New Block

Hello Everyone, we are up to 92 quilt tops in 90 days!

You can see about 75 of the tops here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24071860@N03/sets/72157604686736172/

Some of the tops were taken home with people to be quilted prior to the photos being taken. We will get photos when they are returned from the quilters.

Unfortunately we have apparently exceeded the graphics limit on the blog or have some other technical issue and I cannot post the new block here so email me at carol@qov-socal.org and I will be sure to email the block to you.

Thank all of you for your support. We could never accomplish this without you.

Happy block making!
Carol

61 tops in 60 Days! New Block

Hi everyone,

There is so much to share. Here are a few quick facts. In the 60 days from Feb. 20 to Apr. 20 we made 61 quilt tops in 60 days. I have shipped 44 to longarmers and the rest are either at longarmers or will be soon! Phenomenal job, very nice work to everyone who participated.

Our new block was selected by Kaye Wood. Kaye has a grandson in Kuwait on his way to Iraq. She was thrilled to hear about our project and anxious to participate. The May block is located on the side bar.

Keep those blocks coming! There are many soldiers who need to be wrapped in a little love.

More soon.

What happened to the last month???

Wow! What a busy couple of weeks. I know that I have been neglectful and please accept my apology. I will do much better in coming weeks. We are on a fast growing track and a lot of this is new knowledge to me. I will say that I was “focused.” My first clue that I was being neglectful was my phone. I have the “Chuckie Doll” of phones which just loves to turn itself to “vibrate” instead of ring. After about 4 days and I was so busy I didn’t notice that I didn’t get any incoming calls I checked to find the vibrate thing again. An hour after I turned it back to ring Baby Sister called to tip me off to “CALL MOM! She has not heard from you or seen an email in a week and she is going to call the police to go make sure you are still alive!” OOOpps. Okay, seriously neglectful. Mom is in Louisiana and I am in CA. Okay, maybe too focused. I owe a ton of people returned phone calls, emails and thank yous. Thank you all. I have received most of the calls I hope. I know my phone dropped or delayed some messages as I should have had several from my Mom and didn’t get a single one. I have received all the things people said they were sending to me and though I didn’t read email for a week I am now caught up.

THE BLOCKS ARE COMING, THE BLOCKS ARE COMING!!!!!!!!!

We meet this SUNDAY at 10 AM

April 20, 2008
American Legion Post #359
11986 Front Street
Norwalk, CA

NOTE TIME CHANGE. It is 10 AM, not 9 AM. There was some confusion on the time primarily because I put 9 AM but it is really 10 AM. This is the first time we will meet in NORWALK on SUNDAY (if you go to Lakewood you will be all alone. Be kind and double check with everyone you know who is planning to go to the all day “sew-in” this weekend that they know Norwalk on Sunday) to sew all day. We are all so excited. This is the week we look forward to seeing all the blocks from all over the country. It is so cool to see all of the different fabrics, especially from the east coast. Apparently they have a large supply of patriotic fabrics we don’t have access to here on the west coast. I can’t make it work for this month but hopefully soon I will be able to video the “big block reveal” so those of you remote can see the overwhelming sight of all the blocks. There is a huge amount of love there and it is truly stunning. If you haven’t sent your blocks yet send them to:

Sew Vac Ltd.
Attn: Quilts of Valor-Socal
1762 Clark Avenue
Long Beach, CA 90815

Hello Baton Rouge, Louisiana – they have 45 blocks in route. Thanks for the love.

Hello Ontario, CA Beginning Quilting Class at the Senior Center – Herlinda is teaching some of them to sew for the first time and they have been making blocks! Thanks for the support and good luck learning to all of you from a fellow beginner. I bet you all cannot “unsew” as fast as I can…….never give up, we will not be defeated………we will overcome no matter how many times we have to unsew the same thing…………

Hello San Diego, CA – well, well San Diego, thanks to Cindy Feagle the San Diego County Fair Home and Hobby division is holding a one day Quilts of Valor block contest on Friday, July 4th. Red, white and blue fabric only. Blocks are 12.5” x 12.5” unfinished. Enter the contest and you may just win some sweepstakes and/or $25! Be sure to print out the entry form and take it along with your block to Cindy’s booth. Cindy will be there from 10 AM until 2 PM every day the fair is open from June 14 – July 6th (Note: the fair is closed 2 Mondays, June 16 and 23). For more information click this link and go to page 7 http://www.sdfair.com/fair/pdf/08entry_adult_onedaycontest.pdf. You can browse the site at www.sdfair.com and if you have questions you can email entry@sdfair.com or call the entry office 858-792-4207. Contest entry is free!

Hello Salt Lake City, UT – Creative Expressions sent us 59 embroidered blocks that we can use for center blocks in the quilts. They are fabulous! All 45 of their employees got together and created this design just for these quilts. Very nice work everyone. The blocks read “Land of the Free” across the top and “Because of the Brave” across the bottom with a really great eagle holding 2 flags in the center. (Picture will be on the blog soon) Thanks to Hydee and the team at Creative Expressions for such outstanding love and support. We will use the blocks well. 20 of them are already cut and bordered ready for a quilt. The rest will be by the weekend.

Beginners haven’t thought of this yet but quilters are wondering how do you center a single block on a row of 4 blocks? I am sure the Quilt Police will show up at my door momentarily but being a non-quilter my answer is “split a block” and have one and a half blocks on each side and the embroidered block in the center. What? It is centered and even and balanced. Works for me. Like I said, I am sure the Quilt Police will carry me off shortly. That is ok. I have my “Quilt Police Jail” bail money stashed. You know, Momma always said keep a little emergency stash for when trouble comes calling……..

Real Quilters will just position the embroidered block in an appropriate place in the layout of the quilt top. Oh, live a little ladies, split a block! Relax, I have nearly 75 blocks completed so that MY blocks will be the only ones eligible for splitting. I said I have been “focused”.

Seriously, there are tons of other blocks in route from all over the US and we are just as excited as children at Christmas. The farthest away we have received so far that I know of is Maine and Florida. And we have received many from many points in between.

I have about 100 blocks and I know that Barbara has about 100 blocks. As for a count that is the best I have so far. I will post an update to the blog http://quiltsofvalor-socal.blogspot.com/ as to the exact number as the week progresses but be aware that the number will change daily. I promise, no more “going dark” for such an extended period no matter how focused. Last month it seems about half of the blocks were brought directly to the American Legion Hall so those will not be in the count during the week. Don't forget Panda Express is providing lunch again for us.


Thanks to everyone who participates in the project for the success of the project. See you at Norwalk if you are local and online if you are remote!

This is a comment that I blew when I approved the posting so I am posting it here:


well I will give you the WOW as well! I am impressed at all the quilts you made, and the whole event. Amazing work!!!

Posted by Alycia to Quilts of Valor - SoCal at March 19, 2008 8:56 AM

Somewhere far north of WOW where the angels live......

Saturday was truly phenomenal! I am not sure there are words to describe it. There was an army of angels who arrived, focused and got a tremendous amount of work done with incredible synchrony and most previously didn't know each other.

789 blocks in under 3 weeks! Strange timing and we had 7 of our core group that meets weekly to work on Quilts of Valor unable to attend due to prior commitments and untimely health issues and 4 or 5 volunteers chose to work on other projects. That left our overall productivity down by 11 or 12 people. We chose to go with 20 blocks per quilt. We sewed 500 blocks and got 25 quilt tops completed. It is a really good thing our productivity was down or we would have run out of blocks, which was my personal nightmare. Every thing happens the way that it is supposed to. As it turned out, we couldn’t finish what we had. It was perfect and awesome! Volunteers have stepped up to sew the rest of the blocks and return them within a week. Very cool! We should have an additional 14 quilt tops within the week for a total of 39 quilt tops. So very awesome. Good job everyone, very nice work, angels!

The most shocking thing of the whole day was the visual appeal of the blocks when randomly sewn together. I can say it was just stunning. When I made the call for 1600 blocks I had no idea if this would work out well or tragic. You know what my fear was. Fear unfounded. The quilt tops are FABULOUS! I could never have imagined anything this cool. Each quilt top is unique just like the military personnel they will go to. No two are alike. The blocks individually and collectively are absolutely stunning. I had no idea there were so many red, white and blue fabrics and combinations. It is so very cool to see the different fabrics from the different areas of the country.

We had a steady stream of supporters from current military personnel, to veterans, to veterans with restored military vehicles for display in the parking lot to curious quilters to moral supporters to 2 embroidery machines to do labels to those who didn’t sew but stepped up to pitch in. The whole thing was an awesome whirl of focused, dedicated energy of an army of angels in motion. Big “thanks” and humble “good job” to everyone who stepped up and did their part to make this a phenomenal success.

I have no worries about not having more blocks on our first “block party” and actually, I am a bit grateful. We didn’t actually get all of the ones we had completed and I am not concerned about that either. They will all be done shortly. I am thrilled with the results and think it was just the perfect amount. We kept 3 or 4 people busy, non-stop, all day doing the cutting and squaring up of the blocks. We learned something here and will do a lot more of that in advance for future events. I also set the deadline 2 days prior and another lesson learned here. Most of the blocks arrived within 36 hours of Saturday morning. We need more time in there to get the blocks squared so that our skilled seamstresses are not spending time cutting blocks all day. We will move the due date up to allow time for squaring up. Thank goodness we didn’t get 1600, we would have never gotten them all cut in one day! Every thing happens the way that it is supposed to. This was an incredible first run. I just can’t wait to do it again on Sunday, April 20, 2008 in Norwalk. See blog for event schedule and addresses, link below.

Being a part of this is a phenomenal experience. For those who couldn’t be present, we could feel your presence in all the blocks. Thank you for your support and participation. It was an honor to put your work to such good use. Thank you for your trust in us, we appreciate your efforts and will always do our best to make you proud and earn your respect and support. There was a feeling of pride, patriotism and love in that room that I simply cannot describe. It was amazing. We received blocks from Maine and Florida and many points between here and there.

I personally just couldn’t wait to see what one of the quilt tops looked like with borders so Sunday I took the first one off the stack (nope, I didn’t even try to pick one because I could not have as they are all really fabulous). I put the borders on and you can check it out on the blog. I think the borders are going to work but I am more interested in what the recipients think. I am looking for a WOW factor when they receive their Quilt of Valor and something that truly makes them feel honored. I got a “WOW, that is awesome, I like it” from the Marine next door. I put a survey on the blog, check it out and cast your vote on the borders. Only one vote each and only 6 days to do it so get on it if you are going to.

http://quiltsofvalor-socal.blogspot.com/

The photos of the day and all the quilt tops are located on flickr as promised for your viewing. Have a blast checking out all the blocks, the rest will be up as soon as the quilt tops are ready so if you don’t see YOUR block, don’t worry, it is coming very soon:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24071860@N03/sets/72157604139546470/

(I have the strangest feeling I am missing a quilt top photo or two. If you don’t see your quilt top up there please let me know.)

Be sure to pass this link to everyone you know to make them aware of the project. I would like as many military people as possible to know that we are here and we care and we are all stepping up. You never know who your friends know. It is a 6 degrees of separation kind of thing. The overwhelming photo is that of all the completed quilt tops on the table. They are 500 blocks literally from all over the country made by Americans to support our American Heroes. Seeing them was quite a moving experience as just as seeing the photo may be for you.

Thanks again everyone for the phenomenal support. Thanks to Barbara for getting our sponsors lined up for food, our venues, registration, getting the word out, counting the blocks and everything else. Thanks to our sponsors, Krispy Kreme, Panda Express and Trader Joe’s. Great fuel enjoyed by all the volunteers. Thanks to our corporate sponsors. We have received a total of 760 yards of red, white and blue fabric.

So many people did not learn about the event in enough time to participate and felt left out so we are keeping the same block for this month by popular request in Red, White and Blue. But to shake things up a bit we are using a theme of Purple Mountains Majesty so for a challenge toss a little purple in your block if you can step up to the challenge. (Actually, if you don’t have purple in your stash it is no big deal, RW&B alone is just fine but I need a little entertainment after 70 blocks in R,W &B!.) I will have a detailed document out in a few days about the block this month but for those of you who just can’t wait to get started…….get going on the Friendship Stars and toss in some purple because we need to double our blocks this month …..and since we jumped to 20 blocks per quilt I am raising the call to 2000 blocks! Let’s see if we can get it done! Raise the bar a bit! Always remember to HAVE FUN!

There is an email below that has been circulating regarding fabric color choices below. You will see for yourself what the recipients preference is so we will give them what they want and we will always stay with R,W & B but we will toss in other colors for variety and for a little challenge. The R,W&B is not up to me. The recipients are the ones who served so they are the ones that get to define preferred colors and it is clearly R,W&B. We will find inventive ways to keep it fresh so we don’t get bored and fall asleep at the machine.

This is not the project I would have ever chosen to work on or thought that I would have been involved in. This project chose me and I am eternally blessed and grateful to have the experience and the opportunity to focus the energy of so many incredible angels. I am doing my best to live up to the blessing. With an army of angels supporting this project it can only go up higher and way larger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get ready, this is only the beginning………it's going to be an incredible journey..........

Thanks for sharing the love, see you April 20^th SUNDAY in NORWALK,

From: Tim Sumner [mailto:tsumner@ ...]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 7:49 AM
> To: QOVFchat@yahoogroup s.com
> Subject: [QOVFchat] Re: www.equilter. com Eagles/Military fabrics
>
>
>
> Great site for QOV fabrics, and good comments from quilters. In the
> Aeromedical Staging Facility at Andrews AFB, we also use a wire
> basket cart on "Quilt Patrol" in the Maryland Room and to patient
> rooms. Because the recipients can see the quilts, it's easy to see
> what catches their eye. Red, White and Blue is overwhelmingly the
> most popular color theme, and I don't recall ever seeing such a
large
> block of red that could trigger a negative reaction. Camo gets a
> good response, probably because of the strong identification.
Pastel
> colors and flower patterns are a tougher sell, and frequently bring
a
> statement like, "My wife will like this."
>
> Novelty military themed fabrics are fun and the guys like them, but
> RW&B gets them the most. Farming themes aren't as popular as you
> might think - perhaps because some of our patients may have
enlisted
> to escape the farm. But, John Deere fabric is often a big hit.
> Hunting, fishing and sports themed fabrics get an enthusiastic
> response from some, but service related material seems to work
best.
> On that topic, Army fabric is best because most recipients are
> soldiers. Marines are about 15-20%, sailors (generally Corpsmen and
> SeaBees) perhaps 5%, and USAF & USCG less than that. We receive
> about 10% women, but many of them prefer the RW&B quilts just like
> the men.
>
> In passing, it's good to remember that we receive patients with
> serious illness and non-combat injuries as much as those who have
> been wounded. Many are angry and depressed that they have been
> separated from their units, and some feel that they have deserted
> their friends. I often sense that they need your quilts more that
> those who return with Purple Hearts. We tell them that while they
> have been serving "down range" you have been praying for them, are
> welcoming them back, and recognizing with the work of your hands
> their service on our behalf. It is a very personal thing that
> touches their hearts and assures them that we know and appreciate
> what they're doing for their Country.
>
> "KEEP ON QUILTING!"
>
>

Just Wow!

WoW, More WoW, Other WoW,

WoW
Posy and the gang have registered and are driving in from Idyllwild to be at the American Legion Hall on Sat. the 15th. And they are bringing more than 50 QoV Friendship Star Blocks of the Month with them. Others have registered and are driving in from Big Bear and Ontario! Very nice.

More WoW
Blocks are coming in from all over - San Fran and Bakersfield have joined in. Cool.

Other WoW
On the Kaye Wood website under Events, the second item is:
Quilts of Valor, Volunteer Sew In, March 15, 2008, Long Beach, CA, 9-5. More Info. Even More Info

More info is the announcement of the 1600 Blocks of the Month and American Legion "Sew-In" document. Even More Info is the pattern for the Blocks of the Month.

Special thanks to Kaye Wood and company at kayewood.com for helping to share the love. We will sew well and make you proud. And thanks to Barbara for sending it to them.

I think my head is going to explode.

This is incredible. This is going to be so much fun. And we are going to make so many Quilts of Valor. Just WoW!

I am not sure where I got the courage to say this without knowing exactly how many blocks are in route as I write this but I can be brave. We need suggestions for Blocks of the Month for next month. If you have a pattern and instructions for a favorite block send them to me at carol@qov-socal.org.

First QoV Friendship Star Blocks have arrived and sponsor are joining in to provide for volunteers!

First QoV Friendship Star Blocks have arrived!

They are gorgeous! If you want to see them you will either have to register and volunteer on March 15th or you will have to listen to Gary and Lisa on KEARTH 101 on Monday, March 17, 2008 to find out what the link is to the photos of the Quilt Tops.

We still need lots more QoV Friendship Star blocks as we are trying to get to 1600 so we can make 100 quilt tops in a single day!

Don't forget to register to attend the all day "sew-in" at the American Legion Post #496 on March 15th. Panda Express has stepped up to provide lunch to all the volunteers! Trader Joe's - Bixby Knolls is providing water and sodas for all the volunteers.

Thanks for the love and support, Panda Express. We like to support our sponsors so plan on taking your family or meeting a few friends for a meal at a Panda Express just to say thanks. Be sure to tell them "Thanks for the love from Quilts of Valor-socal!' There are 1081 restaurants in 37 states. You can find a Panda Express near you at www.pandaexpress.com and click on the restaurant locator. Order your favorite but for me, the Orange Chicken is hard to beat!

Make a special effort to go out of your way to drop by Trader Joe's - Bixby Knolls on Atlantic and tell them "Thanks for the love from Quilts of Valor-socal".

And while we are speaking about sponsors, don't forget to show some love at SewVac on Clark when you drop off those QoV Friendship Star blocks. We have been meeting there on Thursday afternoons from 1pm to 5 pm for about a year and a half. We want them to know how much we appreciate them collecting the blocks. Scott and the whole team have been great.

Thanks to all our sponsors March 15th is going to be a really great day! We could actually be making American history. I am not sure any group has ever made 100 quilt tops for our American heroes in a single day! What a great day in history.