LOL.. 50 x 60 would fine too! It would still be a wonderful size to fit over his bed and provide a spot of color and caring. I am sure he will love it.
Thank you again so much!

I like it! I can't see it up close, but it looks like it would be very cheery in a dreary place!

I second it!!!

Thanks for that! I was going for a nice look instead of just strips and my math got mixed up a bit-lol! Still working on it tonight after work. Hoping to be done and off to get quilted Wednesday. Love doing this!!

Done... need to wash .. couldn't keep the cats away while sewing !! Should be in the mail tomorrow. [ATTACH=CONFIG]376682[/ATTACH]

These done too...[ATTACH=CONFIG]376683[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]376685[/ATTACH]

Wow, PenniF - three done? I was pushed to get ONE done. Aren't you glad to be a part of this effort?

All three quilts are just beautiful!!!

Confession time -- my DH and i work for the same company - we are the only employees - he is overseas on business for the past week.... so it is very quiet here in the office....so......i brought my machine and supplies to the office and sewed / worked / sewed /worked.....then took it home each night and sewed.....shshsh.....don't tell anyone !!!!! Of course...now i REALLY need to get my house cleaned before our holiday guests arrive on Sunday !!!! :p

[ATTACH=CONFIG]376814[/ATTACH]This is my top before sending it of to LA. Hope to get it back by Monday or Tuesday to bind, label, wash and mail. There is a bottom border, but this is the only pic I took before I took it to the shop to be quilted. I hope he likes it! So happy I got to do this!!

Penni! I am so amazed at how quickly you got those done!!! Thank you so much! They look awesome! I wonder if my boss would let me quilt at work? :)
Thank you thank you!!!

Quilt-T, that is beautiful! I know PFC Metzgar will love it! I am so glad you posted a picture for us all to see. I can't thank you enough!

My DIL has received the first two quilts mailed, from Paulswalia and from Kauailover. She says they are amazing!
Wow.. thank you so much! There is no way we could have gotten this done with out you. She has made it very clear to her husband that we MUST have pictures of the quilts and the soldiers!

A HUGE thank you again from her and from me!

I considered taking a pic with my quilt and sending it along with the quilt. I can't wait to get it done and in the mail. Thanks for getting the address to me so I can mail it straight there. Should be in the mail to him by midweek!

We plan to mail the rest of the group out to the boys by mid/late next week also. It looks like my DIL will have received all of them by then! *crossing fingers*!!
And I think sending a picture of you with the quilt is a fun idea!

Ok...now for some quilt trials and tribulations.... and a little giggle...
1 - my tilted star quilt was supposed to be 5 x 6 blocks - of course then with the half blocks all around to complete the "star" which would then have meant just one small border = done. But one of my cats had another idea - and while i was out of the room, apparently knocked one the the 5 block strips behind my sewing table. Sewing fast of course - so i'm seeing all the strips gone/done - must be done with center blocks, right? Put on the top and bottom half blocks strips - went to put on the side strips - and they were 1 row too long. ??? Found the missing strip - then had to chose, rip out 2 rows or just keep going and add more borders....it got the extra borders !!
2. The wolf quilt --- i sewed one entire lengthwise row together right side to wrong side .... had to rip out and resew - then did the same dang thing with one of the lengthwise borders !!! had to rip it out and do again. Seriously...i don't think i will EVER sew anything together without checking twice that the fabric is right side to right side.
3. The star quilt .... i bought a spool of "Signature" variagated blue thread at JoAnns last weekend cuz i had my coupon and nothing really that was non-sale item that i needed - and thought it would work for the blue quilt. I have not bought this brand before - so maybe i messed up and it's for some special machine or something....but half way throught the quilting, the thread literally started dropping off the spool - i don't know how do discribe it well - but it was like an entired layer of the thread would just fall off the spool. It was crazy - i had to sew really slowly - and about every 2 minutes, stop and hand rewind the thread back on the spool.
And finally - i never could have imagined how hard it is to sew black quilting on black fabric !!!! These old eyes were crossing, i can tell you !!

I've said it privately - but i want to THANK YOU -- Bluelady for bringing this together - and to all of the wonderful folks who participated with your work - and everyone who added their blessings. Having the opportunity to be part of this is something i won't ever forget - ""the kindness and generousity of "strangers" " - it's amazing.

Mine is already in the mail. I wrote in a PM that this is the first time I've used the Warm Wishes pattern (I love it!) so I didn't know the red would show up so much - I wish I had put the navy blue in the center of the bars to make it more predominant. Oh, well - live and learn. The backing is blue. He can put the backing rightside up if he likes that better!

Thanks for letting me know it arrived! And thanks for letting me be a part of this effort. It will be a Veteran's day weekend that I will remember forever as the weekend I made a quilt that went to a soldier

He is going to love it it. It is beautiful!

Thanks everyone, for posting the pictures of the quilts you send. If you do this again (with a little more time to spare, I'd love to help out, esp. if I could mail the quilt to Germany and have it sent from there.)

Well, I got the quilt back from LA and I am really disappointed. I don't LAQ myself, but I could have done what was done. I feel like it makes the quilt look like something a kid could have done. I did have her use a wool batting for extra warmth, but it was the super large meandering that really throws it off. It is way too puffy! Maybe I should just let it go. But it isn't like I have a ton of time to redo and send to my regular LAer in the States. I used our on post shop here and her work is newer but I've seen her do incredible work, just not this time! I'm still going to bind and label it tomorrow to mail by Monday or Tuesday at the latest. I am disappointed but I hope he isn't. Went from feeling great to feeling really bad about my gift!

Quilt-T, I am sure he will love it as is. He won't know what you had envisioned for your lovely quilt. He will be thrilled to have the extra warmth and to know that someone was thinking about him.

Oh please don't feel bad! The ones my daughter in law are sending are so basic and uneven that yours will look great. I know the boy whom it is for will so appreciate it! And they don't know if a quilt should have small or large meandering, fancy quilting, SITD or be tied or if it should be puffy or totally flat. I happen to like the puffy look myself! The soldiers aren't the quilt police, what they will see and feel is the love and respect and support that went into the quilts.

Thanks for the encouragement, ladies. I'm jut feeling deflated I guess because I had a vision in my mind of how it should have looked. I cried about it some when I got home as I wanted it to be so different. I don't mind puffy, I just didn't see it for this one. I am even nervous about washing it once it's done. I will bind and label it tomorrow. It will be nice to let it go with all the love and support I meant for it to have. Thank you again for letting me be a part of it all!

Well, it's 2am here and I just finished the binding! Label and wash tonight after work to mail it on Tuesday. I will post a pic later once my hubby is awake to take it for me-lol! Feeling better about it and anxious to get it to the recipient!!

I am doing the quilting on my red bargello on my DSM, and the other two tops are at the LA. So I just have the binding on all of them to do on Monday and Tues and hopefully I will have mine to her by Tuesday night/Wed AM.
(Actually, right now I am "frogging" some of my quilting on the bargello.... rippit, rippit..)

My DIL wanted me to pass this along to you...
"I can't begin to tell you thank you for all that you have helped with. These all will be getting mailed middle of next week (once they have all arrived), it will take approximately 2 weeks for them to arrive to Afghanistan from the States (if not a little longer because of holiday mail or possible weather changes i.e. snow). I have informed my husband (who will be playing Santa and handing out the guys their quilts) to get a picture of all as a group or individually. The Platoon Sergeant's wife has also informed her husband to get a photo or a few atleast for all you ladies! So, one way or another it will get done!

Thank you so much again for all your time and effort in getting this done. I know the guy's will truly appreciate it!

-Alicia

Go Rakks!"

I don't know what a Rakk is though.... :)

Rakk = Random Act of Kindness

Your ex-DIL is a real sweetheart to undertake this project and you were an angel to help her! The others were genuinely special people who wanted to help in this very special project.

OR
Rakks = bat-like dragons that disrupt the enemy on the xBox Borderlands(2) game. Don't know how young and hip Alicia is!

LOL. She is pretty young so it would more likely the XBox game. But I think it is probably the nickname of her husbands Army unit.

Well here she is, all washed, bound and labelled. I took the pic this morning before work. She will go out in the mail tomorrow. It will be sad to see her go, but I know she is going to someone who truly deserves her. A bit more time and I would have done more justice to her. I hope he loves the quilt! Hopefully I will get a pic or letter back. I would love to have one of the recipient and the quilt!!

WOW!! Quilt-T, that is amazing! He will love it!!

Here is the last quilt I finished for the soldiers. A friend did the LA for me. She did a fantastic job! I have included a close up of the quilting.

The color is a bit off. It is brighter in real life.

It turned out to be a very attractive quilt. I'm sure he will think it is great. I like it, too, because I also like puffy!

Thanks, everyone!

Quilt-T, your quilt is beautiful - great job! Your comments made me smile = are all your quilts girls? It makes me chuckle to think your girl is going off to sleep with a guy in his cot! :D

Bluelady, I love your friendship star quilt. Blues and greens are my favorite combo.

Thanks for the compliments on the quilt and my comments! That is funny! Most of them are girls, very few guys! Not sure but sometimes the quilts just have a personality of their own and they tell me who they are! This has been a wonderful project for me to be involved in! I would love to do it again just with a bit more time to really plan the project out!
Happy Quilting! Tanya

So, is anyone else really missing the quilt that they made? I am so anxious to know when the quilt makes it to the soldier I made it for. It seems like I mailed it off forever ago, but it was really just 2 weeks ago!! That was the most fun I've had making a quilt in awhile. I considered doing another one really fast to get my mind off of that particular quilt. I am hoping that it makes it safely into his hands. Thanks for letting me vent!

Tanya

I agree, Tanya! I have been watching this thread to see if any more pictures show up. I guess we shouldn't expect the quilts to arrive in the Middle East until late December, but it's hard to wait! I just hope all of the soldiers are ok, get their quilts and know we care.