Sometimes Life is Just Hard

I know I've not been posting much, I've not really been online much. There is a lot of hard stuff going on right now, and computer time is not high on my priority list.

I am still getting a little sewing done, although not as much as I'd like. I still haven't finished any of the garment sewing I started, which is somewhat ridiculous since several pairs of pajama pants are almost finished.

DS the Younger graduates from Army AIT (Advanced Individual Training) in about three weeks, and I had planned on giving him an Army themed quilt to celebrate finishing his initial training. I knew I'd be in a time crunch, so I planned a simple design, utilizing most of a panel of quotes and patriotic sayings I bought a while back. The panel was a little odd, in that the words were not always in the same sized sections, so a little creativity was needed. I also used some Army specific fabrics, as well as some patriotic fabrics from stash.

Here are some of the blocks laid out on my bed. I've got them sewn together now, and I'll take a better photo after the quilt is finished.

This is one of my favorite quotes from that panel. I think there is too much hate going around right now, and this quote is a good reminder.

The pillow panel is from another panel I've had for a while. Many prayers for my son's protection is going into this quilt.

An example of how I used some of the smaller patriotic sayings.

I alternated Army fabrics surrounded by camo with patriotic blocks. I have some desert camo left, but I used every bit of woodland camo in my stash to get this quilt done. I had woodland camo in two different scales, and it took all of both pieces to make these few blocks. I made that pink camo wedding quilt last year, and used woodland camo in it, and I also used camo in some Christmas gifts, so it is time to look for some more. Camo is something I'd like to keep in stash, since I like to make quilts for veterans, and camo comes in handy sometimes for those.

I just cut the backings for both the Army quilt, and a UFO DD#1 chose for her birthday quilt. I hope to piece both backings today (they each need one seam). If all goes well, I'll have them both basted before the weekend, and I'll start quilting this weekend. I really need to mail off DD#1's quilt in the next two weeks, if there is to be any chance of her getting it in time for her birthday. On the upside, after these two quilts are done, I'll have five of my eight deadline quilts done for the year!