Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Meet & Greet


Hi, we have a Meet & Greet event going on the month of September. Please follow the link and visit all the new quilts. https://benitaskinner.blogspot.com/2018/09/2018-online-quilters-meet-greet.html 
There is a opportunity to win a great grand prize too. Victoriana Quilt Designs has planned it all. Hope to see you checking out the sites. 

Here is the facebook link.

I don't do twitter or instagram, but if you do, here are some links for you.



So, a little bit about me. I'm a retired United States Air Force Officer. I retired in 2005 (Yikes that is 13 years ago) and live in the San Antonio area. Most of you would not know the little town, so that makes it easier to get a location. I retired when DD was 5 year and DS was 22 years old. I was able to stay at home and enjoy my daughter by volunteering in the schools. 

Volunteer work is a favorite of mine. I also bought myself a Gammill long arm quilting machine. I love it! I decided that it would help me to complete some of my own things. it has done that and more. I am able to quilt for Quilts of Valor and Covered in Love  and other organizations that are local to support causes that are dear to me. I also love to quilt for family and friends. I used to make a quilt at the end of the year for all of DD's teachers. Now, that she is in college, I don't have that honor anymore.

What do I like to do? I am a traditional quilter. I piece blocks and will do some applique. My hands are not so happy with me on applique right now, so if I need applique, I do it by machine. I have become a scrappy quilter because of all the scraps that I create each year. I seem to be working on many of the UFOs that were created by me swapping and not completing the quilt when the blocks came in. The problem with UFOs is that they create more scraps and use less yardage in the cabinets. But, that is OK, because I love the quilts that I make.
This is a set of scrappy quilts from Wedding Dress Blues called Irish Stars.

It was a quilt a long and I misread the directions and made too many (way too many) blocks.  I had enough for 4 other quilts. These larger quilts went to DD and her 2 best friends from her Freshman year of college. The little one is my car quilt.

 
Blues                              My Car Quilt

  
Green                                 Purple
i think I had to make another green star, but everything else just worked out great.

Being an empty nester, I am learning how to use my time to finish up more things.
But, it seems I have friends wanting T-shirt quilts. LOL
 
And then T-shirt pillows
 

 

I also digitize and do machine embroidery.
My kids have named it "the alien". It even makes alien noises, so that might be appropriate. I'm slowly learning how to make it do what I want. LOL Sometimes I think it is winning.
I love making postcards
 

I also like making coaster for quick easy gifts during most of the seasons.
They are easy and fun way to share the season.
Coasters

THIS IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE

Supplies:
5 coordinating pieces of fabric
(I've also used all different fabrics or two or whatever I had on hand)
Batting
Cutting tools
Thread

Cutting Instructions:
Cut 5 - 4 ½  x 4 ½ inch squares of fabric
Cut 1 - 4 ½  x 4 ½ inch square of batting 



Pressing Instructions:

Fold 4 of the squares in half, wrong sides together and press
You will have your batting, a 4 ½ inch square for the backing and 4 rectangular pieces.




 Assembly Instructions:
1.     Place 4 ½  x 4 ½ inch square of batting on table 

  

2.  Place unfolded 4 ½  x 4 ½ inch square right side up on top of batting.    


3.    Lay remain 4 pieces (the folded ones), with raw edges towards the outside, and layer as if you were folding a box top to keep it shut.




 






Things to notice: When sewing you want to have the layer on the upper right to be the one on top. This allows you to sew without catching the folds.

4.    Stitch ¼ inch around the outside edges.
Make sure to catch all layers.

  



5.    Trim corners


6.    Turn 

This is what it looks like while turning.


After it is turned, it might need the corners pushed out. 

Don't use a sharp point, or you might go through the seam. 
I use a rounded chop stick.


Finished

  
Use it as a coaster. 

it can be used for stemware too.



  

It is washable and is loved by everyone.

When I gave them away at the office to my staff, other employees would come to see if I had any left that they could buy.
I always made more to make sure I had extra to give away.
Great for scrap use if you are only making one or don't care if they match.

There are so many fun projects to make.

My blog is basically my way to keeping track of all the things I do, so I know I've actually accomplished something.

To be entered for the grand prize, please go to this link to enter. 

28 comments:

Denise :) said...

Nice to meet you -- and thank you for your service! :)

Jennifer said...

My daughter is currently an Air Force Officer serving now at the Pentagon. She is in Financial Management and really busy all of the time. Thank you for your service and I look forward to the day she can retire and be as happy as you seem to be. We live in Austin so it is nice to meet another Texan on this meet and greet! Thanks for the cute mug rug tutorial too!

grussick said...

I can’t wait to follow your blog in the future

Kathy H said...

Great star quilts. I love making those coasters too. My grandkids have always played with mine whenever they were over. I just thought that I should make up a few more sets. They are fun to make and turn out so cute.

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

Your series of star quilts is wonderful! Thanks for quilting for CIL, too. I enjoy making blocks for Kat, but don't have the machine or skills to quilt like that. It's great to meet other quilters from around the country who participate!

Jereena said...

Nice to meet you! Your star quilts are really nice and those girls are lucky. I always wanted an embroidery machine, a simple one, definitely not the alien.The embroidered coasters are wonderful. It looks like you make use of all your machines. I too have kids aged far apart. Two adults in college and one in kindergarten.

gudrun said...

I have had the pleasure of getting to "know" you on another list. I am
so glad I dropped in to visit here.

Amy, a redeemed sheep said...

I have enjoyed meeting so many new people on this M&G. I also want to thank you for your service. =)

I admit it, but I got a chuckle out of you making too many blocks for a quilt. I have done the same thing!

Tammy said...

Lovely to meet you and your blog. Love your projects.

The Joyful Quilter said...

Thanks for the coaster tutorial and it was great getting to know you! I loved being able to volunteer, made teacher quilts, make a TON of T-quilts, and recently donated a quilt to Covered in Love. I'll be back to see more of your quilts!

Frédérique - Quilting Patchwork Appliqué said...

Nice to meet you, Meloney! Thanks for sharing your coaster, beautiful and fun to make! I'm a follower now ;)

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

How fun! I love that you made too many blocks and ended up with so many quilts - That is how my math skills work too - ha ha! Nice to meet yoU!

Meloney said...

If anyone has an idea on how to get comments to come to my inbox, please enlighten me.

Marti Morgan said...

I also machine embroider and I even have digitized some designs for quilting for myself, I started quilting so I could embroider other things than t shirts and towels. Now I am attracted to heirloom quilts.

Meloney said...

testing to see if comments work.

Needled Mom said...

Your work is beautiful. Thanks so much for the tutorial.

Nann said...

Hello, Mel -- a familiar "face" among all the new-to-me bloggers participating in the Meet & Greet. It's nice to see you and to get to know more about you. The coasters are fun to make!

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

What a fun quick project! Visiting from the Meet and Greet. How fun that you got all those quilts from making too many blocks. Scraps left over are the reason I do the Scrap Dance mysteries.

wendy said...

Hey it's great to visit your blog! Thank you for sharing your quilts!

Sandi1100 said...

Hi Meloney, Your quilts are beautiful! I remember seeing your Irish Chain star on Stashbusters and I've been to your Blog several times. I didn't know you were retired from the Air Force. Thank you for your service.

Benita Skinner said...

Great share, Meloney - and the lovely extra coaster tutorial!
Thanks for being part of the Quilters Meet & Greet! <3

Magpie's Mumblings said...

I've been working on a t-shirt quilt for our oldest 'grand' for Christmas and just have the binding to do (not something I want to do until the weather cools off!!). Thank you for inviting us to visit with you.

LJ said...

What!, I said to myself. I must re-read that. Yep, you said you made so many blocks you could make 4 (FOUR) quilts. I do love the blocks and the color but I'm still a bit shell-shocked to hear four!! Thank you for the tut on the coasters. I must make some Christmasy ones.

Rozz01 said...

I like to make those very same mug rugs/coasters and they turn out great. Didn't know about the wine glass trick.

OhioLori said...

What a fun visit!! Enjoyed every word & picture! You do beautiful work!...and thank you for how to make the great coasters too! :)

Julie said...

Thank you for sharing your story. I enjoyed reading and thank you for your service to your country. That is a great tuturial.

Melva said...

Thanks for sharing Meloney. I love scrappy quilts as well and have made coasters for the stemware glasses. They are fun and quick projects. I love the ideas and inspiration everyone has shared in this hop.

Anne said...

Hi Mel-how beautiful that you do volunteer work. I helps lift our mind off our own problems when we do for others. Keep going on those scraps!