wednesday

 It has been a pretty good week here in Rhode Island. The weather is finally warming up and feeling like Spring. Daffodils are blooming and the forsythia is hot on their heels.

Finished: Batik Arrowheads. Read more here.

In Progress: RIMQG Crayon Challenge. My crayon is magenta. Blocks are done and laid out on a flannel-backed tablecloth on the floor. If I need to move it, I can roll it up and the blocks stay in place.

Modern Stash Bee. March was my month in the Mo Stash Bee, Three Men and a Baby Hive. The last two blocks arrived yesterday after a little coast to coast detour. Many thanks to my hive mates for contributing to Pete's boot camp graduation quilt! You can find my tutorial for this block here.

I need to add lots of labels to finished quilts, so I printed a bunch on a sheet of printable fabric. Now to cut them apart, border them and add them to the quilts.

Also in progress, the making of a future Marine, which apparently requires lots of protein and mud!

In the near future:
April blocks for Modern Stash Bee
Quilting Mod Bento
Quilting Swap Soup
Starting Bloom Bloom Pow Quilt Along

Time to link up!