First Quilt of Valor

 This has been in the planning stage for several years, as quilters are likely to do. Finally finished, this will be presented to a Marine Corps friend of ours. He knows nothing about it and I think his wife may only suspect. I named this quilt Broad Stripes and Bright Stars. The Top before quilting:

                             

After quilting and binding:

The back, which only sort of shows the quilting designs:

Quilting Details:

One side of the Flying Geese quilted, showing how necessary additional quilting is on the white parts:

Afternoon sun just adds something special. The binding is attached and ready to be stitched down by hand:

I usually err on the side to too little quilting. As I was binding this, I realized I needed to add another row of quilting between the pieced border and the red border. Before the additional line:

After the additional line. I do think it's better. Next time, I will quilt those inner and outer lines before doing the curvy vines between them--it will define the space to quilt the curvy lines in and I won't have to go back and add more quilting after I thought I was done:

The pattern appeared in Easy Quilts magazine, Spring 2019, and was called Sail On, designed by Eileen Fowler. I added the pieced Flying Geese borders. The original quilt design  had no border. 

Before I present this, I will wash it, using at least one Shout Color Catcher--most of the fabrics were not pre-washed. Wouldn't want a Red, Blue and Pink quilt.

Now to baste and quilt one more Quilt of Valor--also a surprise. This one for my husband. They will be presented together at an appropriate time when we can have a little ceremony. The back is pieced, the batting is selected, now to baste and quilt it. 

Patriotic Pineapple:

It's been a while since I have made quilts specifically to give away. I am enjoying this process.

Let's quilt.

Barbara