Sunday, September 25, 2016

Party Time!!!!!

Howdy from the Quilt Cave!

Have I ever got a post for you all this weekend!

Just so you all know, this is a seriously HEAVY photo post........

And, just so you all know, I LOVE IT!  

There is just too much I HAVE to share!

I was able to host my very first quilt gathering
at the Quilt Cave
with the
Scrap Club Quilters!

Come along and join our party and 
Log Cabin Quilt reveals!

When the quilters convened at the house, the first thing
most of them wanted to see were the chickens!

Some were brave enough to go in and hand feed them!

My friend Hank, known as
Mr. Dars Patchwork Garden, helped 
with roasting the hot dogs, not to mention 
my friend Ann of 
Thanks for all of your help!


While Ann and Mike were helping the quilters park,
Dar helped organize the food as it came in.
Boy, oh boy!  Was the food ever good!


Then it was time to chow down and visit!
Thank God the weather was beautiful!







We had such a great time!
Then, it was time to reveal the 
quilter's Log Cabin creations!

Here are the reveals for the Small Log Cabin Project.
My friend Mike helped hold the quilts
while Dar took down the quilter's info
to be placed in a drawing for a gift certificate.
Each completed project had to be
quilted, bound, and labeled in order to be
eligible for the gift certificate.
I was so impressed with how many quilters
finished in 4 months!

Ree's beautiful wall hanging.

Linda J's patriotic wall hanging for her family members.

Pat made 2 small projects!

Dot came to share in the fun even though
life intervened and she wasn't able to
completely finish her project.

Sue made 4 of these!
(And was nice enough to share one with me for my new home!)
Thanks Sue!

Kelly brought some projects from
quilters who were not able to come to the party.

Verna's almost completed project.

Sue's 2 color version.
I love 2 color quilts, because, anything in those 
2 color families can go!

Sandy's wall hanging.

Lynn has really stepped out of her comfort zone and
designed this herself!

And Sue's name was drawn at random as the lucky winner 
of the small projects category!
Congrats Sue!

Then it was time for the Large Log Cabin Projects.
Again, in order to qualify for the gift certificate,
all completed quilts had to be quilted, bound, and labeled.
This was done in 4 months time!
Pretty impressive if you ask me?!?!?!

Karen's down to the wire finish!
So graphic and modern!

Annamarie's....and this is her 4th quilt she has ever made!

Katie's super scrappy Circle log cabin.
Such variety of colors and tones here!


Sue's version that she had to take off of
her bed because she has already been using it!

Chris' very modern take on Log Cabin.
This version came out of trial and error....this was her 3rd version! 
Persistence pays off!

Sandy is a Tula Pink fan......can you tell?

Brenda hand quilted this!
Amazing!
She is donating it to Quilts of Valor!

Pat has been busy with Log Cabins lately!

Lou's purple batik version.

Barb was unable to attend, but, is
donating her rectangular Log Cabin to
Quilts of Valor!

Sharon was unable to come, but,
colored our world with her version!

Ree got creative with her Easter Bunny version!

Linda had a new grand baby to be with, but, 
sent her Log Cabin to share with us.

Linda E recently had foot surgery, but,
sent her Christmas version for us to see.

Sue S. made herself a patriotic summer version.

And here is Carol's very masculine looking version.

Very happy and stunned, Lou's name was drawn at random and
she won the gift certificate for the large project category.

Like I have said many times before,
I couldn't be any more proud of these quilters!
Some have really stepped out of their box making
scrap quilts that may not have been made, simply
by playing with their scraps.

I look forward to sharing many more scrappy
projects with these quilters.
By the way, if you are interested in joining our
Scrap Club, we are opening our group up.
We are NOT a guild!
If you would like more information on 
joining us, just e-mail me via the blog.


Don't be a chicken!
Make a SCRAP quilt!
These were the party favors I made for each quilter.
I COULD NOT, I repeat, COULD NOT have
finished these without the help of Dar and Hank!
Thanks again for all of the help!

What could be a better party favor than
a Log Cabin Chicken pin cushion for this event?
LOLOLOLOLOLOL

And, well, I have been a party animal the past 2 weekends!

Last weekend I was able to celebrate my birthday
with my amazing family!
Momma cooked a big dinner for me of some of my favorite foods....
stuffed peppers, fried potatoes, fried okra, deviled eggs and a layer salad.....

And my sis made my favorite cake for my birthday.
Red Velvet Cake!
Not store bought, not from a mix, just good home cooking!



And just to leave you with a laugh........




My Sis and I decided to recreate one of my Momma's 
favorite photos of us..........
ridiculousness!
LOLOLOLOL


Thanks for reading to the end!
Thanks for all of the encouragement!
Kevin the Quilter





Wednesday, September 14, 2016

You gotta have friends..........

Friends............

Romans...........

Quilters...............

Lend me your ears...................

No.......no.......no...........
This is not going to be a lesson in English Literature..........

But, I am gonna talk about my friends a little.......

How many song references are there about friends............


Bette Midler Sings about them.....


The Beatles sang about them......


And, Michael W. Smith sang one of my favorite songs about friends......

What am I getting at here folks?
Well, I am just blessed to have met a lot of friends 
along my quilting journey.
I would like to share a few with you in this post.


 Although she would disagree with me....
this is NOT her best side!
LOLOLOLOLOL
This is my friend Dar of 
Dar's Patchwork Garden helping me with my new design wall.


I can't thank her enough for all of her help with this!


She was the first person to get me involved with
Quilts of Valor, Eastern Missouri.
She was tireless in helping me to get 
all of the blocks sewn into tops
 from the very successful QOV block drive
I held on my blog 2 years ago.

Dar has recently teamed up with 
who designed a very eye catching block to create
a Quilt of Valor quilt.

I am very pleased to be able to share this with all of my friends here, 
and ask you all to share with your friends as well!
PRETTY PLEASE?!?!?!

Once again, this is my friend Dar's block drive for 
Quilts of Valor, Eastern Missouri.
She is holding this in conjunction with my friend
Alycia of Alycia Quilts in Colorado.


HERE is the LINK to Dar's block drive for QOV, Eastern Missouri.


HERE is the LINK to Alycia's block drive for QOV Colorado.


And HERE is the LINK to the tutorial on how to make the block
by Jan.
It is a very cool block, that makes an even cooler quilt!
I will let you all go visit these links to find out for yourself.
You KNOW I am gonna join in on the fun myself, and 
I encourage you all to do the same!
It is so important to our U.S. Veterans!
Make some for both of these gals who do such good work for 
Quilts of Valor!



In other news...............about friends.............


This past week I was able to visit
with some of my friends from the Perky Piecers group I belong to.
We had a blast!

You never know who you will see there in Hamilton, Missouri.....
check out the bottom left hand corner of this photo!
LOL

And this guy..........whatta good friend he has been to me over the years!
Valentino decided he needed to inspect some of my sewing the other day.
I guesstimate his age to be at least 14, if not older as I rescued him from a shelter
when he was around 2 years old.
He is beginning to show some signs of aging, and is also diabetic.
He receives 2 insulin shots daily, and 1 shot as needed for his 
arthritis.  He sure is a true friend indeed!

I was able to make some new friends at the 
in O'Fallon, Illinois recently.
What a wonderful group of friendly and talented quilters!
Thanks for letting me share my story with you all!

Of course, Huffman's Hotties were in the house!
What a fun group of hotties these were!

It was great having my friend 
to be one of my hotties at the meeting!
Check out her blog to see her latest amazing work!





Thank you for being a friend!

Thanks to all of my friends for various things:
donating fabric/scraps
helping with block drives
donating furniture
helping build things around the new house
photographing for me
magazine holder, protectors, companions
purrs, snuggles
travelling companions
and hotties

I APPRECIATE EVERYTHING!!!!



Thanks for all of the encouragement!
Keep on Quilting!
Kevin the Quilter


















Saturday, September 3, 2016

Labor"ing" Day(s).........

Hellllloooooooooooooooo
from the Quilt Cave!!!!!!!

This Labor Day weekend in the United States will be filled with many people having a last big hurrah with Summer...........the end of wearing white for all of you old school fashionistas (myself included), and watching that famous telethon that is on every year.....you know the one!

As for me and the Quilt Cave..........we have been laboring, and WILL BE laboring for many days to come!

How about some updates?



Here is my first promotional head shot.
How do you like it?
Many quilt guilds ask for a promo flyer
with head shot for their informational e-mails
to guild members.  Hopefully this one will work for me?
This preliminary pic is compliments of 
a longtime photog friend of mine that I used to work with.

Hmmm.....what is happening here?????
(Please ignore the hideous carpet!!!!!)

AHA!!!!!
A HUGE design wall coming to life!
Thanks to my friend Joe for all of the help on this one!
Wait until you all see the completed project!
I am beyond pleased with it!

An outdoor space to spend the mornings and afternoons!
Thanks to a very dear friend for sharing some unwanted furniture!

oooooOOOOOOoooooohhhh!!!!
Another outdoor seating area on the upper deck!
Thanks again to said dear friend!

Do any of you have a magazine holder like this?
She works perfectly, warding off squirrels, rabbits, and
anything else that moves!

 I helped my uncle go through some items in storage a week or so ago.
He was so appreciative he gave me my aunt's sewing basket on left.
He also gave me his mother in law's sewing basket on right,
along with "America's Glorious Quilts" which he thought I may be 
interested in?  OF COURSE I am interested in it!
It's a great book if you have never looked through it?

And look what I found inside those baskets?!?!?!
Among many other things of course, were
these vintage mid-century promotional needles.
I wish companies still did neat things like this!

And, this is a top!
All half-square-triangles with a few squares.
No pattern, just an idea from a quilt I saw.
I love making 2 color quilts, because ANYTHING
in those 2 colors
 can be used!
This is for a friend of mine and his family who was relentless in asking
me to make a quilt for them.

And finally, here is some eye candy from one of 
our show and share events at
Scrap Club!

I just love seeing these antique quilts the participants
bring in.  It is like seeing a part of their family history.
This quilt is BEGGING me to recreate it!

Look at this one!
Half-square-triangles made into pinwheels
via a 9 patch setting!

Here is a closer look!
When I see an antique quilt such as this, my mind starts imagining;

Who made this?
Who did the quilter make it for?
Where did they get this pattern?
Where did the fabrics come from?
Did the quilter design it on their own?
Did they see a quilt like it somewhere?
When did they find the time to make it?

So many questions, and many times, the questions can't be answered.

Helen is an amazing quilter.  She is really quick at gettin'r'done too!
She is showing some of her month of year blocks done with
scraps here.  These are just beautiful!

I couldn't be more proud of this beginning quilter!
She shared with us she has been collecting fabrics since the 80s
at yard sales and thrift stores.
She is putting it to use now as she is retired!
WAY! TO! GO!

And I couldn't be more proud of this quilter!
Although she has sewn throughout her life, she is
recently exploring quilting as a creative outlet.
After the first meeting this session, I was afraid she 
wasn't going to come back, but, she did!
Here she is showing the amazing log cabin quilt top she has made!
WAY! TO! GO!

I always want to encourage quilting creativity.........
never do I want to discourage it.

Hopefully, this blog is a place for you to be encouraged, and inspired!

Thanks for all of YOUR encouragement!
Thanks for all of your comments!
Until next time,
Kevin the Quilter