We have a presentation to do!!

Well ladies - seeing as the Taste of Kennesaw is going on this weekend, Cottontail Quilts has decided to close. The amount of people and traffic on the downtown event days makes it almost impossible for anyone to get quilting done! LOL So, I am afraid to say, no meeting again.

I do have some great news though - I was contacted by the Region 8 coordinator asking me to do a Quilts of Valor presentation!! 

Seems there has been a sister nominate her brother - a Viet Nam veteran. He lives in Cartersville. The sister has asked to be present (she lives out of town) and we will be working out a time and location for the presentation once she is scheduled to come into town!! WHOO HOOO!!! 

So...we need a quilt to present to him. I have some military themed fabric that I bought, and thought to design around that - some of it is panels. 

If anyone would like to get together, before Octobers meeting, let me know. 

In the mean time - keep those machines stitching.

Thanks for all you do!

Until later,

Renee

This just in from national...

I received this urgent request from QOVF National so I thought it best to pass it on. This is copied right from Marcella's email:

Just a heads up that the fighting in Afghanistan is very fierce right now leading to a substantial increase in the number of wounded. As such, the number of quilts requested by the standing weekly destinations has increased from 65 to 105 EVERY WEEK in just the last month. The increase by 40 quilts a week includes the addition of the ICU unit at Landstahl in Germany (15 quilts a week), the addition of the medical unit at FOB Shank-East in Afghanistan (20 quilts a week) and doubling the number of quilts going to the multinational medical unit at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan (to 10 a week). These quilts all go to front line wounded service members. There is no concern about whether they have already received a QOV or not.

Sadly, we will fall far short of meeting this need since the 65 quilts a week wasn't even being fulfilled. These destinations request patriotic/RWB only. I'm not asking for a debate here about RWB vs generic/branch specific/feminine. I'm just telling you what the Points of Contact have requested.

If you would like to help meet this need, please request a destination at
http://www.qovf.org/req-destination.html.

Marcella Pirner-Cormier
Destination Coordinator
Quilts of Valor Foundation



I know this can sound overwhelming, but as another QOV quilter said - it is like eating an elephant - one bite at a time. Come to the July meeting if you have time, we can use the help.

Thanks for all you do!
Remember - freedom is not free
~ Renee

My little red wagon

Last month was a bit of a struggle to bring all the "stuff" up to the meeting room for for QOV (Robin was generous to lend me her rolling cart). Just as we were wrapping things up, I saw another quilter come in, and she was pulling a little red wagon - that collapes. GENIUS!! I HAD to have one. Certainly Robin is OK with lending me her cart, but what if I should go some place else with all my "stuff"? So, it was my mission to get one of these - Aldi has them. Now I feel better. I love to be organized and all my QOV "stuff" fits in the wagon. 

The great thing with the "stuff" in this wagon - it is meant to share with all of you. Can you guess what is in the big box? Come and join us on the 16th and see for yourself! I can guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Remember - Freedom is not Free

~ Renee

What Should I Bring?

We have had more quilters inquire about the sew-in's and I am excitedly hoping that the group will be growing.
The main question I am getting is: "what should I bring with me?" Here is a list:

1. Your sewing machine.
2. Rotary cutter and ruler(s).
3. Basic sewing supplies: scissors, thread, machine needles, pins, etc.
4. Fabric and or batting donations: if you feel you can part with some stash, we will gladly put in the "community" stash for upcoming projects. Please refer to the fabric standards for the QOV - 100% cotton, quilt shop quality fabric only. No poly batting.
5. A lunch or snack - we do sew until 1:30, and there is a small restaurant nearby should you want to order from them.
6. Suggestions and ideas for fundraisers and quilt patterns.

Here is what the group is furnishing:

1. Iron/ironing board.
2. Some muslin squares for string blocks.
3. Some stash for the string blocks.
4. Lots of fun!

Should you want your own cutting surface, bring that. Due to the nature of this historical building, the electrical circuits will only handle a couple of irons at a time, so too many will blow the breaker, causing a temporary black out. 

I have gone through another box of "scrap" and will bring this with me, adding to the increasing variety of fabric to pick through. I think this is half the fun! I will also, bring a couple of design walls. If you know of someone that is not a sewer/quilter, bring them along. We would love to get them involved and there are plenty of ways to help.

Come and sew with us on June 16th! It is sure to be a ton-o-fun

Remember - freedom is not free

~ Renee

ACK! The last of the clues...

I have come to realize that I need to be better about following up on the blog posts! Seems I missed the last of the clues for the mystery quilt Persimmon Quilts is doing, so here they are -  6 and 7 - are posted. I should put blogging on my calendar - I have a memory like a sieve!

Hope you have all your blocks done and on the way to a completed top!

Freedom is not free...
~ Renee

Scenes From Our First Meeting...

WOW!!! I am excited to report that our very first Freedom Quilters QOV meeting was a huge success. My hat is off to all that came and pushed through with amazing progress to get us well on the way to making our first top - GREAT JOB EVERYONE!!!
To recap for those that were not able to come, we were able to move ahead with making string blocks - super easy and fun to do. There were tons of scraps to pick from and Pat Snyder made us the best brownies - thanks Pat! I can see that this group is going to do a great service to those that deserve it the most - our service men and women.

Betty is trying to choose just the right piece

Pat is making some serious progress

Eve is busy getting rid of those pesky wrinkles!

This is my mom, Sharlene - so glad that she was able to help out

WOOT WOOT - You go Pat!!

Here is some serious piecing! 

I mentioned Saturday about a thank you letter that was shared via the QOV blog, but wanted to post the link here for everyone to see just what a difference a quilt can be for those touched by war.

Remember - freedom is never free.
~ Renee

Mystery and an update...

So sorry for the lag in posts, seems there are 2 new installments on the mystery quilt, go here and you can retrieve them.

Thanks for understanding about the postponement on the start day. My husband had to have a stent put in and when I put off the meeting, we were not sure how complicated the procedure would be. Thank God it was only a stent and one night in the hospital. Home the next day with no restrictions, other than changes to diet and exercise. So now we are back to a normal routine.

So we are on for the 19th. Cottontail is providing sewing tables, cutting mats and 2 ironing stations. Please bring your sewing machine, rulers, rotary cutter, thread and other supplies you need for sewing and cutting. If you have any material you would like to donate, bring that also. I will bring some foundations for string quilting and plenty of scraps for sewing. I am excited to meet everyone and get started with the great mission.

See you at 9:30 on May 19th - bring your friends too!!

~ Renee