Flags of the American Revolution - finished!

Last night I put the final final stitches into my Flags of the American Revolution quilt (pattern by Jan Patek) -

 ... started back in summer 2014 with this center medallion... I had already bound it and was just working on quilting the border these past weeks.



 Thank you Lori at Humble Quilts for organizing this quilt along!  I can say I wouldn't have stuck with this, without your deadlines and the feeling of community you created around it.



As I examined the whole quilt before truly calling it finished... I discovered two places where I had accidentally caught big tangly loops of quilting thread on the backing.  Errgh.  A little freeform applique to the rescue - hence the random star and moon on the already "make do" backing.

I washed it and threw it into the dryer last night before going to bed...

It shrunk up quite a bit... which is fine with me  - I really like the puckered up look.

This is a quilt truly for our house, which was built around 1750.

 I will keep it on/near the living room couch - for napping!

Flags of the American Revolution - top finished!

Top - completely - pieced - Yay! ... the last step in the Flags of the American Revolution quilt-along hosted by Lori at Humble Quilts.  Thank you Lori for keeping us all on track!  This was my first ever quilt-along and it was so fun to quilt along with blogging buddies.

The quilt is from a Jan Patek pattern from the book of the same name.

 Quick snapshot in the waning daylight since both my guys happened to be home.  I will get a better photo in 2020 (kidding) when I finish actually quilting this thing.

Major indecision when it came time to decide on a border...

A soft homespun... ??

Out of the box -  green... ??

This bold stripe,  originally chosen for binding... ?

In the end settling on the simple navy frame...

My thoughts now turn to how I will quilt it... definitely the busiest most complicated quilt top I've made to date.  A few ideas:

1. Stabilize it with some in-the-ditch machine quilting, and then use sashiko thread for some chunky primitive style hand stitching in each block?? 
2. Hanging diamonds by machine?? (with monofilament in the needle - my usual- this avoids a too thready look, emphasizing the quilting line but not the thread)
3. Freehand Baptist fans over the whole deal, by hand?  Or baptist fans throughout except for eagle center medallion (echo quilting) and the navy outer border (sashiko knots). 

Can't wait to see everyone else's finished tops at the link up on Lori's blog.  Thanks again Lori!

xo
Cynthia

Flags of the American Revolution - stars

We are winding down with this quilt-along hosted by Lori of Humble Quilts.  More stars this month. Japanese indigo as background, shirting reproduction for the stars.  I worked on this during our recent trip to London, there and back.

I'm trying to fix my little 'value problem' with the center block.

See what I mean?! The disappearing Eagle...

 Sashiko thread and a simple backstitch to the rescue, sort of...

Meanwhile David just got back from Japan an hour ago, Tommy has the Super Bowl streaming on line (go Pats!)... there's a fire in the wood stove... and more snow on its way tonight!  School is already canceled for tomorrow - quilting time;).

Quilting buddies of the blogosphere, I hope wherever you are, you are warm and cozy and enjoying the company of loved ones.

Just for fun... Daisy examining the Burgoyne Surrounded...

xo
Cynthia

Flags of the Revolution - stars and crescents

Here's what we worked on during December for the Flags of the Revolution (book by Jan Patek) quilt-along at Humble Quilts.   More homespun applique;).

Go check out everyone's progress at Humble Quilts!