A Quilt for Dad

Recently I made this quilt and was going to donate it to a program called Quilts of Valor which is an organization which gives quilts  to veterans of our armed forces.  Then I remembered that my Dad was in the army reserves so I decided to give this quilt to him.  After talking to my Mom I found out that he was in the army reserves for 9 years.  I also found out that he was in two army reserves units- a truck unit and also a sharpshooter unit and that he received a sharpshooter medal.  He always told us stories of being in the trucking unit and how scary it was to drive the trucks without lights during training in the Colorado  mountains.    He also told us that he and several buddies from Brazilton would play cards on the train on the way to Colorado .  I did not know about the sharpshooting unit or that he was in the reserves for that long until recently.   He always told us  that he was two old to serve in WWII and that he was too  young for the Korean war.   He never was called into active service but he did do battle with one very bad foe-  A spider!   The story goes that he got bit by a spider right before he was the to go to  training camp.   When  he got to camp they sent him on  a twenty mile hike and by the time they finished the hike he was in the hospital!  He said he was afraid that they were going to  make him redo training camp that year but they didn't.  He has a scar on his back that proves this happened.   I am very proud of my Dad for doing this and I hope he enjoys his quilt!

2014 and beyond (Posted by Lorri)

I'm not sure there is really going to be a theme for this post, I think that I'm just going to post things I like.   So, brace yourself for some pretty quilty things.

This is a close up photo of a pattern that our Grandma Von Soosten used.  I have seen it called several different names, one of which is "Spring Wheels".  A good use of scraps. Hand pieced and hand quilted, of course.  Made in the 1960s. 

 Caedmon loves his cow quilt that his great Aunt Kay made for him.  It has been one of his favorites for a long time. 

 The back is fun, too.

I took this picture on an early morning walk in Crawford County.  Because you can't quilt 24/7.  The railroad track runs through the farm.

A wildflower in the ditch along the gravel road.

I'm pretty sure this is a noxious weed, but I thought it was pretty.  A thistle, I think.

It was a particularly peaceful morning. 

Just pretty.

What everybody needs, a box full of grandkids.

I think that the pattern is called the Tree of Life, or something like that.  We made this wall hanging for our parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  Guests were encouraged to sign the leaves.  It was pretty fun to make.  My friend Marilyn did some fabulous custom quilting on it.  Notice the initials "carved" on the tree trunk.

A nifty close up of the quilting. 

We have been experimenting with taking photos of our quilts.  Here I am up in the hayloft. 

This is our triumphant look after we conquered making the arch at the Children's Science Museum in Des Moines.  I'm not going to lie, we had help. 

And, last photo for this post.  We painted this barn quilt for our Aunt Kay.  I really liked how she has it displayed.  She has a good eye for knowing what works.  Maybe she wants to learn to quilt. 

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