Monday, August 12, 2013

August...........Family Time........

Greetings Kevin the Quilter Blog Readers!

I have several items to share!

First I would like to share with you one of the memory quilt tops I have completed.  This top was made for my brother-in-law's mother.  She is a very special lady, and I have known her most of my life.  I wanted to create something that would allow the fabrics from the shirts to be showcased on a larger scale so she can easily recognize them.  After much thought, research, and execution, I came up with this..........

"Hugs from Howard"

Howard was my brother-in-law's father that passed away.  I used all of the cotton dress shirts that were given to me in this quilt.  I have several of his flannel shirts that I have used in quilts for the other family members. Photos of those quilts will be coming up in a post as soon as I can put together the pattern I used for them.  I used some unbleached muslin, and white shirting fabric as the background.  I was able to show my sister and her husband this quilt, and I believe they really liked it.  There were tears........and smiles.  My brother-in-law started inspecting the quilt and said several times, "I remember dad wearing that shirt."  After hearing that, I felt as though I accomplished my mission in this regard.  It was an honor making this quilt top.   

You may be wondering how I came up with the design for this quilt?

I used one of my favorite go to sites:

  Big Star Quilt Tutorial
by the 

I could watch Jenny Doan of the Missouri Start Quilt Company all day long because she makes quilt making fun and easy.  I had the privilege of meeting her, and I have ordered items from the Missouri Star Quilt Company.  I must say, I have been quite impressed by their customer service.

In other news, August is family time!  My mom, dad, sister and her family made their annual trip to my home to spend several days with me.  We usually plan this get together around my dad's birthday.  My sister takes my niece and nephew shopping for back to school clothing and other items while here. 

  Happy 73rd Birthday Dad!

I was able to take dad out on the Mississippi River for a while on his birthday!

We had a great visit!

Some points of interest I was able to share with the family were:


If you are from the greater St. Louis, Missouri area, you KNOW you HAVE to visit this place at least once!

AND


If you ever wondered where the famous Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale are kept, it's Grant's Farm.
There is so much more to see at the farm though, and my niece and nephew really enjoyed it!

What on earth am I up to now????????
HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM???


I hope you all are enjoying your families and the end of summer!

As always,
Thanks for all of the encouragement!
Kevin the Quilter


15 comments:

  1. What a special quilt! What a special time for your whole family. Happy birthday to your dad! Anticipating the big reveal of your new project.

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  2. Love your memory quilt - what a great idea to use Jenny's pattern, which is also on my list of to-do's.

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  3. Your memory quilt turned out beautifully, Kevin! Great idea to keep the pieces large enough to recognize the shirts they came from. I'm sure it will be cherished. Happy BD to your dad! Sounds like you've had some great times with family.

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  4. Love it Kevin! Great way to comfort with memories :) The quilt looks great!

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  5. Looks like you had lots of fun while your family was here. Happy belated birthday to your dad. What fun for them to spend the day at the famous Ted Drewes and Grant's Farm, my old stomping grounds. Thanks for sharing where you got your star pattern for "Hugs from Howard". I know she will treasure it for many years to come. I'll have to keep that pattern in mind for a future QOV.

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  6. The Big Star Quilt is a great pattern to showcase the fabrics in a memory quilt. You wouldn't want to cut them up into pieces so small they were unrecognizable and everyone loves a star quilt. Very nice job on it! It's so nice that your family comes to visit for several days each year. A close family is a real blessing!

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  7. What a lovely memory quilt! The colorways is awesome! It's looks as though you had some great family time!

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  8. Oh such a wonderful memory quilt Kevin!!! I love the pattern you used - it is not too busy so the fabrics can really shine and take a special place in the quilt - great choice!!! I absolutely LOVE the Clydesdale horses - would love to visit Grant's Farm someday - I'll put it on my bucket list :*) Looks like you are planning something colorful and amazing - can't wait to see the reveal.....

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  9. What a great star quilt, with so much meaning to it.

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  10. Love your quilt and am thinking how comforting it will be for your brother-in-law's mother.

    I've always admired the Clydesdales and had the opportunity to pet one a couple of years ago. I knew they were large horses but was surprised at how large! I'm not that short but I only came up to the back and his feet were the size of dinner plates!

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  11. Beautiful memory quilt, it really showcases those shirts.

    I grew up just outside of St. Louis and remember that Grant's Farm was always a fun place to go. We realized that the 14 year old has never seen the St. Louis Arch or Grants Farm, we plan to fix that in the near future.

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  12. What a beautiful and precious quilt Kevin, anytime there is fabric in a quilt that brings back memories.....it is so special! I also got to meet Jenny last summer and her videos are the greatest. I seem to order waaaaay too much from her....just place a order for the daily special.... Hope you had a wonderful time on the good ole Mississippi with your dad and tell him Happy Birthday!!

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  13. What a special quilt! Family time looks like fun too!

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