I love you truly KKG

Let me be the first to say that I did not make this quilt. Rather, this beautiful wallquilt was created by the Needleworkers Interest Group of the Northern Virginia Alumnae Association of Kappa Kappa Gamma (ΚΚΓ). These sisters of mine took time out of their extremely busy lives to create this beautiful quilt for me when I needed it most. Needless to say, I was overcome when they gave this to me.

For all you Kappas, you will recognize the fabulous symbolism that was incorporated into the design. A fleur-de-lis medallion was appliqued in the center. The inner border has gold key and light blue owl appliques. Each key and owl has a Kappa Needleworker signature along with her undergraduate chapter. The next border is a modified Virginia Reel which not only ties into our Commonwealth but also references our 2001-2004 Philanthropy Quilt. You can't see it in the picture but the machine quilting on the quilt incorporates beautiful fleur-de-lis, hearts and the crossed-over loop of an issue ribbon. On the back is a hand-lettered label embroidered with gorgeous long-stemmed blue irises. In case you non-Kappas haven't figured it out, the owl is our mascot, the key is our badge, and the iris and/or fleur-de-lis (technically a stylized iris) is our flower. Our colors are "the blues of the sky and the sea".

Our Needlework Group membership transcends age, birthplace, career status, etc. We were born in different decades, went to different colleges (and pledged different chapters of Kappa)came to the DC area at different times, yet our love for Kappa and for needlework transcends these differences and renders them unimportant.

I will treasure this quilt always!

Fennel I

The Fennel is a quilt that sizes nicely on a full-sized double bed. It also works great for a college twin bed that has been slightly lofted with cement blocks or those plastic cup riser things that you can find anywhere that sells dorm supplies in August. The extra width hides whatever the student is storing underneath the bed. Fennels are usually grids of 5 x 5 or 5 x 6. This Fennel was based on a 5 x 6 grid but 3 shirts (column 1 top, column 3 middle, column 5 bottom) had designs that were longer than the grid, so I used mini-designs from the front of shirts, or in some cases the mini-logos from the recipient's shorts.

In any case, this Fennel was made for a female high school graduate, who also was a Gold Award Girl Scout, Governor's School Student, Girls' State Delegate, a varsity athlete, officer in several school clubs, and was involved in state and federal politics. These quilts are like mini-resumes. I learn so much about the recipient based on the provided clothing.

Thyme I

I'm a decent needleworker but only a so-so-at-best computer geek. My fellow Tartans would be appalled as our school is fairly well known in the computer world. In fact, I just recently discovered that it was at Carnegie Mellon where the sideways smiley :) evolved. This was back in the days when we had bboards and computer labs instead of PCs or gigantic mainframes with cards. In any case, I am not so great at formatting these posts but I will keep plugging along and hopefully I will get better. Thyme marches on....

The Thyme is a tote bag that uses both the back and front of the uniform. This Thyme was made for a Coast Guard wife who incorporated the colors of her sorority by selecting two shades of blue (and yellow) for her coordinating fabric. With the additional yellows and the blues, this color choice would be ideal not only for sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma (ΚΚΓ) but also members of Alpha Xi Delta or Sigma Gamma Rho. The recipient opted for an exterior side pocket so she could put a water bottle in it.

BDU shirts have 4 patch pockets with flap closures. My designs always use the two breast pockets on the exteriors of the Thyme, Marjoram and Pansy and I use the lower pockets in the interior of the bag. Since the Coast Guard utility uniform only has 2 pockets instead of 4 like the DOD service uniforms, I made interior pockets from the patches on the arms which I am assuming are there for reinforcement.