…..and where am I

Sew Fest……if you’ve followed me for a while, you know that Sew Fest is where a few ladies from QFC (Quilters for Comfort) get together for a week and sew quilts with a Patriotic theme and those quilts get donated to various veteran organizations, hospitals, etc… This year Sew Fest is being held in PA and I’m not there!  I am so sad about that.  We held the first Sew Fest in 2008 and met such a wonderful group of ladies and each year since has simply been amazing.  QFC (for those who don’t know) is a totally voluntary, on line group that has donated well over 1000 quilts to non-nationally recognized ‘causes’.  QFC, as well as all the wonderful ladies (and a couple gents) who help out, is very dear to me.  I’ve personally met many of the ‘volunteers’ and I have to say I truly believe that quilters have to be the most generous people in the world – to work so hard and give so much……  Guess I better add a note here: QFC doesn’t just do Patriotic quilts! We have donated quilts to NICU’s, cancer centers, women’s shelters, crisis nurseries, children’s camps, boys homes and the list goes on….

So here I am – home, in my sewing room – alone and sad that I’m not in PA sewing with friends and having the best week of the year.  So, what am I doing?  Well, as you all know, I have this love/hate relationship with my scraps.  Yesterday while I was brooding, I pulled out a basket of ‘swap blocks’ that I’ve had for probably 10 years (or more) and decided they’d make up a scrappy quilt.  Most were 6” (finished) blocks.  I had some 3” and I sewed them together to make 6” and started assembling into 12” blocks.  I also have some orphan 12” blocks that I will incorporate into this quilt.  Today, I will trim blocks (as not all blocks are created equal) and assemble the quilt and see just what I have.  It may not end up being a ‘pretty’ quilt, but I know it will at least add some warmth to a bed for someone…..

While I was going through and sorting the different swap blocks, naturally there were a few of my own in the mix.  It was interesting to take a look back in time and see my progression, not only in fabric choices but in skill level.  I’ve only been quilting since 2001.  Well, actually, I did take a class somewhere around 1980, but I can’t say I was a quilter.  I took that class with a friend because she was interested – me? not so much.  Again in 2001, I took another class with another friend because SHE was interested –me? not so much…. UNTIL, I put the quilt together and actually LIKED it.  And the discovery of the rotary cutter, ruler and mat helped a lot!  Okay, so now I’m just rambling, but I did enjoy seeing and discovering that I have, indeed, improved my skills over the years

Katie