Easter Blessings

Easter Blessings to one and all!

How is everyone doing out there?

I know some parts of the U.S. can't figure out if it is Spring or not?  Missouri being one of those parts!  I hope that the weather doesn't dampen your spirits this Easter season.

The churn dash blocks from

Fun With Barb

found their way to me!

What a magnificent variety of fabrics and colors!

There is a plan in place!

This plan is NOT typical of the work I usually do.....

trying to practice what I preach......

step AWAY from the comfort zone!

Can you believe I am down to the last 13 quilts from

the epic QOV Block Drive

I hosted 4 years ago?!?!?!

189 quilts for U.S. Military Veterans

thanks to you all out there!
All of these quilts have been presented on behalf of

Quilts of Valor, Eastern Missouri.

These quilts above have been beautifully

quilted by my quilting friend Portia.

She has done an amazing job!

These quilts look like triplets ready to be bound

and labeled.

Thank you SOOOOOOOO much Portia!

Look at all these yummy scraps from my friend Frances!

Some Easter colors in there if I do say so myself?

These turned into..........

2" squares for my Leaders and Enders.

Thanks Frances!

I was able to meet this great lady at a recent quilt show

held in the Metro St. Louis area.

Norma ( I hope that name is correct?!?!) reads the ole' blog, and made sure to

come say hello to me!  She has the nicest daughter and son in law

who made sure she was able to come visit them and the show in St. Louis.

Ann of Attic Threads and Quilts and I were invited to show our collaboration,

 "Radar," at this quilt show.

We talked about how he was constructed and quilted.

An improv meet the artists if you will?

We had so much fun talking with so many quilters!

Look at all those free pallets!

Hmmm......I wonder what these were turned into?

I thought you all may like to see some of the Cedar trees

around the Quilt Cave too?

I love all of the trees around this place.

Some of those free pallets were turned into this awesome

brooder that will help house chicks until it is time to move

them outdoors.  This was built in my detached garage/barn.

And, no, I am NOT a carpenter! LOL

The latest batch of chicks are loving their new digs!

There is a great variety of chicks in this hatching.

I was recently asked by my long time friends Mike and Sherry

if I would like to see their daughter perform in her Winter Guard

troop.  I was in marching band in high school.....that was a long time ago!

It is interesting to see how things have progressed with the flag/drill team

since I was in school........there was no Winter Guard then!

Their daughter's team was amazing and won 1st place in their division.

CONGRATS!!!!

Whatever you have planned for your Easter weekend....make sure to include some sewing!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Thank you Jesus!

Keep on Quilting!
Kevin the Quilter

A Plethora of Gifts.........

Greetings Scrappy Quiltmakers!

March has shown me kindnesses beyond compare thus far!

A plethora of gifts!

First and foremost.......
I want to thank all of you who sent prayers and well wishes for my sweet little Momma!
Your friendship is an amazingly wonderful gift to me and my family!

Mom's tests went well, and we received

good news from her Cardiologist!

He encouraged her to keep doing what she's doing

and if any changes occur to let him know,

but, she should continue to do well.

My mother and I

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR PRAYERS!

Huffman's Hotties made an appearance at the

Hannibal Piecemakers Quilt Guild in

Hannibal, Missouri!

This guild was so welcoming and I truly

appreciated the hospitality and friendships made there.

My long time friend Debby came to support 

me during my presentation in Hannibal!

Thank you so much Debby!

It was great being able to catch up

after such a long time!

I was also able to share with the 

St. Louis Star Quilt Guild.

This guild was a hoot!

We all had a great time laughing and sharing

scrappy quilts with each other!
Thanks to Sue for the recommendation!

Thanks to these two great guilds for hosting me.......

again, gifts of many friendships were made!

Working slowly, but, surely,

block by block on the 

Foothills Quilt Along

hosted by

Mary Elizabeth Kinch.

This has been a wonderful experience, especially

since I have never tried to replicate a quilt

in this manner before.

Again, I am embracing the inspiration quilt's "mistakes."

It really is a study in analysis and observation, and getting to know

what I have to work with in my Civil War repro scraps.

I found the perfect red to use as the sashing!

Another gift of quilt making.....patience.

Two quilters have been so kind to share scraps

and notions with me from their personal collections.

Ruth and Deborah.......thank you so much

for these bountiful gifts!

I gifted myself these

AccuQuilt Studio dies to add

to my collection!  I can't wait to try these out

with some projects I have in mind!

Look what hatched!

More chickie babies to add to the farm!

Incubating eggs is so rewarding.......

and those cackleberries!

The gift of eggs........talk about a yummy gift!

And look at the gift I received

in the mail the other day!

My quilting buddy Alycia of

Alycia Quilts

sent me all of this delicious

Chicken/Rooster fabric!

The Quilt Cave in in need of another

 Chicken quilt!  This is going to be fun

to make!

THANKS ALYCIA!!!!!!

And, not that I believe in reading fortunes......

much less fortune cookies......

I did receive the following message

in a fortune cookie recently while

celebrating my friend Mike's birthday.......

Hmmmmm..........

what gifts may be on the horizon for

Kevin the Quilter????????

Thanks again for the gift of all of your quilty friendships!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter

Marching into March

Happy March 1st Quilting Friends!

Already the 3rd month of 2018......hard to believe, isn't it?

Speaking of Quilty Friends.......

This is my amazingly talented Quilty Friend

Teajuana Mahone of Teaquilts!

Please visit her website, and visit

her on her various social media sites as well.

HERE

is a link to her Youtube channel.

Tea visited us at 

Scrap Club hosted by Kevin the Quilter,

and shared some beyond amazing works of art!

All of our participants were so inspired by her

and her fun spirited presentation covering
ALL uses for various types of scraps!

Thanks so much for visiting us Tea!

I appreciate your friendship so much!

Speaking of Scrap Club hosted by Kevin the Quilter....

Alongside our Improved Nine Patch creations.....

We are making...........

Fidget Quilts to donate!

These are so much fun to make, and are so useful

for those suffering with memory problems.

Dolan Memory Care Homes is building a

new facility in our vicinity

that will use these quilts as teaching tools for

it's residents.

We received several of these Fidget Quilts during our

February meeting, and I look forward to seeing 

many more of these creative little quilts at our 

future gatherings.

If you are interested in donating a Fidget Quilt

along with us, please contact me personally on the

blog for more details.

Spring is just around the corner, and look at this

carrot that I found!

LOL

This came wrapped up from my good friend

Dar of  Dar's Patchwork Garden.

That's a lovely Civil War Repro FQ

and some very needed Featherweight bobbins!

Thanks Dar!!!!!

This little guy was the friendliest little dude!

He was being watched by his Grandma at

Quilt4U in Columbia, MO.

A small group of friends went on a shop hop

and, as usual, I didn't buy much.....but, 

I DID get this masterpiece of a drawing he is

working on!

TOOOO CUTE! LOLOLOL

OK, so, I did recently cave into an online

Quilt Along.......

Have you seen these posts by my friends....

Lori at Humble Quilts

and

Wendy at The Constant Quilter ?????

You twisted my arm quilters!!!!!!

One of my favorite Quilt Book authors,

Mary Elizabeth Kinch

is hosting the

Foothills Quilt Along.

Please visit the above links to

register and become a part of this 

fascinating creation.

It isn't too late to join!!!!

Registration is absolutely free, and

Mary Elizabeth has painstakingly

and brilliantly shared insights on this 

antique masterpiece we are being inspired by.

Which leads me to my next thought......

have you ever tried to replicate a vintage work?

I mean, REAAAAAAAAAALLLLY tried.....using

similar fabrics, prints, and patterns?

I haven't, but, I am doing so with the

Foothills Quilt Along

because I am so intrigued by the 

inspiration quilt.

Are my fabrics EXACTLY like those in

the antique version........no.........but,

it has been a fun lesson for me thus far

in really getting to know the fabrics I have to work with.

Again, I am replicating the original quilt......

MISTAKES and all........

here are few of the blocks I have completed.......

This process takes me back to the several art classes 

I had in college in the manner of taking a work

and trying to recreate it as best as we could.

I am thoroughly enjoying myself here!

Thanks Mary Elizabeth!

Look what I stumbled upon in an antique mall recently?

For $20, I couldn't pass this one up!

It has a very unique finishing around the edge,

and the fabrics appear to be older than when

the quilt was made.

In family news...........

How on EARTH did my Lil Sugar Doll

turn 20 years old?????

Oh my!

I can still hear her running through the house

as a little toddler with me chasing her

and her laughing and yelling...

"UNTLE TEVIN!!!!!"

I was able to spend some quality time with 

both my niece and nephew while

celebrating my niece's birthday.

Of course Lilly Mae tagged along too!

Mousing around with Mr. Puss E. Paws 

aka Valentino!

My 16.5 year old diabetic cat went in for his annual

evaluations at the Vet.  This is truly one of the world's greatest 

kitties!

And my 11 year old Sophia Annabella had her

yearly dental at the Vet.  She HATES going to the Vet,

but, it is one of those things that truly does help

her health and has to be done.

She did fine during her procedure, and will eventually

talk to me again........SIGH

In closing, for those of you who are

willing to send some prayers on behalf 

of my sweet little Momma....

she is undergoing some tests on her heart.

We are praying everything is precautionary,

but, my Mom is consumed with fear.

Thanks in advance for thinking of her!

Thanks for being a friend!

Thanks for all of the encouragement!

Keep on Quilting!

Kevin the Quilter