Quilt of Valor

After I posted this quilt a few weeks ago, I almost took the lazy way and let it go as it was, but I decided to take Nellie's advice of adding a narrow white border and then a blue border. I'm very glad I did; it improves both problems, and I am now much happier with the finished product. Thanks, Nellie, and everyone who commented.

One reason I didn't commit to the 12x12x12 challenge was that I wanted to clear up some UFO's and start new ideas that have been simmering for a while. One of them was this Quilt of Valor. I did these blocks in the fall and put them aside, but have now finished the top, I think. The blue and white blocks were the ones remaining from a guild exchange after I used the first half in an earlier QOV. The challenge this time was to use only stash fabrics. I considered tea dying the blue and white, but didn't because I've never done that and wasn't sure how it would work. I regret that I didn't; I think they jump out too much. When I planned this, I didn't think it needed a border and planned to finish with a wider than normal (half inch) blue binding, but now I'm not sure, and am considering adding a border. That will require buying fabric though. In addition, it's currently 62 x 62, and a border will make it an awkward size, I think. I'd welcome opinions on the border question. Decisions, decisions. Anyway, Deb Geyer has agreed to quilt this, so her work is sure to improve it considerably!

Yesterday I received the Quilt of Valor that I made and Deb Geyer quilted. As you can see, she did a terrific job. The variegated thread looks wonderful on that red check fabric.

The three other stars are for a special Quilt of Valor that Debra Spincic is putting together for display in the Houston Quilt Show. Yesterday I pieced three 8-pointed stars. Practice does make perfect I think, since the blue and purple one, my third attempt, has a neater center, and doesn't have the strange pucker in the fabric that the red one does. When you read not to use steam to block a block, believe it!

So yesterday was a big day for my Quilts of Valor projects. Today I plan to spend time putting away some of the fabric I have pulled out in the last few days! A photo of my "studio" would be good for a laugh. Sorry I didn't think of it earlier.

Here's the finished top for the Quilts of Valor project. I'm pleased with the way it turned out, except that there is one block turned the wrong way. Can you find it? I could fix it, but am feeling lazy; also, I think it's the kind of thing that doesn't show when something is in use, only when you see it displayed on a wall. The star points in the border are the same size as the ones in the sashes, but don't look it. Interesing optical illusion, isn't it?