American Hero Quilt Finished!

I finished the first quilt top that American Hero Quilts has sent me with a pantograph called Star Spangled, from DesignsByVickie.com.  It was a bit more challenging than I anticipated, since it has a lot of points and changes in direction, but I think it came out OK for a first try.  I will definitely use it again!  I used  gold King Tut cotton thread on the top and  gold Sew Fine! on the back.   I’ll be sending them off as soon as I get a box and print a label.

I’ll be doing more quilting this weekend, to get ready for the BBQ Quilt Show coming up in June.  Submission forms are due May 20th, so I need to get busy!

Bonus quilt!

During the flurry of activity of making the Happy Quilt, I made several more blocks to “make it bigger”…I always want a bigger quilt!….and then it just didn’t look right, it had WAY too much going on!
So, the new blocks came off the design board and the Happy Quilt became what it is today…and unfinished top!  Not that I haven’t been working on it, mind you.  I have the thread, quilting pattern, batting and backing picked out, I just need to seam the backing fabric together to get it ready to quilt.  For some reason, that always takes me a long time!
In the meantime, my copy of Quiltmaker magazine arrived last week…with a wonderful pattern inside by Scott Murkin called the Swirlabout!  I immediately went back to my left over Happy Quilt blocks and re-arranged them from Happy Quilt 2, which I felt was uninspiring, to the adapted arrangement also offered in the magazine, called Whirligiggle.  Click on the Whirligiggle link to get the downloadable pattern from Quiltmaker.
 





Here are the two versions of the quilt, same blocks, just reversed to show the negative of the other; squint at them if you don’t see it.  I’ve decided how I will sew them together, but I’m interested in hearing which one you like best!

Progress to Date

Quilting:  My “need to quilt” count now is 3 customer, 3 personal, and 1 American Hero quilts to quilt.  Backing to be seamed together for 3 of these quilts.
Tops:  This new bonus top needs to get sewn together before the blocks start falling off, or get taken off, the design board so I can use it again, and I have two Bronco quilts in process on which I want to see further progress.
Blocks:  I finished my donation blocks for the upcoming quilt show.  I cut fabric to help out with making a wedding quilt.  I have star blocks from a Pass The Bag event that are still sitting in the bag.  Those won’t make it into a real quilt for awhile yet, I’m sure.
Looks like it’s going to be a fun, and busy, weekend!