'Chris' claims this is her very first Quilt of Valor, it's soooo stunning it's hard to believe! When I first saw it I was really overwhelmed with exactly how it should be quilted. I wanted to honor ALL the hard work Chris had put into her first QOV as well as the intended Quilt of Valor recipient, while enhancing the 'star' features of this quilt. Once I saw the backing fabric, all my worries were over - a star quilt pattern it would be ;-):
Chris's Star Quilt of Valor coming off the frame
All-over large and small star quilting pattern close-up on back
Star Pattern quilting accentuates the design of this wonderful quilt
This really neat Quilt of Valor is officially quilted/pruned/and ready to ship! I promised I would have this quilt finished by the end of the month - looks like I coasted in on fumes...whew! ;-)
Thank YOU, Chris for bestowing on me the honor of quilting your wonderful Quilt of Valor. Your quilt Star is ready to ship and should be arriving shortly.
~Deb
I lovingly refer to this one as the "Big 'Ol Beaut", and that he is!:
He spans a large part of my 12' frame - almost King Size!
Because yours truly felt he wasn't big enough when I first received him from those very busy QFC ladies, (I sometimes get a little carried away ;-), I added 3 borders, which enlarged him a bunch. It also gave me ALL kinds of quilting real estate:
Gold ribbon feathers in red border w/LAVA Diamond Head, McTavishing in flag & white borders w/Rainbows Patriotic.
Back showing feathering and McTavishing
Swirls in pinwheels, stripes in rectangles, McTavishing in red background w/Rainbows Patriotic .
LAVA Diamond Head used to McTavish and SID in the Eagle/blue blocks.
I LOVE these horse blocks and the photos just don't do them justice, but I still wanted to include them:
Ruler work, wavy lines & McTavishing quilting
Ruler work from the backside
I used several rulers throughout this awesome quilt:
Lots of great rulers for ruler work!
QFC SewFest Veteran Quilt #6 Stats:
28.75 Quilting Hours
32 bobbins - white Maxi-lock
SID - clear mono-poly, LAVA Diamond Head, and Rainbows Patriotic
This "Big 'Ol Beaut", QFC Veteran Quilt #6 is officially done and ready to report for duty:
"Big 'Ol Beaut" coming off the frame
Prior to shipping to final destination
It has truly been an honor for me to quilt ALL 6 of these Veteran quilts, and an experience I won't soon forget...Thank YOU QFC for this amazing opportunity!
I was anxious to quilt this one for a variety of reasons. Not only had I added 4 luscious borders to this already stunning Gold Star quilt created by those busy QFC ladies, who attended another one of their annual SewFest marathon quilting sessions to make quilt tops for our Veterans, giving me lots of real estate for creative quilting - like feathers, McTavishing, grid quilting, amongst others, but to showcase some yummy threads as well.
Curly-Q Ribbon feathers, McTavishing, and off-set grid quilting applications
Embellished borders w/LOTS of quilting treatments!
Originally, I 'thought' I was going to use at least 3 different colors of thread, including one of my very favorites, Rainbows Patriotic. But after auditioning a few of my choices, I opted for LAVA Diamond Head and what a great choice that was!
And as an aside, I don't give SewThankful.com nearly enough credit. I purchase about 99% of ALL my threads from them. If you LOVE exceptional service, w/amazing pricing on a plethora of not only yummy threads, but ALL kinds of sewing/quilting necessities and goodies, then you need to pop over there and check these folks out. They know what a Red Carpet is and how to roll it out for their customers! Trust me on this one - you won't regret it...AND, I am in no way affiliated, am NOT being reimbursed/paid to write this - I just know a good thing when I've experienced it over and over and over again, and wish to share ;-). You are in for a supremely splendid online shopping experience!
I knew when I first saw this quilt that the white 'snowballs' should probably be feathered out however, I did originally entertain the idea of embroidering each block w/patriotic themes. After the first failed attempt due to all the center seams of each snowball, I quickly gave that idea up and went back to the tried and true, and I'm sooo glad I did, aren't you?
My feathers still aren't as perfect as I'd like for them to be, but they are much improved. These are traditional 'bump back' feathers. As you probably noticed, I also chose to add curved cross-hatching in each center wreath and I think it adds quite a bit to each snowball.
Snowball feathered out w/curved cross-hatching
I tried several curved rulers to achieve the perfect curved dross-hatching result I was going for, but it wasn't until I decided to use one of the Steady Edge rulers by Quilts on the Corner, that I finally got it...Thanks, Renae!
Feathering in navy blue border w/Rainbows Patriotic
And continuous straight line quilting in the white borders 1/4" apart, along w/McTavishing in the patriotic borders:
White border also straight line quilted 1/4" apart w/Rainbows Patriotic
Each continuous line of quilting was achieved on the side borders after ALL the SID work was completed by rolling the quilt back and forth for each continuous line. It took awhile to complete, but the final result is well worth it!
Just coming off the frame, this stunning Quilt of Valor turned out even more gorgeous than I originally envisioned:
Stunning Quilt of Valor coming off the frame
Left side w/Blue Stars
Right side w/Stars & Stripes
QOV Back
Red & White Stripes quilted w/Wave Quilting and McTavishing
Wave quilting in red stripes
Quilt of Valor Star
Quilt of Valor Stats:
21.25 quilting hours
18.5 bobbins using Amber to match gold backing fabric
SID w/clear mono-poly
White/Tan background - LAVA Sandy Beach
Red areas - So Fine #40 Bush Fire variegated
Blue areas - LAVA Deep Sea
This Quilt of Valor is now officially quilted, pruned, boxed and ready to ship. It has been a true honor for me to continue to participate in this Quilt of Valor project, and a joy to quilt this incredible Quilt of Valor Quilt...Thank YOU!
My Best to Each and Everyone who participated in this QOV Team Effort - Well Done,
Have just enough time to get this one in on this last day of September! What a whirlwind of a weekend - had plenty of those end-of-the-month final details to take care of, like figuring out what borders needed to be added to this SewFest 2013 Veteran's Quilt prior to quilting:
Added 4 exterior borders to this neat 'Gold Star' Veteran's Quilt
This latest Quilt of Valor was sent to me by The Quirky Quilters Quilt Guild of Harrisville, MI*. The creator of this amazing quilt is Peg from Florida - didn't she do a wonderful job?! My only hope is my quilting will do this incredible quilt justice while honoring the intended - keep your fingers & toes crossed for me!
*CORRECTION: the Quirky Quilters Guild is located in Oscoda, MI. My sincere apologies to the Quirky Quilters Guild for my error and a BigThank YOU to Clairellen for pointing this out to me ;-)
For now, I'm performing my typical SID w/clear mono-poly and Amber Bottom Line in the bobbin to match the gorgeous gold backing. Once I start the FUN quilting, I'll post more pics - planning on doing some 'flag-waving quilting', along w/Tango quilting in the background, (my version of McTavishing).
This new HQ wave ruler is really making light work of my wave quilting - notice the needle line-up mark - making it a breeze to position the ruler perfectly each and every time it's moved - genius!
I have some really pretty MasterPiece Indigo Blue and Red Hill for the corresponding blue & red areas, along w/White Bottom Line for these quilting applications, can hardly wait to get to that, probably sometime tomorrow!
Well...so much for those thread ideas, you know how that goes. We have those initial quilting/thread visions and then when faced w/actual quilting reality, and the original chosen thread colors don't match/are too shiny/not the right weight, etc., we make a few changes. I am now using So Fine #40 Bush Fire for the red flag stripes to make the waves - it's a wonderful variegated that has the darker hues of reds/burgandys in some of the stripe fabrics:
Wave quilting in the red stripes of this QOV flag quilt
McTavishing/Tango quilting w/LAVA Sandy Beach in white stripes
The red stripes and stars are all 'waved out', the white stripes are half done, and will move on to the blue areas sometime tomorrow ;-)
Blue wavy borders w/Tang Quilting in the backgrounds
Close-up of star/flag stripes quilting
This stunning Quilt of Valor from the Quirky Quilters Guild, located in Oscoda, MI, is officially finished:
QOV coming off the frame
As soon as this Quilt of Valor is all pruned of stray thread tails, will be readied for shipping!
