APRIL OMG Accomplished~ A Quilt For Christine

At the beginning of April I set a goal to get a commission quilt top pieced together. You can read the post at "A Quilt for Christine".

To be honest, I am not very excited over this one as I have no clear direction where I want to go with it. I've had a lot of difficulty putting this out on the sewing table. The request is for a Shabby Chic Style quilt...... What is your vision for a Shabby Chic quilt?

So one rainy day this week, I finally got those stack of squares I have been toting around with me in the trunk of my car and squared them up to 20"x20" and stitched them together. It turned out really pretty, but I am still looking for that one thing that will set it apart and give me enthusiasm and pride over it. I am considering some shabby cut flowers. What would you do?

                                           Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal

                                           #onemonthlygoal and @elmstreetquilts

Go have a peek at some of my other quilty friends I may be linking up to this week~  Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts, Moving It Forward Monday at Em's ScrapBag, Modern Patch Monday, Patch Work Times Design Wall, Mop Monday with Tweety Loves Quilting, Monday Making,  Main Crush Monday's, Sew Cute Tuesdays, Fiber Tuesday,  Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Wednesday Wait Loss with Jennifer, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers.  Fabric Frenzy Friday, Finish it Up Friday, Sunday Stash, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop and Finished or Not Friday. 

Playing in the Dirt~

                                         Playing in the dirt makes me Happy!
                             

Broken Soldier - Improv QAL Finish

As the prompts came in from Patty at Elm Street Quilts, each piece of fabric came together with a common theme. I kept seeing the Grand Ol' Flag, battles America has fought and reminisced of those that rally around our troops. I've made attempts at coming up with a name for the Improv quilt and  "The Broken Warrior" kept coming back to mind.

           

Many soldiers come home with mental health issues and symptoms of stress (PTSD) after a traumatic event like war, assault, or disaster. Some have been broken physically with injuries sustained in combat. Some didn't come home.

Many will face and overcome challenges; showing our support will aide in their healing. I wanted to title the quilt as such in honor of soldiers; honor them because of who they were, who they are and who they will become.

There are many wonderful programs to support American Troops, You can find some below and many others in your own community.

                                                              Wounded Warrior Project
                                                                    Soldier Ride
                                                            Disabled American Veterans
                                                    Operation Jackon County Veterans

Such programs are dear to my life. I have a long line of Veterans in my family. Consider taking time to do something for the Veterans in your life. If you have another program you wish to add to the list, please provide it in the comments section.

You can catch up with the fun prompts at Elm Street Quilts, there is still time to get in the excitement and a chance at prizes!

The progress check-in linkup runs continually through Instagram and at Elm Street Quilts QAL Facebook Group

Add your quilt top (quilted or not) to the linkup, from April 11 through April 30.

And Patty will host a finish play parade will be on May 3; see more information here.)

A Pretty Picture for The Day~

This is being sent to North Carolina Today! It is an auction item for a cancer benefit. Please join me in providing a little prayer over the event and a prayer for healing~

The design is from Pat Sloan's book, Teach Me to Applique: Fusible Applique That's Soft and Simple

and you can read more about Pat at her blog and order the book Here.

Also, be sure to check out some of the blogs I will be linking to this week~  Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts, Moving It Forward Monday at Em's ScrapBag, Modern Patch Monday, Patch Work Times Design Wall, Mop Monday with Tweety Loves Quilting, Monday Making,  Main Crush Monday's, Sew Cute Tuesdays, Fiber Tuesday,  Freemotion by the River,   WIP Wednesday's,  Wednesday Wait Loss with Jennifer, Let's Bee Social, Midweek Makers.  Fabric Frenzy Friday, Finish it Up Friday, Sunday Stash, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop and Finished or Not Friday. 

Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge 2017

                                     

This week must be my week to feed my soul. I've already posted one charity quilt I will be donating this week. My hopes is to post more about the event when the information is posted publicly.

Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict is hosting the 2017 Challenge. You can read and join in here.

I am making huge strides in finishing a couple of charity items. This one will be for Camp Hobe, a special summer camp experience for children currently being treated for cancer that have missed out on traditional summer camps for kids. 

                      I need to finish this pretty little cozy flannel for some one special~

Cancer Quilt~

I've seen all of these great, beautiful, intricate, fundraising charity quilts. All of them are so beautiful! But Most Are Pink.......

There are hundreds of types of cancers and hundreds of ways in which they affect our bodies. Today,
I'm celebrating the Hope for All Cancer Patients, A Cure for Cancer and Joy In Recovery!

Here is a quilt I'm sewing up to donate as an auction item. I've had a recent request for an item to donate for a patient with brain cancer. With short notice, I've browsed through my treasured quilts to come up with one.

In the meanwhile, I wanted to choose a quick go to pattern to work on to have on hand. I had no specific idea but I wanted Color! Lots of Color!

I am enjoying the applique stitching, it is one of my favorite sewing activities! More to come!

Give me some ideas of how you would set the strips!

Have a Blessed Day!

Welcome! 2017 New Quilt Bloggers: Blooming Quilters

First, I want to apologize for my delay in posting for the week and Blogging event. Life sometimes overcomes many priorities and wishes, as all of us has discovered at one time or another.

My name is Anita and I live in a tiny town in West Virginia. I have much Mountaineer pride and am an alumni of West Virginia University.

My love for quilts started with my grandmother, Flossie Agra. She did mostly applique quilts with floral pieces. They were lovely. I've been on a search for one of her quilts for many years.

I dabbled a little with sewing and attempting to create a quilt about 25 years ago with no instruction of how to construct it. It came out okay, but I never saved a picture of it nor do I still have the quilt.

Then about 3 years ago, my grand daughter came to live with me full time and my activities changed greatly. I needed something to occupy my mind and time since I keep her now. My husband and I were in the throws of empty nest syndrome and loving our new-found freedom! Again, there goes one of life's surprises thrown at us! We sold our motorcycles and became full-time parents again!

I went back to quilting and found that I loved it! I follow after my grandmother, I really like appliques but do most of mine by machine.

One of my tips for raw edge applique is to use a basting medium such as Heat n Bond Lite to secure the applique prior to machine stitching. It has worked great for me every time!

I also use quilting gloves to turn my fabrics when stitching appliques to save from getting finger cramps. Give it a try!
  

IF YOUR PERSONALITY WAS A QUILT BLOCK or Famous Quilt, WHAT WOULD YOU BE? Leave me a comment and don't forget to visit all my other Blooming Quilters Friends!

Anita @Domestic Felicity ~ This is Me :)

Liz @My Sew Called Life

Olusola @Alice Samuel’s Quilt Co. 

Cate @Chaos Theory Quilting

Designer of the Month~

I just love, Love, Love that Pat Sloan prepares a wonderful challenge each month featuring a GREAT Designer. And even better...it is sponsored by Aurifil Thread!

Pat interviews a new designer every month and they both offer a free pattern block each month. Go ahead and read up, catch up and sew it up! All the details are over at Pat's Blog!

Here is the adorable block I whipped up featuring Designer Melissa Corry's pattern for March. Cute, YES?

2017 The New Quilt Bloggers Hop: Blooming Quilters~

I am so excited to be a small part of Blooming Quilters group this year hosted by Leanne @she can quilt , Beth @Cooking Up Quilts AND Yvonne of Quilting Jetgirl! Starting this week of April and in May the group hives will be sharing much about themselves and getting acquainted. I am definitely looking forward to meeting all my newest friends through a series of blog hopping!

Please join all of my hive mates, get to know each one and enjoy the journey!

Amandy @Mommy’s Projects

                                                      Bobbi @Snowy Days Quilting

                                                               Fi @living cloth

                                                          Jennifer @Inquiring Quilter

                                                         Laura @Slice of Pi Quilts

                                                        Anita @Domestic Felicity ~ (that's Me!)

                                                       Cate @Chaos Theory Quilting

                                                         Liz @My Sew Called Life

                                                    Olusola @Alice Samuel’s Quilt Co.

                                                Karen @Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

                                                   Kathleen @Kathleen McMusing

                                                    Sandy @Sandy Star Designs

                                                          Sarah @Designs by Sarah J

                                                    Tami @Thrift Shop Commando

                                                            Danette @Nettie Sews

                                                         Debbie @Quilt Knowlogy

                                                  Olivia @Pumpkin Hollow Quilting    

                                            Raylee @Sunflower Stitcheries and Quilting

                                           

April's One Montly Goal~ "A quilt for Christine"

                                    

                                                                   Pile O' Fabric

Check out the post from early February 2017.  I had a Grand time sewing all the 2 1/2" strips together.  They were hanging on the wall pretty as you please. There were 20 fabulous 21"x21" blocks staring back at me. They want to be squared up! They want sashing! They want binding! They want to be quilted! They want to have a lovely binding added so they can be snuggled under or covering a big country-cottage chic bed! They want to be beautiful in all their glory! They want to be treasured and loved!

                 Sniff....sniff.... all I have are still those squares with nothing to update on.....

Lucky for me!!! Elm Street Quilts is hosting One Monthly Goal inspiration! My aspiration for this month is to get this top put together.

                                #onemonthlygoal and @elmstreetquilts