It has been a crazy few days, with Hurricane Fred stopping by as a tropical storm on its way up north. The rain began on Monday with the brunt of it on Tuesday. Of course, a tree came down on our road, taking out a power line on Tuesday. The storm resulted in a lot of flooding and power outages all over the area Tuesday and Wednesday. Thankfully, we have a generator so I could still get sewing done and be online, at least until the most severe part of the storm hit on Tuesday afternoon. But on Wednesday in the sunshine while looking at the damage down the road, we smelled gas outside. So the gas company came out to say the line on the road had a leak, and they had to turn that off as well. So much for our gas-line powered generator! Without the generator, we have no water as the well doesn’t work without power. We’ll have some water for a few things (like flushing the toilet a couple of times) until the pressure tank gets low. Ah, the joys of rural life!! Thankfully we were only without the generator about 3 hours, and power was restored a bit later Wednesday afternoon.
Rainy days were good to get a bit of sewing done. Quilting again for Quilts of Valor, I was recently given this eagle panel quilt. The panel is surrounded by red, white and blue blocks, and a small border. The backing is a light blue with stars. Before you ask, no, I don’t have a pattern for this. I think the maker simply surrounded the panel with 10-inch blocks, adding some sashing to make the math work out. I had already loaded it on the longarm on Saturday before the storms and auditioned threads.
Due to the light color in the panel along with the backing fabric, I decided on a light blue thread. I used Magnifico on the top, with Bottom Line in the bobbin. The pretty star backing is visible at the top of the photo on the take-up roller.
The pantograph choice was one I thought a lot about this time. My usual patriotic one with stars would detract from the eagles. I didn’t want the quilting to be that prominent. Ultimately, I decided on a gently curving design that would soften the harder angles and squares of the blocks. This is Fascination by Urban Elementz.
Quilting down the panel, the thread color is looking good.
When I got to the eagle face, the long lines of the pantograph blended well with the feathers on the panel. I think the quilting enhanced the project, and didn’t detract from the focus panel.
Finishing up, I stepped back for another shot, and I am happy with this choice.
I took a photo from a more sideways orientation so the quilting shows up.
Here it is, all finished. I think a veteran will be really happy with this one.
It will be delivered back to the committee member today for binding.
Are you sewing this week?
From My Carolina Home 
Oh my! I hadn’t thought of having a gas outage! We used to have a house that was all electric and when the power went out, so did the well and everything else! Not so LOL.
That QOV really turned out nice.
Magnificent!!you and Sheila did a wonderful job! Teamwork! So proud of our Blue Ridge Chapter!
What a wonderful QOV! I agree some deserving veteran will be very happy to receive it. The quilting is perfect for it! I’m sorry about your gas problem. We have thought of getting an in-line generator but have not done that yet. My brother-in-law, near you in Gerton, lost power for about an hour. Glad you didn’t have more damage. I don’t know about you, but I’d just as soon those “guys and gals” didn’t stop in for a visit as they make their way north!!
So glad all is getting back to normal. Smelling gas is really scary. Pictures from the mountains are so sad. And that quilt is gorgeous. I have several patriotic panels and a LOT of patriotic fabric, so I will get going on it. Maybe.
Mary Ed
The curves look great; it was a good choice not to detract from the fabric theme. Have you done any fmq on your basic machine?
Yes, see my Quilting Basics page, scroll to the bottom and I have links to my tutorials on the MadamSew blog. The top two are free motion.
Wonderful quiilt….perfect quilt pattern.
We got over 7″ of rain…..our rain gauge overflowed at 5.5 and I don’t know how long that went on before I emptied it only to fill another 2+. We lost power but thankfully for only a short time……we don’t have a generator. Every time we are w/o power I vow to purchase one but of course that’s forgotten quickly.
The sun looked like it was coming out around 7….well trying to peek over the mountain to our East….but now it’s so foggy I can barely see across the street….. Well…I guess I just have to spend the day sewing…LOL
I remember the days before we got on the county water system when we had a pump and would loose water when power went out. So glad we do not have the well now for the house. I heard the storm was pretty bad out there – I hate that kind of weather
Carole, I wanted to tell you as a female Veteran that I love this quilt the best!
I was just reading that there are people missing in the flooding west of Asheville. And how scary to smell gas when you went outside. That would make me very nervous. Thankfully that got fixed right away and you weren’t without power or water for long. That is a very nice QOV.
This QOV is beautiful and you did a wonderful job of quilting it! I am fairly new to longarm quilting. Right now I have a baby quilt on the longarm and I have been using Magnifico on the top and Bottom Line in the bobbin. However, I have had a lot of trouble with the top thread shredding while doing some ruler quilting. What needle did you use and what was the tension?
I like this quilt. I had a few panels for QOV quilts and found them surprisingly hard to come up with ideas for. Probably my tendency to over think things gets in the way. I finally got 3 of them used, still have one more. I think I might stick to the die-cut kits our group offers for sale, just pick it up and start sewing.
I saw the potential for up to 10″ of rain in the mountains of NC & Virginia, so I wondered how you made out. That storm gave you a few headaches! I’ve lived with a well and we kept well water in gallon jugs of water in the basement for “toilet flushing”, and about 6 spring water jugs from the store for drinking/cooking. How frustrating about the gas but how grateful you must be that they found the leak. The quilting on this looks terrific and does enhance the look of the eagle. Beautiful job. Sewing room today…thinking of butterflies and my scan n cut…going to get busy shortly. 😉
I can’t imagine a better design to quilt on that panel, it really enhanced all the clouds & feathers. Over 700 miles north of you there was soft & gentle rain over 2 days here only netting us an inch of rain but counties south and east had upwards of 5 inches & significant flooding. My house is all electric with a well so I understand your predicament. Considering the situation, having power restored in only 3 hrs is remarkable. A hand of applause for your utility workers.
Oh, Carole, that QOV is so “active”. I love it. Your quilting was a great choice. Today, I’m going to finish w/ a fabric project which will eventually land with Project Linus….some adorable kids prints in cotton and in lightweight cotton! That QOV is wonderful.
Nice job on the QOV! Great choice on the panto and thread.
I’m in the middle of hand whipping the binding on one quilt and converting my masks from “tied” to elastic around the ears. It’s beginning to look like I will have to make more masks. I also plan to work on a new mask design. We’ll see how that goes.
Really such a work of “Heart!” So many hands each giving what they do best.
“They also serve who only stand and wait.” and piece and quilt and bind and give. When my husband went to the V. A. hospital EVERYONE there said “Thank you for your service”. And to you and all those involved with this “Thank you for your service.”
I always admire your QOV but I think this one is especially lovely. I’m sure the recipient of this quilt will feel very special. The choice of Quilting is so complementary to the pattern and I can see you gave some thought to this.
Great job Carole. :))
You did a great job on that QOV!!! I have that panel and need to get it made!
That’s a beautiful quilt and your quilting added a lot to it! I’m sorry to hear about the big storm and losing power like you did. You could sure send some of west! 🙂
Ooo, I LOVE it!! I have a few patriotic panels but so far have been intimidated by them. That looks like a fairly easy fix with the 10″ (I might even use 12″) blocks to get it to size for a QOV. You always do such a beautiful job with the quilting.
The storm created a few problems for you didn’t it!! The QOV is beautiful, love how you have quilted it.
Our Charleston family was telling us about the rain they received from the hurricane, too.
I am pleased it all sorted out safely in the end for you.
That is a lovely finish to the panel quilt top.
Great job on the eagle! Isn’t it great to live in a place where the utilities are fixed promptly.
B
That was an adventure for you! My daughter is now in Connecticut, so she is going to be able to compare hurricanes with our wind and snow storms. I can’t wait to hear her impressions. This was a perfect choice for quilting and thread color, just a marvelous job enhancing the quilt top. You are a master! I am officially on vacation, as of last night, and I have two projects I hope to get sewn. My sis and BIL are coming this weekend, so I’ll have someone to go check out the exhibits with. 😆 I entered my Autumn Jubilee table topper from two years ago. No exhibits last year, so I was able to enter it today.
Rainy days ARE good for sewing and quilting till the power goes kaput. I’m so glad that you didn’t have major damage, although I suspect your area was not so lucky with downed power lines and trees. But the quilt — it’s perfect and someone will be so thrilled to have it.