At last, a reference from Kevin.......

Wanted:  Secretary with excellent computer skills in pdf's and blogging
Needed:  IMMEDIATELY
Pay:  Ummm.......well...........do fresh eggs count?

Yeah......you all KNOW I need a secretary!  I just can't pull it all together as of late! 
I do apologize for being MIA on the blogging front!

I have been reading blogs as best I can while I try to fly, work on the home front, and quilt!
My apologies for not commenting!

OK, so here are some updates in a nutshell......

My face when Scrap Club is back up and running!

Our first meeting for Scrap Club hosted by Kevin the Quilter

was held on Jan 25th.

I can't believe 3 months have passed so quickly!

Although I won't be providing all of the info I present 

at all of the Scrap Club meetings, 

those of you who are interested

can play along!

We are playing with a fun older quilt block this time:

"Improved Nine Patch"

or 

"Glorified Nine Patch."

We voted on this block design at the close of last year's

"Sapphire Stars" mystery quilt.

And, I have seen a lot of interest forming via the

intertube, I mean, interweb, I mean internet....

Barbara Brackman

did a wonderful post about the 

"Improved Nine Patch Quilt"

HERE

on her Cloud of Quilt Patterns page.

And, on her Material Culture page, she

did a post of a circular quilt

HERE

which is similar in regard to the arc placement.

And, of course,

Eleanor Burns of 

Quilt in a Day

fame

simplified this "challenging to piece"

block on her Youtube channel.

I encourage you to watch this very helpful video if 

you would like to play along?

I will be sharing how I made a template for my arcs

without using a specialty ruler in a future post.

It is easier than you may think!

And, lo and behold........

while browsing one of my favorite antique malls.....

I literally stumbled across this wonderful

"Improved Nine Patch" quilt!

($24 for a "cutter quilt" according to the seller with 20% off!)

This quilt in my opinion is 

definitely from the 1930s when this pattern first originated.

This was a wonderful sample to help inspire us at our

first Scrap Club meeting.

Insert cute puppy pic......

I LOVE it when Antique Malls are pet friendly!

LILLY MAE!

Moving along.........

Scrap Quilters were bustling about our new meeting locale

for Scrap Club hosted by Kevin the Quilter:

18 North Central

in O'Fallon, Missouri.

You have to check this place out!

It is so cool!

If you are close to O'Fallon, Missouri and would like to 

join us at Scrap Club, feel free!

Mike, and his lovely wife own our new venue.

What a wonderful way to show our appreciation

to them for giving us a place to meet

than to award Mike with a Quilt of Valor on

behalf of Quilts of Valor, Eastern Missouri

for his military service to our country.

This handsome guy is at least 16.5 years old this month!

I adopted Valentino at the end of January in 2004.

At that time, they estimated him to be at least 2.5 years old.

What a joy he has been........such a good, GOOD boy!

He definitely likes to inspect my work while I am sewing.

(More like CUDDLE time!)

AHA!!!!

Another reason my sewing gets delayed!

How on earth could you say no to a grin like this?

Sophia can hardly stand for her belly to be tickled!

LOL

This is her face as I was doing it!

I was FINALLY able to get some good quality

sewing time in with my Quilt of Valor, Eastern Missouri friends!

This quilt top was made in a few hours by four of us.

We think this pattern may be called

"Road to St. Louis?"

16 patches and snow ball blocks (two sides only)

created a wonderful future Quilt of Valor.

This was my friend Ree that hosted and 

conceptualized the pattern for us.

Thanks Ree, Dar, and Linda for the fun sewing day!

I have also been having some

Fun with Barb

in her annual block swap!

This year's churn dash block swap filled up

in record time according to her!

I am participating in the Civil War Repro swap.

Her swaps are so successful because

 she is such a delight....and so much...... FUN!

Yum!

My ladies continue to provide me with delicious eggs!

And, a change of decor.........

Isn't this chicken quilt fun?

This was gifted to me by my quilting friend Bev.

The quilting is great on it with chicken wire and

feathers!

Thanks to ALL of you whom have recently contacted me with your concerns if I am OK or not?!?!!  It means so much to me knowing there are people out there that care about me and my well being!  Quilters truly are the best people around in my opinion!  Retirement can't come soon enough!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter