More behind the scenes ...

I know I don't post every day and truthfully, just can't seem to get to it. Well, not a sew-in, nor a cut-in, but a "kit making" day today! Yes, someone's got to do it and today I'm getting some great help to make up some kits from all the cuttings we've been doing...anyone is welcome to join us.... I'll start the coffee soon. Thank you, Karen and Dorothy---what a great idea you had at guild yesterday.

We're also packing Karen's car with 50 quilts that are going to be picked up on Tuesday, our next sew-in. We're expecting company---- 6 personnel from Great Lakes Naval Base will be with us on Tuesday.

We also now have a volunteer to take over our meal planning...or at least drop some ideas. May as well make our sew-ins as much fun as possible. Thank you, Mary Jane. More later in the reminder notice.

Rita

I meet the neatest people!

Saturday, Jayne dropped off a couple quilts. She left these notes to be attached to her quilts and said I could share her story:

"Sometime in November, 2010 I mentioned to a friend of mine, Rita, that I would like to sew for a cause. So she sent me the Quilts of Valor website. After viewing it, I knew that's what I want to do. I asked Rita if she could help me with the quilt toppers, since she was herself a quilter, and I wasn't, but I am a seamstress. We discussed it further, and decided to give up a tradition of going out to dinner around Christmas time, and instead do something for someone else, Sew for a Cause. It was especially meaningful to me because I have a son in the Marines, Special Forces, serving in Afghanistan for his second tour. I've done the usual things, send packages, give money, etc., but I wanted to do more.

The quilt tops were made by 4 High School friends. We have been friends for over 30 years. Two of the ladies don't sew, and 2 of us do. They were very willing to give up dinner, and instead sew, cut fabric, or iron. Two of us went to purchase the fabric because we knew 4 ladies together would be impossible. We spent a Saturday afternoon in December, 2010 completing one Quilt top, and beginning a second one. It was pretty comical sometimes. We did a lot of reminiscing while we worked. We formed an assembly line of sorts between the dining room and kitchen. My smallest dog Moose, loved jumping on the quilt every time we put it on the floor to check something. We also spent a lot of time laughing. Even though we have been friends for a long time, we learned some new things about each other. Who would have thought?

The Quilts of Valor has inspired four High School friends to reach out to others. We will continue this new tradition of helping others at Christmas time instead of going out to dinner. We are already looking ahead to what we can do next. Now that I know a little more about the foundation, I can quilt on my own too.

Hope you enjoy the quilt and it brings comfort.

Sent with warm thoughts.
Thank you for all you have done for our USA."

Our "Cut in"

Got a whole lot of cutting done yesterday!! Two AccuquiltGo cutters and a Studio were worked for almost 5 hours!! Thank you so much ladies..a couple more of these and the porch just might be in healthy looking order! Welcome and thank you Pam--Pam was a "walk-in" from the shop hop. Had a lot of inquiries on what we were doing...maybe we'll see new faces at our next sew-in (which by the way, we're having our Great Lakes visitors).
Rita

Join us

Today we're gathering at Prairie Shop Quilts for a "cut-in". With so many "smaller-than-a-yard" pieces, we're cutting them down into some usable shapes for our interesting scrappy quilts. Join us, we'd love to have you. A lot of this fabric has been folded for ?? long and we could use pressers as well as sorters. You know---always a job for everyone!
We start at 10 AM
Rita
OH, and if you have an AccuquiltGo cutter--don't leave it at home!

Beloit Sew-in on Wed Feb 9th

The Beloit group of Land of Lincoln Quilts of Valor rescheduled their sewing time due to the Blizzard of 2011. We met on February 9 and we had 7 regulars and 1 new sewer - welcome Mary. It was a bright and sunny day although it was very cold outside. The sun was a pleasant site. On a side note when I crossed the river on the Shirland bridge I was amazed to see at least 7 bald Eagles either flying or roosting. What a motivating site. We worked very hard and we had a great time and lunch was fantastic. Our new member is quite a good cook. I being the longarm quilter of the group came home with 8 more tops to quilt. We have been very productive - we all work well together and are very supportive of each other. Alberta announced that she had received a thank you note from a member of the 485th Engineering Co (December quilt delivery). So another successful sew-in and we will be back together on March 2. Hopefully the weather will continue to improve.
Vixanna "Vicki" Robbel

A really nice thank you

Remember the presentation of quilts we were a part of in December? (refer to the December 6th post). I received this thank you today and wanted to share with you....Rita

Hello
I am Jennifer White, my husband is in the 485th Eng Co. Your group brought quilts to our welcome home ceremony back in December. I have been wanting to drop you an email thanking you but it has been a very busy year so far. That being said I just wanted to thank you for donating your time and energy to the 485th it means so much to us to have the community support. You guys have a great program and it means so much to our soldiers and their families. I know how much time and energy goes into making a quilt and it means so much to all of us. I was also wondering if you all had a mailing address and if so could you please send that to me.
Thanks again for all your support
Jennifer White

Pics from Nashville RWW

I didn't forget I promised to post pictures. It's going to be hard to pick just a few of these pictures. I think I'll pick the ones with the most quilts! Note: I'll have these and more in the QOV album I usually carry with me.
Rita