Wyoming Breezes

Double Churndash block August 2020 This double churndash block is the beginning of another Quilt of Valor. The centers will all be different thanks to a panel of patriotic images from Jean F.  I plan to make two sets of blocks -- blue with red dashes, as shown, and red with blue dashes. The pattern is from a video tutorial from Missouri Star Quilt Company, entitled Double Churndash.

artist working on a new mural Hamilton, MO August 2015 It was fascinating to see this man working on a new mural for the Missouri Star Quilt Company. The building was next to a small coffee shop where we popped in to purchase a cold drink. mural in progress Missouri Star Quilt Company Hamilton, MO August 2015 We went further down the street, and when we turned around to go back to the car, we could see the progress that he had made. How I would love to see the finished mural that appears to be a large farm house, probably with quilts on the porch.

Missouri Star Quilt Mural painted on the side of the Retreat Center Hamilton, MO August 2015 It was fun to see the large mural on the side of the Retreat Center. The quilt, shown above, features the signature block for the Missouri Star Quilt Company - the Missouri Star. A tutorial on how to make the block and the quilt can be found here .

Window Display Missouri Star Mercantile Hamilton, MO August 2015

Marilyn and Brenda outside the original Missouri Star Quilt Company store Hamilton, MO August 2015 Brenda, Marilyn, and I saw numerous interesting and fun things on our August road trip across Kansas, but our primary destination was the Missouri Star Quilt Company (MSQC) in Hamilton, MO. I would be willing to bet that eight out of ten quilters have seen at least one of Jenny Doan's many YouTube quilting videos. Jenny Doan and her family started with the original store (shown above) in 2008 and have since expanded the business by purchasing and refurbishing other old buildings in the small town. They have turned Hamilton, MO into a quilting mecca. The MSQC has six fabric shops:    Main (original) shop      Sew Seasonal  (featuring fabrics for specific seasons)   Batiks Shop   Licensed to Sew  (trademark fabrics, i.e. sport teams, cartoon characters, brand names)   Penney's Quilt Shop (featuring solid...

Lone Star Quilt of Valor 61 x 70 Lone Star is Quilt of Valor (QOV) #70 and was made entirely with Kansas Troubles fabric. I love the deep, rich tones of all the Kansas Troubles (KT) fabrics, and one of my personal quilts, Duluth Stars was also made with KT fabrics. Pattern used for Lone Star : Charm Big Star Quilt (Missouri Star Quilt Company video link) The star gave me fits and created major waves in the quilt, so I ripped it out and reconstructed it with the half-square triangles, sized a bit larger, so I could easily square them. It helped, but there is still a bit of "wave" the the area around the star. While working with the remaining charm squares, I discovered the reason for the waves: a few charms were sized differently. Even an 1/8 of an inch can make a significant difference if it is repeated enough. My goal was to make a total of 64 Quilts of Valor by my July birthday to thank all those who have served and are currently serving in the military...

Cobblestones Quilt of Valor 61 x 68 inches Two or three months ago, Marilyn asked if I wanted to swap bricks (3.5 x 6.5 inch) to make Bonnie Hunter's pattern, Bricks and Stepping Stones , so I began cutting my scraps into bricks. We swapped two weeks ago, and I think I got the better end of the deal. Marilyn made the black and white four-patch units before I got there, so that saved time. I didn't take my sewing machine to Denver, so we worked on Marilyn's quilt top and got all the blocks made and on the design wall. I came home with a lot of bricks AND stepping stones. My nephew's wife, Maria was also given enough bricks and stepping stones (four-patch units) to make a quilt. Obviously, Marilyn and I had an abundance of scraps. I bet that surprises you, right? At home, I began sewing the bricks and stepping stones together, and then sewed those elements together in units of three to form a 9.5 inch unfinished block. Missouri Star Quilt Company has a video o...

Stack of blocks ready to sew into larger blocks for another Quilt of Valor At the end of Mondays post, I said that scrap-busting was happening in my sewing room. It seems like all I do anymore is create more scraps, so I simply must get the scraps under control before cutting into any new fabric. Some of my scraps are 2.5 inch strips that were cut from excess backing fabric of previous Quilts of Valor and others small bits remaining from other blocks. I love the video tutorials of the Missouri Star Quilt Company (MSQC), and if you've never watched any of them, you really should. Most of the projects are new-quilter friendly. This particular block came from the Three Dudes Quilt Shop in Arizona. MSQC created a video on how to make the block, believe me it is easy and uses a LOT of scraps. (For non-quilters, a Jelly Roll, is a roll of 2.5 inch strips from one fabric line.) For my blocks, I simply used 2.5 inch strips. I hope to show you some progress on these blocks an...