Quilts of Valor

>> Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Today I finished and turned in a quilt to Quilts of Valor. Quilts of Valor is an organization whose mission is to provide a quilt for all the wounded soldiers, whether physically or emotionally, who have served in the War on Terror. So far, they've awarded 26,125 quilts to our servicemen and women who have been injured in the line of duty. So amazing! What a great reminder of  how good and generous quilters can be! Each one of those quilts was lovingly pieced, quilted, and donated to a very deserving soldier. A long time ago, I promised myself that if I were blessed enough to have a hobby-turned-business from my home then I would try to bless the lives of others with my talents. This is just one way I can do that--by making a quilt to thank someone who has sacrificed for our country. For more information, visit the Quilts of Valor website. Here's a picture of mine.


Ring Around the Star
Pieced and Quilted by Dianne Kartchner
May 2010

Here's the front


And the back.

God bless the servicemen and women who serve our country.

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HMQS 2010

>> Monday, May 10, 2010

Last weekend, I went to HMQS in Salt Lake City for some longarm quilting classes and to see the fabulous quilt show. I came away from the classes with lots of new information about designs (lots and lots of designs), new techniques, threads, gadgets, supplies, and even how to make a show quilt! I've been thinking it would be lots of fun to make a show quilt now that I've learned some tips and tricks about how to do it. I think I'll do that in my spare time. (Translation: I'll never do one because I have no spare time). But I can dream, right?

Here's the quilt that won Best of Show for 2010:


Just beautiful. So many of the show quilts use embroidery, fabric painting, and different kinds of embellishing to make them absolutely stunning. The picture really doesn't do this quilt justice.

The main reason I went was to take some classes from some very talented ladies who are well-known in the longarm quilting world. If you want to check out a little bit about each of them, just follow these links.

Renae Hadaddin--gorgeous show quilts that have won many awards.
Sally Terry--best selling author and inventor of the "Terry Twist" quilting technique.
Kim Brunner--travels to teach at quilt shows and has won best teacher awards. I can see why--I LOVED her class!
Pam Clarke--famous for her "Designs With Lines" quilting technique which uses minimal marking and produces fabulous quilting designs based on marking with lines.

All my classes were fabulous and I would take a class from any of these teachers again--I had a great experience with all of my classes this year, and hope to make it back sometime.

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About . . .

Quilting is good therapy. It all started about 18 years ago when I had two little kiddos running around the house in diapers and spent my days as a stay-at-home mom. I soon discovered that I needed something more interesting than sorting laundry to keep me going. That's when I discovered the joy of quilting. Now, years down the road, I've added another kiddo to the mix. We've said goodbye to diapers and hello to driver's licenses and college (yikes!), and I have many quilts behind me. I now have a studio in my basement with a long-arm machine where I keep myself busy quilting for others and for myself, too, when I get the time. I hope you enjoy looking at what I've been working on!

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