DustysMomma

Oh how beautiful! That is amazing Mama! That is very much a home decor project. Definitely a showpiece for the wall.

nancia

in my mind anything that is left out as decorative or useful is home dec. when you see what i made for sikesjj you'll have an even greater sense of confusion. most of it isn't home dec, but part is and that's what counts! man, i'm getting alot of mileage out of this first swap project.
hello donna and mrsmck! we have the most fun teasing each other and getting silly once in a while ( ok, most of the time!). lots of fun making new friends so very glad you've joined us!

DustysMomma

Since this is a home decor project in the works, I thought I'd share the design here for feedback. This past week marked 6 years since we lost my dad. Sadly, it took his death for me to get to know my half-brother, who I'd ever only been around twice in my life before then. His mom remarried quickly after she and Dad divorced & since he was a navy officer, they lived everywhere but where we were. When Dad died, we knew what city he'd lived in last, but had no idea how to reach him & once my cousin found a last known address, we had to get the local police to go out to do the notification. Luckily, that address was his ex-wife's house, so she gave them his cell number for us to call him to do it ourselves.

In the six years since Dad died, I've tried over and over to get something that he could have of Dad's from his widow. Even though she was a great step-mother, some switch flipped when Dad died and it's been the opposite ever since. Last spring, she finally gave us 1 box through my cousin, which was basically only family photos, most of which Dad had gotten from Grandma when they cleared her apt and put her in the nursing home years ago, and both of Dad's Bibles. As a navy vet himself, the only thing my brother asked for of Dad's was the flag from the VA, which we've been unable to get. (That's a long story.)

I've been thinking for a while now that it might be a good idea to make my brother a quilt, commemorating Dad's military service. I ordered copies of Dad's service records from the Army, then requested replacement medals. Some have been unreplaceable, so I thought since I can get photos, this would be something good to give my brother as a wedding gift (if he and his fiance ever get around to setting a date!) so even though Dad can't be there, a little part of him can be.

So, now that I've babbled through the backstory, I'd like some feedback on the design so far. Of course, I'll sleep on it, send it to my cousin for she and her husband (Dad's best friend) to chew it over, etc. but I wanted quilter's opinion. Obviously some of it will be pieced, some will be embroidered, and some will be applique. The photos will require finding someone who can help me print them on fabric. I took off his last name, but left everything else as I have it on the draft on my computer. The white background on some of it is just the background color on the photos I downloaded.

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nancia

very nice! i think there's a class on crat=ftsy that teaches you how to do pictures on fabric. and most of the classes are on sale!( my favorite 4 letter word beginning with s. bet you can guess my favorite for letter word starting with F.)

DustysMomma

Thank you! My problem with doing photos on fabric is that I don't have the printer to do it. The printer we have is a more industrial printer, and a very old one at that. When I got my new laptop, I couldn't even find a driver for it that is windows 8 compatible. They stopped with Vista of all things. So when I want to print anything, I either email it to myself, then go to my old laptop in the sewing room & print it, or I email it to my boyfriend to print. It's quite annoying.

The top photo is my dad in a church in Vietnam. He sent the photo to Grandma from there with a letter I still have telling her how beautiful it was and how he wished he could bring her there during peacetime to see it herself. I have to say, my daddy was one handsome fellow! The older my brother gets, the more he looks like him too.

nancia

speaking of dads-- as my dh gets older he looks less and less like anyone in his family. i'm beginning to wonder about my dmil! lolol. but my sons look more like my dh's family. isn't genetics strange and wonderful?!
sounds like your dad was also very nice. did he ever take his mom to viet nam?

DustysMomma

My dad was awesome. My view of him and the view my brother got from his mom was completely different though. His mom acted like Dad didn't want him, yet Dad and I were close enough that my first 2 step-mothers were wickedly jealous. (One even told me I needed to learn my daddy wasn't my boyfriend.) Dad never got to take Grandma traveling anywhere. She wouldn't have gone. To the best of my knowledge, she never went anywhere north of Chattanooga (I have photos of her at Lookout Mountain), and only by car, so she would never have gone overseas. Dad loved Arizona though, and it's ironic that my brother just moved there.

I can't get my mother to travel either. She came here last spring for the first time since 1997. I mentioned that when something was said about my boyfriend and I marrying a couple years ago that he said he wanted to get married in Denmark. Mother said "well we won't push him then" because she has no interest in visiting. She actually told me she guessed we'd have to do it twice, lol. Heck, we've been together almost 7 years and he won't commit to doing it once!

Elisabrat

My what a lovely tribute quilt? I am sure there are board members who can print on fabric for you. I havent done it before. I am not sure how well those things last over time. more for looking than using I think. great pillows though.

Steve's Aunt never left her parish in Louisiana ever. She said she had all she needed right there at home no need to traverse all over looking for happy. She was happy there. I can not imagine never leaving home. I am tired now so travel is not appealing to me but I have also been fortunate enough to travel a whole lot in my younger years.

I hope I get someone who loves chickens! I have this chicken fabric that well says make something with me already. two yards of wine red and black and white and a bit of yellow.. super kitchen like. I also have some very sweet tea pot fabric by kaffee fassette make a sweet tablerunner for sure in pale pinks and soft greens.. or two yards of kittys with ornaments very cute they are wearing santa hats on baby blue fabric.. Japanese design I believe. or there is this brown fabric with lemons and birds on it kinda modern looking also a great runner fabric I believe. or or or..all the others to chose from. I am so ready to work on a new project!!! what only 2 more weeks of waiting? better go make some tropical tablerunners for the fun of it.

DustysMomma

Elisabrat, have you seen this book? The quilt on the cover reminds me of you and your chickens!

http://www.amazon.com/The-Best-Fons-...abletop+quilts

nancia

lemon sounds tasty! i'm not allowed to do chickens any more. dh 'chickened out" so now we're doing wildlife. i sent most of my chickies to dd and 9 of 10 got smashed. never write fragile on a package! they take it as a dare!!