valpoquilter

Hello all. I'm a novice quilter. In fact, I sew the blocks together on the machine and then sew in the ditch with my old Dressmaker sewing machine that I purchased many moons ago in the early 70s. A peeling skin problem on my finger and arthritis doesn't allow me to quilt, but I like putting together a warm, colorful quilt.

On Nov. 11, and appropriately Veteran's Day, my grandson was finally discharged from the Army. We were so happy to have him home--safe with no injuries. He was supposed to get out in Jan. of this year, but his unit was deployed to Iraq last November, so he had to go with them. Of course we had a welcome home party for him, and I decided to make a memory quilt for the occasion. I put together blocks of red, white, and blue fabric; some sported flags. Plain tan-colored blocks were used for signatures and sentiments of party attendees. These signature blocks were incorporated into a border for the quilt. I threw it together as a spur-of-the moment project, and it could have been better planned, but only experienced quilters would notice anyway : ). I also made a pillow to match with a fabric picture I took of him and his wife when we got together a few days earlier for his little brother's birthday.

Here are some pictures of the quilt and a few of the signature blocks.