Three Cheers For the Red, White & Blue! --- Part 5

First off, it's appropo that I get to post this finish this week because Alycia of the Alycia Quilts - Quiltygirl blog is picking up the reins for "Finished Or Not Fridays" today from Myra over at Busy Hands Quilts!

If you have not visited Alycia's blog before, I encourage you to do so --- especially if you are interested in Quilts of Valor.

Alycia is a longarm quilter who also serves as the Colorado Coordinator for the QOV foundation.  On her blog you will see so many great QOV quilts.  Heartwarming pictures (taken by Alycia who is also a photographer!) of the ceremonies when the quilts are awarded are always in her blogging queue.  You are also just in time to start picking up the instructions for Alycia's latest QOV mystery quilt series called "The Lone Rider"!  The fabric requirements are posted here and the first clue will be posted on her blog on September 4th.  Thanks to Alycia for picking up the link-up mantel for all of us!!

As for me:  Woo hoo!  My "Star Spangled Runner" is finally finished!!

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Backing and Label Area

This is the "Star Spangled Banner", a free pattern from American Patchwork and Quilting magazine.  I made it with four blocks instead of the five used in the pattern because that was all I needed to fit our diningroom sideboard (really an old dresser).  The logs were cut with the Accuquilt Go! Log Cabin die.  As I like to do, the backing has an area pieced into it for me to write in the label information.  The stars appliqued on the front and on the label area were also die cut with fusible web attached using an Accuquilt die.

I should have been finished with this one a couple of weeks ago but it was held up by the quilting --- or more correctly, the decisions that went into choosing how to quilt this.  In my previous post about this I had previewed some quilting designs and was set to look through a few more books for ideas.  That led me to scrap all of my previous ideas and come up with a new one.  The log cabin blocks are so linear and I really wanted to "quilt against type" and try to either incorporate or just use designs with curves.  My finished stitch plan for the blocks and borders ended up to be this:

Up to now I had been sketching on the preview paper with a dry erase marker I keep in the kitchen with a board I use to make grocery lists.  The great thing about the Back-To-School period is that everyone has great sales on office/school supplies.  I was able to pick up some new dry erase markers at Dollar Tree that can now be dedicated for use with my preview paper and be kept stored with it.  Sweet!

With the stitching plan done, it was time to layer it.  The batting choice was simple:  about this time last year, Jinny Beyer had a sale on Quilter's Dream Select batting, precut 18" wide and on sold by the yard.  This is one of my favorite battings and my preferred loft (although she also carries it in the thinner Request loft).  At the time, I was comtemplating making a bunch of runners for the sideboard and since they need to finish 17" wide, this was a perfect fit for my plans!

So with batting already in house, it was a quick layering especially since as a smaller quilt, I could spray baste it.  Next up was to decide on which threads to stitch it with.  I started with stablilizing and additional rounds of decorative stitching in gold around the stars, ditch stitching with red around the borders and with blue between the blocks.  All of that was done with white in the bobbin.  However, when it came time to decide on what to use across the top, I was stumped.  I generally don't like to change thread color if I can help it, especially if I'm quilting a continuous design.  With every color I looked at, I felt that the contrasting thread along with the contrasting curved stitch design would overshadow the log cabins too much.  It took way longer than it should have to remember that I had another option: (invisible) monofilament thread!

I keep a supply of monofilament thread primarily for use to attach bindings but I have used it for the general quilting in cases like this where you need to stitch over a lot of different colors.  There was a time when experts like Harriet Hargrave and Diane Gaudynski promoted the use of monofilament as your primary quilting thread (although now,  Diane primarily uses silk thread).  I had purchased cones of  Superior's Monopoly in both clear and smoke a while back during a sale because I heard it was a great "low sheen" brand of monofilament.  I have another project that I had been considering using it for so was glad to get a chance to try it out on this extensively.  Nova the Nouvelle, which is a fairly new-to-me machine, stitched really smooth this round and had no trouble with the monofilament thread.  I'm pleased with her performance!

Close-up on the quilting

Edited To Add:

Close-up on how I stitched the Stars

Once the quilting was done, I already had the binding picked out -- the same red print used on the short side borders.  This was also another chance to put a new quilty gadget to use!

I had purchased this little ditty a couple of months ago when Green Fairy Quilts had it on sale.  After I press my bindings, I usually would wind them around empty toilet paper rolls.  I could then hang them on the lever that raises the seat on my quilt chair and feed the binding from there to the quilt while I applied it.  The challenge was to not pull the binding too fast otherwise the roll would slide off the lever.

This handy gadget helps wind it up when I make the binding and then can be attached to my sewing table and feeds it way more smoothly than the chair system did as I apply it to the quilt.  I also bought couple of extra winding rolls in the event I want to make up a few bindings in advance.

Glad to have cleared this project bottleneck and now can get the quilt traffic flowing smoothly again!  So with this one done, I want to get going on the other RWB Table Mat I have fabrics picked out for and a gift quilt that's already in progress and that I promised to finish by month's end next week.  I hope I can keep things moving!

Head over to Alycia's to see what else everyone has brought to the finish line this week as August soon comes to a close!  Even better, post your finished or not-nearly-finished-project and let us see what's occupying your quilt studio right now!

8/24/19 Edited to Add:  Also linking up with Amy Ellis through email for her "One Thing Challenge" Follow-up.  I had started using her weekly prompts to help keep me on track when making my most recent QOV top.  When that was finished this project was reported on (almost a month ago to the day) when I had finished this runner's top.  So now I can check in and say that it's competely done and in the can!

Just One Thing

As noted in my previous post, I've had a slow Spring quilt-wise and am trying to get myself back in gear before the Spring and Summer get away from me.  If it's anything like last year, Fall and the holiday season will be here before you know it!

Fortunately for me, Amy Ellis (she of Bloggers Quilt Fest fame) has put out a call for quilters to join her in focusing on "Just One Thing" each week.

Much like the monthly and quarterly finish alongs, this will slow it down even more (for those of us that struggle to just get started or stay on track or FOCUS on their INTENTIONS (eh, hem!).  Amy's twist is to name Just One Thing you want to get done each week.  That doesn't have to be a finish -- it can be moving something along, taking 10 minutes a day to sew on a project, or even just finally picking out the fabrics for a project.  This is perfect for me!  When the year started, I had mapped out my priorites for each month in order to keep track of my INTENTIONS this year (yes, I think if I keep saying it, maybe I'll finally pay attention to them!),

In my planning calendar, May (as well as the rest of the summer) was supposed to be for getting back to my Quilts of Valor Projects.  At the end of last year, I was in discussion with one of the members of my commnity garden who serves on the Executive Board of one of the Building Associations.  She has long wanted me to teach a quilt class after seeing one of the journal covers I made when I attended a journalling workshop we held in the garden a few years ago.

She had shown me the draft of the application for a grant she planned to apply for to help fund the class supplies so it could be offered for free.  Taking a look at the application requirements for the types of events that can be funded, I realized it was also a perfect potential funding source for an idea I've long had for starting an annual Quilts of Valor drive in our community.

However, first I wanted to approach the local VFW about awarding some quilts this year during their annual Veterans Day ceremonies in November.  Depending on how open they are to the idea and if I could get their support in promoting a bigger event in the future, I would then work on planning a larger sew-in event for next year.

I already have two tops made (which can be seen here and here) but wanted to make a third one and get all three quilted by September which is when I would reach out to the group to gauge their interest and if intrigued I could then work on applying for the grant at the end of the year for submission next January.

My One Goal for last week was to pick out the third project from the rather large stash of ideas for Quilts of Valor that I have accumulated:

Yeah, that's a pretty big pile of ideas!  Before I even got deep into the pile, I managed to find seven right off the bat that interested me either in terms of the techniques to make them or that I already had some fabric to start them off with.

This week's challenge is to make the final choice.  I'm hoping to pick something relatively easy.  While I'd love to get a top done by the end of the month, I'm guessing getting the piecing started by month's end might be a more realistic and probable goal.  That's it!  Well not really:  I also need to (again) clean off my sewing and cutting tables just in case I actually might want to, uh, sew!  But the focus is picking the project.  However, I'm sure if I can get that going, other good things will happen along the way too.

Amy is running this primarily through Instagram but says you can email your submissions in too.  I've long stayed away from social media but always enjoyed particpating in and viewing Amy's twice a year Bloggers Quilt Fest.  She moved the Spring edition of that to Instagram three years ago so maybe this is just the thing to entice me to try that platform.  If you want to check out this year's edition that was held back in March, check out the links for it here.  I've already caved on setting up a Pinterest account, so why not go whole hog?  Well, we'll see if that happens.  Right now, it's more important to get this project selected!