On the left is the Quilt of Valor Quilt I made. Every fabric in the quilt contains stars. These young men and women who receive these quilts are the stars in our country.
I have a stash overflowing. I could make a full size quilt a day for the rest of my life and never use it up. Years ago I collected fabrics which had stars on them. I was enamored with them. Two years ago I saw a quilt in the back ground of a photo our son sent us. I knew I hadn't made it and I asked him where he got it from and he said it was a Quilt of Valor Quilt. He had received it when he came back from Afghanistan. I have a friend in Illinois who is regional director for QOV. I knew the stars would be perfect for a Quilt of Valor Quilt. I thought, I should send her a top. I finally followed through and made the quilt.
Our son has been stationed at Great lakes on two different occasions. It would be appropriate to send it to her.
I went to the QOV site:
http://www.qovf.org/ to read to see what the parameters for quilt donations were. I discovered they have a free pattern section:
http://www.qovf.org/patterns-list.html
On the site is a free pattern for log cabin quilt. I am very fond of the log cabin pattern and my stash contained the medallion center you see here. I used the pattern as a guideline but when I reached the layout phase I realized I wanted to do something different. I wanted the blocks to look like a star since I was using only star fabrics. I chose the layout you see above. When I got to the bordering phase I knew I wanted the inner border to be white, but when I auditioned the star fabric for the outer border I didn't like the look of the plain border. None of the fabrics worked. The plain border wanted to be center stage, it didn't want to be a supporting actor. All you saw was the border.
My inner border finished at 3 inches. I still needed 5 inches to satisfy the parameters set up by the Site. I had a pile of 2 patch leaders and enders that were sitting next to the machine. They were made from the discarded ends for the logs. I started laying them next to the quilt top and arranging them in little 4 patches to see how they looked. I wasn't impressed. When I went to pick them up, a couple moved side ways as if they were joined end to end. They looked real nice. I proceeded to arrange 4 long matching lengths to use for the border. When I got one made up I basted it to another 3 inch white strip to see how it looked. It worked real well. Then came the math part. I needed to figure out how many squares on a side. On both sides it wasn't the un even number I hoped it would be. I knew I could never get them to match up in the middle of each side. (If I hadn't wanted the same color in the same location on each side I wouldn't have had the problem). The solution was to put a white spacer in each side. This border treatment is my own design.
When adding the borders it was evident I would need a corner square. I decided a 9 patch would fill the bill. I could have chose a star for the corners but when I looked at the quilt I wanted to continue the geometric look of the border.
I am sending the binding with the quilt (I wrap bindings on a paper towel roll to keep the pressed edge nice and crisp. It also keeps the binding from getting fold marks).
I wanted the star and Navy theme continued so I picked Navy Blue Star fabric.
I made a queen size pillow case for them to pack the quilt in when they finish it.
(I didn't have enough Navy Stars for the cuff).
I need to make a card to accompany the quilt to it's new owner.
I have enjoyed making this quilt top. The hours spent on it were filled with thoughts of our son.
He has been all around the world in his 27 years of Navy Service.
I can't thank our son or the recipient of this quilt enough for their protecting our way of life.
We are very proud of Our Son's choice of careers.
We have many family members who have served their country.
Father: Army reserve medic;
Uncle: retired Air force;
Uncle: retired Navy;
GR Uncle: WWII Army;
GR Grandfather: WWI Coast Guard;
GR Grandfather: Navy;
GR Uncle WWII: Air force;
GR uncle WWII: Army;
Our Son's Best friend is retired (20 yrs. service) Air force
I hope this blog has inspired you to look up your local chapter of Quilt of Valor and make a top for them. BTW.. Donations of blocks and fabric and help are greatly appreciated. I know the Illinois Region 6 has sew-ins at their local LQS.
I have met another quilter on the internet who supports our troops and is involved in QOV.
This is her blog (On this blog she shows off quilts her group completes.):
http://alyciaquilts.blogspot.com
No
Soldier Forgotten
New Article on my blog:
"A MYSTERY IN THE MAKING"
A mystery quilt designed with the novice in mind
Other blog sites by me:
Where I have stories of my cats and other pets
a blog about my courtship with my husband,
and a blog about my most embarrassing moment.
A "Soap box" blog where I do air my opinions.
blogs about the wildflowers on our farm
Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,
blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures
Blog about an endangered beneficial beetle
New Blog:
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I give credit for items which belong to other people in my blogs .
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