Monday, June 24, 2013

Recap of 06/21/13 Meeting

We had an excellent turnout for a very productive Quilts of Valor meeting, especially considering that it is summer time/vacation time.  We have witnesses that will attest that these ladies can churn out a huge volume of work.  And our thanks for the brownies made by Pat's granddaughter, Jessica ... we snarfed them up!

We had some more great fabric donations – thank you so much, Donna, Debbie and Yvonne (who is our favorite hunter/gatherer that collects from her friends for us!):
 

And, this is what we can turn that fabric into!  Let’s see all of the quilt tops that were turned in ready to be quilted and/or the quilts that volunteers made at home.  First up are those made from our go-to pattern, the Fourth of July by Bonnie Hunter or its variation:
 
And check out this detail of the center blocks in the third one above made by Dawn – great fabric choice!

 

And the detail of the border fabrics on this one made by Jan (the fourth photo above) – some soldier is going to really like those eagles in the border:
 

This one was made by Patricia – everybody loved the “new to us” pattern and that beautiful star!
 

And there were lots of oohs and aahs over these, made by Debbie:
 

 

And we loved this fabric that Debbie discovered and used for the backing of a quilt (so many great fabrics, so little time …):
 These are the busy ladies in action:
 
making kits

sewing borders and bindings

cutting squares and assembling kits

cutting fabrics, sewing bindings and
ironing in the background!

sewing on bindings and sewing borders
And we had another great presentation of a take-home technique from Pat.  You can use a precut Jelly Roll or cut your own 1600 inches of 2 ½ inch strips.  These types of quilts have become very popular because they go together so fast – and yes, there have been groups that have had Jelly Roll Races to whip these quilts out.  Here is Pat’s sample of a finished quilt:
 
finished demo Jelly Roll quilt
And here is her demo started – using her own leftover patriotic fabrics – and a close-up of the fabrics:
 
through the __nth cut!

varied patriotic fabrics
And the finished center – later in the meeting:
 
Jelly Roll center before borders
That quilt will be destined for Pat’s brother-in-law that served in the Army.

And we had two items for Show and Tell.  Pat is making this quilt for her father’s 90th birthday present.  The thirteen stars represent his children and grandchildren:
 

And Jadene shared this heartwarming story about the honors received by her son, Matt.  Congressman Bill Young spoke on record in the US House of Representatives acknowledging Matt for his volunteer work at Bay Pines VA Center in St. Petersburg, FL.  Matt received a plaque with a framed printout of the Congressional Record from May 20, 2013.

Matt has Down Syndrome and Autism and receives support through a community based Medicaid waiver to do his volunteer job 5 days a week.  Word is that, not only does he greatly enjoy his job, his work is appreciated by staff and the patients, as well.  He is even able to connect with patients who don’t interact with staff and other patients!

Our best wishes go to Matt - he’s doing a fabulous job for our Veterans and we are so proud of him!
 
Jadene with Matt's nephews Aiden and Cody
holding a photo of Congressman Young and Matt

Matt's plaque with the
framed Congressional Record


Next month, we will have a special Sew-In
to make a Trip Around the World Quilt
(not a Demo – not a Presentation – all will Participate)

More on this Special Activity in later Posts – Watch this blog!!!

July’s meeting will be on Friday the 19th, from 10 – 2:00

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Meeting Reminder – Friday, June 21st

We will be meeting Friday, Jun 21st,
from 10:00 – 2:00
Click on this link to learn more.

Bring your lunch or a snack
(or there are some local restaurants)

We will have a presentation using a Jelly Roll.
 Come and see what you can do with strips or pre-cuts!

We love to have new members or you can just drop by
to learn more about the Quilts of Valor mission.
We try to assist the Foundation to cover all combat service
 members who have been touched by war with comforting and healing quilts!

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Honoring Many of Our Own on Father’s Day

It was fitting that on Mother’s Day in May we honored the women affiliated with our CT Quilters Quilts of Valor Group who chose to serve our Country and today, on Father’s Day, it is also appropriate that we pay tribute to those men in our lives that are special to us.

Our spotlight swings first to our own CT Quilter, Linda F. who has had many family members serving for many years.  We reported on the women in her family in our Mother’s Day post and we continue now with the men in her family who proudly served our Country.  Linda’s husband, Richard is a 21-year retired Navy veteran.  Linda and Richard met when he was on her check ride when she qualified as an aircrewman.  They have been married for 44 years.  And Linda’s daughter, herself a Navy veteran, is married to Charles H., a 20-year Navy veteran.  At the risk of repeating ourselves, what a great family tradition of service!

The next quilter we have our eyes on is Barb, the owner of the Crafty Threads Quilt Shop, where the CT Quilters meet each month.  Barb’s father, Ron, is an Air Force veteran, having served from 1961-1985.  Ron began his service in avionics and was privileged to work on virtually all types of aircraft.  He remembers less than fondly a certain type of aircraft that shall remain nameless because he conked his head repeatedly on that bugger (this writer may be paraphrasing here!).  Also during his career, Ron worked as an Instructor in electronics and was stationed in various locations around the world.  He quite vividly remembers that he did not care for India but has high accolades for the beautiful forests and mountains of northern Thailand.  Ron was also posted to Vietnam and served in-country for 1 year and 287 days.  Ron asserts that most all Vietnam vets can be that precise.  Since Barb has owned the Quilt Shop, Ron is now a proud member of the longarm quilting community and has completed many quilts for our Quilts of Valor group.  We are proud to have this Veteran who quilts for veterans on our CT Quilters team.

Also on our list, is a dual QOV group member, Maria M.  Maria and her husband Michael spend part of their time here in Tampa and part of their time in North Carolina.  Maria has found QOV groups in both places!  Maria’s father was in the Dutch Army and was a radar specialist trained in Oklahoma in the 1950s.  He had fled to Great Britain during WWII where he entered and received his military training.  He worked with the Dutch underground to help fleeing Jews until the end of the War.  He served in the Dutch Army for 25 years.  Maria knows a great love story associated with her father but that’s for another day!

And Maria’s husband, Michael, was in private dental practice in New York when he was drafted to go to Vietnam.  After two tours there, he decided to make the military his career and spent 26 years in the US Army, attaining the rank of Full Colonel.  Michael went through several conflicts and lived many places but his favorites were Germany and Italy.  Maria made this fabulous QOV to honor Michael’s service and the many duty stations where he served and they lived:


Continuing with our long list, we recognize Jadene’s husband who is retired Army, and her nephew Paul.  Paul remains in the Infantry after being severely injured in Afghanistan.  Paul was one of the first recipients of a CT Quilters Quilt of Valor, and we are so proud of his service and how well he is doing.

Kathy T.’s 6-foot tall father served on a submarine in the US Navy during WWII.  He always claimed the racks (beds) were ok if you curled up properly.  He never mentioned how many times he hit his head inside that submarine (but then again, he was a fast learner!).  Before he passed away, her father recounted the story of when the USS Haddo (SS-255)  almost became stuck in Nagasaki Harbor shortly before the bomb was dropped there.  They had entered the harbor on a stealthy recon mission not knowing the imminent plans for that city.  Fortunately, the Japanese had raised the antisubmarine nets to let out one of their own cargo ships just in time and the US sub was able to sneak out behind it.

We are losing those of “The Greatest Generation” in increasing numbers now, so be sure to capture those veteran’s stories while you still can. 
In addition, Kathy has a nephew who is a West Point engineering graduate (Class of 2002).  Patrick was also an Army Ranger when he resigned his commission at the rank of Captain.  At that time, Patrick had elected to continue his education to get his PhD in Physical Therapy and will serve with the rehabilitation of injured active duty personnel and veterans in a VA hospital.  Patrick trains Guide Dog puppies in his “spare” time!
   Our newest members, Irene and Loretta, told us of their family member’s connections to the Armed Forces in this post, and we are proud to once again mention Irene’s grandson, Robert, currently serving in the Army in Afghanistan, and Loretta’s son, Doug, who was injured in Afghanistan and continues to recover.  We wish them both Godspeed.

 Pat N.’s brother was a 25-year veteran of the Air Force before he passed away.  He is interred near Pat's mother (also a veteran) at the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell.

And finally, Pat has written the following awesome tribute to her father to honor him on this Father’s Day:

My dad Norman Meissner was born in Michigan almost 90 years ago and joined the Army during WWII.  He started the first part of his basic training in St. Petersburg at the Vinoy Park Hotel, which was being used by the Army as a training school.

He was then sent to Scott Field Air Field in Illinois.   He and the other servicemen headed to Illinois by train, due to weather conditions the area was flooded and the train headed to the base at 5miles an hour over the flooded tracks. Scott Field began as a communications training school in 1940 after the opening of the Radio School. My dad was selected for Flying Radio Operator Training.  The primary mission of the Radio School was to train skilled radio operators who would fly in aircraft and operate command and control communications in every Theatre of the War.
 


After a year of training he was sent to Truax Field in Madison, WI. Where he trained as an Air Traffic Controller. 


Next up was overseas training at Smyrna Air Field, TN the Eastern Flying Training Command.
 

He was selected to go to India and rode there in propeller planes, which stopped each night, as they weren’t equipped to fly at night.  They stopped in Casablanca, Libya, Egypt and Iran.  He served in Karachi, India before moving on to Jawani to work at an Emergency Air Field there. Then he headed to Agra to work where the Taj Mahal is.  After the war ended he with others were sent to San Francisco and then put on a troop train back to Madison, WI before being discharged.  After his discharge he joined the Naval Reserves until I was born where upon he spent the rest of his working life as an Engineer.  My Dad met my Mother at a USO event and they married after the War.  My Mother was also a Veteran.
We are so proud of our family members that chose to serve and we try to honor their choices with our tangible contributions of quilts of comfort to the Quilts of Valor Foundation.  Many service members who were touched by war in the past still need recognition and many who are serving now continually find themselves in harm’s way so that we may continue to enjoy our freedoms in this great Country.  We are humbled by their sacrifices on our behalf.  May God Bless.

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like
 wrapping a present and not giving it.
  ~William Arthur Ward

Friday, June 14, 2013

Busy Event Day and June Meeting Notice

Jun Meeting Date - Friday, Jun 21st

It’s Summertime and that means that here in Florida we seek out Air Conditioning!  Well, Crafty Threads is the place to be next week for our next Quilts of Valor meeting in their cool and refreshing classroom.   We will be cutting fabric for kits and preparing backings for at least six quilt tops.  We will also be having quilts coming back in and that means machine sewing of the bindings and after that the hand sewing of the bindings and labels.

Our special presentation this month will show you what you can do with a Jelly Roll … and we’re not talking pastries (but knowing this group, that could happen also!).  This technique has been sweeping the quilting circles and makes charming quilts with the greatest of ease.  Come see the demonstration – if you bring your own jelly roll (usually about 40 precut 2 ½ inch strips) and your machine, you can workup a quilt on the spot.

So, bring your cutting mats and favorite rotary cutting tool or sewing machine to this meeting.  You will have your choice of favorite projects to work on!

We will be meeting at the Crafty Threads Quilt Shop on Racetrack Rd on Friday, Jun 21st from 10:00 – 2:00.  Everyone is invited – no sewing skills required.

 
Today, June 14th, is Flag Day

Fly your flags with pride today!  Learn more about the occasion from this post.

Today, June 14th, is also the Birthday of the US Army

The US Army was founded on this date in 1775 and is now 238 years old.  It all began with those rebellious colonies and their pesky Revolution seeking Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.  Each of the 13 colonies raised their own militias, often made up of only amateurs with little experienced leadership.   It was quickly recognized that they must organize to go up against the professional troops of the British, so the Massachusetts Provincial Congress applied to the Second Continental Congress to assume responsibility for the New England Militias.  That Congress resolved to form a committee to draft rules and regulations for the governance of the Army.  George Washington received his commission to lead the Continental Army the next day and formally took command on July 3, 1775 in Boston.
 
   GO ARMY !!
Source:  US Army Center of Military History

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Flag Week 2013

June 14th (which falls on Friday this year) has been designated as Flag Day by Presidential Proclamation ever since President Harry S. Truman signed it into law in 1949.  Congress also signed legislation in 1966 asking the President to declare the week in which June 14th falls as National Flag Week.

What does the Presidential Proclamation include?  It calls for all government officials to display the US Flag on all governmental offices on Flag Day and requests that all US residents observe Flag Day as the anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes by the Continental Congress as the official flag of the United States on June 14, 1777.
 

Has the design of the American Flag ever changed?  It sure has!  Check out this page of US stamps that was issued by the USPS in 1999:
 

After originating with 13 stars in a circle on a blue background in the upper left hand corner with 13 stripes alternating red and white, all representing a new Constellation; the flag was revised with the admission of new states to 15 stars and 15 stripes in 1794.

Then, in 1818, the number of stripes was returned to 13 permanently and the number of stars was revised to continue to reflect the admission of new states. 
Subsequent orders (in 1912 and 1959) established the proportions of the flag plus the orientation and the configuration of the stars.  All of the flags in the US stamps were official flags at some point in our history.

Check out this website for some amazing star configurations, including the Great Star Flag of 1837 and the 29 Star Flag in 1847:
 
 










Do you have a favorite nickname for our Nation’s flag?  Consider these:
*        The Star-Spangled Banner
*        Old Glory
*        The Grand Old Flag
*        The Stars and Bars
*        The Red, White and Blue
*        The Stars and Stripes
*        ________________your favorite?

So, this week is the week to proudly fly your US Flag from sunrise to sunset in the spirit of freedom and human liberty!