Fain Family Reunion

Every year about this time my family gets together for an old fashioned family reunion. This has been a tradition for us for many years. It is not as much fun as it used to be because my grandmother and all her brothers and sisters are gone now. My Granny Fain was the glue that held it all together. Even though we miss her very much, we still try to carry on the tradition of good food and fellowship. This year we had a pretty good turn out of about 50 people. It is so great to see everyone and see how much all the kids have all grown. There are many of us that have grandchildren now. We are no longer the little ones in the family

This year we were fortunate enough to be able to have our reunion at the beautiful Mill Race Farm. It just so happens that is sits right on the property where my mother grew up. We were able to reminisce about all the great times my mom and her siblings and cousins had running the fields of this beautiful property. This is a picture of me Autumn and Brooke at the entrance of the farm. You can't see it because I am standing right in front of it, but the center of the sign is made with the old stone out of the grist mill that used to operate in the 40s on the farm. Family is a wonderful thing. It is one of the few things in life that are free and I am so blessed to have had this opportunity.

This beauty belongs to our friend Libie who lives all the way out in Washington state. We do quilts for her all the time and we are always so excited to see what interesting fabric and design she is going to come up with for her latest piece of work.

If you like what you see, it just so happens that Libie has an Etsy store if you would like to cruise on over and take a look. Doesn't cost a thing to window shop. You can see this lovely fabric and many many others at www.etsy.com/shop/craftygaltoo.

Our friend Rena who is a long arm quilter, as well, was kind enough to share some of her pantographs with us. Thank you so much, Rena; we really appreciate your generosity and will put these to good use. This one is called Swan Song.

This one is Meandering Geranium

This one is Hybiscus.

And last but not least, Crepe Myrtle.

All these patterns will be posted on the website in the next few days. These patterns will all be priced at .015.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer as much as we have been.

Rhonda

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Quilts of Valor........Are You Up For the Challenge??

These pictures look like just random pictures of people in a hospital with a quilt and that these are either close friends or relatives visiting them.

But there is more here than meets the eye. It just so happens that the quilts that appear in the photos were pieced by the Cherohala Quilters. This group of ladies is a small "bee" from Robbinsville, NC, who graciously give of there time to piece quilts for the Quilts of Valor program. (It was an honor to Long Arm Quilt for them.) For those of you who haven't heard about Quilts of Valor, it is a foundation that began several years ago that donates a quilt to each veteran soldier who has served in the many conflicts our country has faced in years past. The mission is to give a quilt to every soldier t. I don't think we need to be reminded about the sacrafice these brave soldiers have made for the blanket of protection we rest under.

This quilt was made by a group of ladies from Bless My Stitches Quilt Shop, the local shop in town. 12 ladies from the Block of the Month Club each made a block and I assembled the quilt and quilted it. It is on display at the shop right now and will be given soon to a soldier soon. A special thanks to Betsy Miles, a veteran herself, for her help with these project.

So, please, if you are looking for a worthy cause in which to donate time, please consider this one. If you are interested, we would like to send kits to 12 willing quilters to complete a quilt for this worthy cause. The completed blocks would be returned to The Back Porch Quilters and we will make sure the quilt gets complete and ready to ship to a worthy soldier, via the Cherohala Quilters. If you are interested, please contact me at this address: russ@thebackporchquilters.com. Let me just say in advance, thank you, thank you, thank you for everyone everywhere that donate to Quilts of Valor!

Below is a video that gives a brief description about people who ar participating in this effort.

Russ