The Whole Kit and Caboodle

Now that’s a phrase that makes you wonder – what in the world is a caboodle? 

And, when was the last time you used the word “caboodle” in everyday conversation?!  Well, it turns out that “kit” and “caboodle” have the same basic meanings:

                  A kit – a set of objects (like a toolkit) or what a soldier would put in his kit bag

                  A caboodle – an archaic term meaning a group or collection, mainly of  people

 

Today, we are showing a few Quilts of Valor that can help you use up the whole kit and caboodle of your red, white and blue scraps from your sewing rooms.

The wonderful framed 6-patch quilt above was donated by the Trinity Lutheran Quilters of Greely, Colorado.  Our thanks go out today to Alycia of Alycia Quilts for the inspiration of these great quilts on her frequent blog posts with Quilts of Valor Shows.  Alycia works with No Soldier Forgotten, a Quilts of Valor group in Colorado.  The majority of their quilts go to the Wounded Warriors unit at Ft Carson, the Mountain Post, in Colorado Springs, but they also support VA Centers in Denver, Ft  Collins, Greely and Cheyenne, WY.

This Scrappy Rail Fence is featured in the Free Patterns section of Alycia’s blog.  Check it out at:  http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com/p/free-quilt-patterns.html

By the way, the saying “the whole kit and caboodle” first appeared in print in 1884, but parts of the saying go back much farther.  So, go search your scraps for R/W/B and come up with your own kit and caboodle Quilt of Valor!

Recap of 02/15/13 Meeting

Every meeting seems to be special, but this one really took the cake!  Check out these photos of the tops and quilts that were turned in at the meeting:

Group Photo left side

Group Photo right side



Top made by Debbie, quilted and bound by Linda



Top made by Kathy, quilted by Ron, bound by Maria

Top made by Ginger - isn't this gorgeous!

Presentation package pillowcases donated by Nancy

©©© We love all of our volunteers and could

never make this kind of progress without them.

A BIG thank-you to each and every one of you!!  ©©©

We had two Quilts of Valor awarded during our meeting.  If you missed the  blog post about that, you can read all about it [link].

"    We sewed borders to tops,

"    We sent 4 more quilt tops out to be longarm quilted,

"    We sewed lots of bindings to quilts and others sewed them down by hand,

"    We cut lots and lots of blocks and borders, and

"    We made up block kits for volunteers to check out (gotta love those volunteers that are signing these out and keeping us supplied with these blocks for quilt tops!).

Our thanks go to Maria and Linda for bringing in sweatshirts in lots of different colors with  Wartime Quilter plus an eagle or support-our-troops ribbons embroidered on them.

Besides being warm at the right time here in Florida (where’d that cold snap come from anyway?), these will advertise our quilting efforts nicely!

We welcome new members every month.  This is Suzanne being introduced to the group by Sharon:

Welcome, Suzanne (r)!

Don’t worry if you had to miss this meeting – we’ll be looking for you next month – and there is still plenty to do!  We will be having a special quilt-as-you-go technique demonstrated, in addition to some regular sewing and cutting, so you will want to plan to be there.  More info on that will be posted closer to the next meeting time.

Mark those calendars right now for Friday, March 15^th, from 10 – 2:00.

Very Special Awards

The CT Quilters Quilts of Valor Group was very privileged to welcome some special guests at our last meeting.  Bettina, her two little boys, and her grandmother – Margaret, were here to receive two Quilts of Valor.  Margaret lives in nearby St. Petersburg, FL and Bettina was visiting her from Georgia so the timing was right for them to pick up the quilts so they can personally deliver them to the recipients:  Bettina’s husband and her father (Margaret’s son).

Bettina with her boys (3 mos and 3 1/2)
Holding the quilt destined for Robert L. is
Barb  Linares, owner of Crafty Threads Quilt
Shop (our Group's sponsor).  Barb quilted the
quilt for Robert - Barb is also a Veteran.

Bettina’s husband, Robert L., is currently serving with the US Marines.  Robert is now back in the US.  His last overseas posting was in Afghanistan where he finished his fifth combat tour of duty – he will soon be back in Georgia.  Bettina and her boys will be visiting Robert soon where she will award him with his Quilt of Valor on our behalf, along with our sincere gratitude for his willingness to serve and his great personal sacrifices for our Country.

The QOV presentation package pillowcase
has motorcycles - Robert's favorites!

Bettina and Robert's son is a
pro at folding the pillowcase!

Bettina’s family certainly has a history of service!  Her father, Robert C., is now retired from the US Army.  He also served in a combat zone - Iraq in 2004.  Robert C. now resides in Arkansas and Margaret will be visiting soon to award him with his Quilt of Valor and our deepest appreciation for his service.

Margaret and great grandson with
the quilt destined for Robert C. -
The family hails from Philadelphia and
the center panel reads "Old Glory" -
how perfect is that?!

We really enjoyed meeting Bettina and Margaret and the children.  Our group recognizes that there are many families like Bettina and Margaret’s that have given much so that we can continue to live in the Land of the Free. 

Bettina, Robert L. and the Boys
[Olan Mills' Family Photo]

We are honored that in our small way, we can provide a tangible “thank you”, and let them know of our gratitude for their dedication and patriotism.

Meeting Reminder - Tomorrow!

We will be meeting Friday, Feb 15^th,

from 10:00 – 2:00

at Crafty Threads Quilt Shop!

Click on this link to learn more.

Bring your lunch or a snack

(or you can opt to go to a local restaurant)

Why Quilts of Valor?

The following was posted on a Quilts of Valor message board by a QOV Member from Pembroke, KY:

 

Mon Nov 5, 2012

I received a thank you letter today that I would like to share.  Some words I can't make out, and yet I wanted all of you to share in his thank you to me:

I write and thank you for your wonderful quilt. As background I am an Army Surgeon assigned to [location removed] in Eastern Afghanistan. I arrived on 22 July, 2012. Our unit provides emergency surgical care to the members of [an] Airborne Brigade.

[Location] is in Eastern Afghanistan and surrounding area. It is very violent and dangerous. Our unit is the busiest surgical team in Afghanistan.

On 7 August 2012, a large truck loaded with between 3-5000/s of explosives blew up outside the walls about 20 yards from our field hospital. The hospital and one __ were destroyed and about 1/2 of the hospital personnel were injured.

Once the immediate casualties were treated and evacuated, I slept in the destroyed hospital and used your beautiful quilt of warmth. I was very blessed that day to be uninjured and have continued to use your quilt of luck. Have been here for 3 very long months and __ a lot. We have done great work and I am again blessed to have had the experience.

I have sent your quilt to my home and am busy at Walter Reed to continue to care for our injured soldiers.

As a soldier and a surgeon I thank you for your special gift that provided much comfort during trying times.

Warm Regards.

As most of us know we receive few thank you letters. Especially if we send our quilts to injured who may not be able to respond when they receive the quilts. It's not why we send them. Thankfully the surgeon who received this one wasn't injured, but I'm glad it brought comfort after seeing so many of his unit injured and hospital destroyed. I'm glad it was there at that moment. So I hope you'll take this letter and enjoy its thanks for all the times we don't receive that thank you. For me it's back to my sewing machine.

 

February Meeting Date - Friday, February 15th

This month’s meeting date is easy to remember – the day AFTER you have been wined and dined (yep, that would have been on Valentine’s Day), it will be time for our Quilts of Valor meeting!  Plan to come to the Crafty Threads Quilt Shop on Racetrack Rd on Friday, February 15^th at 10:00.  We have plenty to do!

We were extremely productive last meeting and now it’s time to reap the benefits.  Since we sent out 10 tops to be quilted (isn't that amazing?! - Yea, Team!), we expect we will have some quilts coming back in to be finished.  And we will have to keep that assembly line going so that we keep getting those quilts out to where they are needed most!

We expect we will have to:

·          Square up some quilted quilts,

·          Machine sew on bindings of quilted quilts,

·          Hand sew down bindings and hand sew labels,

·          Cut fabrics into blocks for kits,

·          Make up more block kits,

·          Sew borders (both sizes) together,

·          Iron bindings,

·          Cut and prepare more backings,

·          AND, that ever popular category – Misc!

Our meeting is planned for 10:00 to 2:00, but come if you can make it even part of that time.  We’d love to have you join us … hope to see you there!

President's Wives

President’s Day is coming up soon, so this must be the right time to talk about the president’s wives!

mamiesbirthplace.homestead.com

Did you know that Mamie Eisenhower (the wife of Dwight “Ike” D. Eisenhower, 34^th President , 1953 – 1961) was famous in her own right for her Million Dollar Fudge?! 

Thousands of housewives clipped this recipe from the newspaper when it was printed and it is still in use and raved about today.  Mamie was known to watch her pennies and even cut coupons for the White House staff to use.  Now there’s a model of we can follow in tough economic times.  Here is Mamie’s recipe:

Mamie Eisenhower’s Million Dollar Fudge

4 1/2 cups sugar

pinch of salt

2 tablespoons butter

1 can evaporated milk

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate bits

12 ounces German-sweet chocolate

1 pint marshmallow cream

2 cups nutmeats

Boil the sugar, salt, butter, evaporated milk together for six minutes.

Put chocolate bits and German chocolate, marshmallow cream and nutmeats in a bowl. Pour the boiling syrup over the ingredients. Beat until chocolate is all melted, then pour in pan. Let stand a few hours before cutting.

Remember it is better the second day. Store in tin box.

Doesn’t that sound great to have available after a long day of working on Quilts of Valor?  Make up some fudge in time for President’s Day and give a salute to their wives!

A simple QOV to inspire you!