When we left off the Quilt of Valor, I was about halfway finished. Continuing on, I finished the white in the flag, quilting wavy lines like a waving flag. Then I changed the thread color to red, and quilted the red stripes in the same way.
Advancing the quilt down, I outlined the lower wide stripes, and began quilting feathers going up in the red.
Moving the quilt down again, I did the red stripes along the bottom. Note that there are seams in the colors, but I ignored those and treated the stripe as one unit.
I rolled the quilt back to the top and quilted inside the stars where the red color was needed. In most cases, just echoing the shapes.
Changing thread color to a creamy beige, I put feathers in the large stripes oriented the opposite way from the red ones.
Along the bottom, I tapered them into the points. This is easier to see on the cream color.
These are all freehand bump-back feathers.
Next thread change, now to blue. This is the most difficult part of the quilt, getting the outside border. I plan to do feathers all around, so I have to do the spine all the way around first. This means advancing the quilt with the needle down, a scary thing. I remembered to mark the edge with chalk to remind me not to put the feathers to the edge. This way they won’t be under the binding. Beginning on the left side, I went up and over the top, then down the right side.
Advance to the bottom, then re-roll up the sides back to the staring point on the left border.
Stitching the feathers, the dark blue thread on the dark blue border fabric was extremely difficult to see. Because of that, I totally messed up the third corner on the lower right, missing my spine completely. You can see the spine going through the middle of the too-long feathers in the middle on the backside. I just completely missed the turn. All this had to come out. Yes, it was a mess, and not good enough for my friend. So, I ripped it out back to where I went off the line.
There, same corner ripped and resewn, much better.
Across the bottom edge, I think the consistency in size is pretty good.
Continuing around, the last corner went better.
Back to the starting point, I went over the previous stitching with chalk so I could see it easier.
Next, I went to the border on the panel. I put some wavy lines in the border around the stars, then went back and did a loop around each star.
I put wavy lines in the blue section of the flag inside the panel, the same as what I did in the stripes.
Together, these lines give a feeling of movement to the flag.
The last section was the two blue sidebars on the sides of the panel. Feathers went here as well. I began in the lower left tapering from small feathers up to larger ones, and then tapering down in size again, ending in the upper left corner.
The right side has a mirror image.
I couldn’t believe I won the bobbin chicken with just a few inches of thread left!
Finished, and taken off the frame, I trimmed away the excess batting and backing. It is hard to see the quilting as the color matched thread blends away.
On the backside, though, the quilting shows like a wholecloth.
I think the density of the quilting is fairly consistent over the quilt.
All done. I hope to be there when it is presented, and I hope she will decide to show it either at the fair or the quilt show after it is presented. We have a Quilt of Valor display at the show, which is not judged.
There were six thread color changes, with multiple rolls back and forth to get all the sections done. Total time to finish was somewhere around 12-14 hours, I didn’t keep exact track. Worth every minute.
From My Carolina Home 
I’m truly gobsmacked over this quilt. Thank you for the process photos & explanation…..for those of us are wanna bee long arm quilters….it’s a treat to learn from a pro.
Congratulation for your contribution and many thank to all our American heroes.
Absolutely amazing! You have a very steady hand. I know this quilt will be valued.
Incredible work! And a truly lovely quilt. You are amazing. Side note to Mary Stori: what is “gob smacked” and did it hurt?
I must be watching too many Britbox and Acorn tv shows. Yikes.I picked up their slang!!
Totally stunning – you did an amazing job on that Quilt of Valor. I hope who ever receives this quilt appreciates it as much as all your followers do. Again a job well done.
That is beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing your process. I am not along arm quilter but I am fascinated with the process. That was close on the bobbin! What a treasure this quilt will be for your friend.
Absolutely amazing, Carole. Please share your friend’s response about your gorgeous work of art! It is exquisite!!!
That’s a beautiful quilt and your quilting just enhances it all the more! I love seeing it from the backside, too. I definitely hope you get to see it presented to your friend!
Wonderful posts about the quilting on this precious quilt. The custom quilting definitely enhanced the quilt and is show worthy. The recipient is getting a wonderful gift from you and your friend.
I like the posts that show the actual process and labor involved in custom quilting on a long arm machine. There are decisions and challenges even after deciding on a design. You detailed the process well.
Beautiful….who ever receives it will be blessed.
So beautiful. So perfect. Your feathers are magnificent. Thanks for taking us on this journey through your process. Congratulations!
Fabulous, Carole. Just fabulous.
Really, Really nice job!!
Linda Russo
Worth every minute for sure! I bet your friend is super delighted with your work, and I hope you are there for the presentation.
I can’t rave enough about your quilting. It’s a masterpiece in my opinion.
The Quilt of Valor is stunning and your custom quilting perfects it. I’m impressed that you took out the stitches where you missed the spine and redid that section.
Our fair is this week. I don’t have anything entered, but spent yesterday morning and will go again this morning to sell raffle tickets for our quilt guild and also monitor – “Please don’t touch the quilts”. Lots of pretty quilts were entered and it’s fun to see people enjoy them.
“They also serve who only stand and wait” By your act of kindness you also serve and give great respect to who those who served. As part of a military family, we thank you.
That QOV you quilted was spectacular, I loved the pattern that was used. Is there a pattern to purchase for this quilt? Anyway you did a great job. Pamela
Silly mel, I just looked at the previous email and found the pattern name and pattern maker. Thanks
WOW
Absolutely gorgeous!!! Anyone, not just a vet, would be honored to receive such a beautiful work of love.
Wow! Lovely job Carole. You must be feeling pleased with how it turned out.
Lovely quilt pattern which you have enhanced so beautifully.
This is very pretty. I especially admire the feathers. I appreciate all the details and photos explaining the process.
Absolutely stunning! The recipient is very lucky to have someone with your quilting talents and generosity!
You must be so pleased, it turned out beautifully, and I enjoyed watching your quilting progress on this one. Yes, please do share the response when this is presented.
Standing ovation on this one Carole!
What a great gift to do all of this special quilting for your friend. It’s beautiful!
You did a fantastic job quilting it.
Amazing quilting job! Thanks for showing us your work.
Beautiful job, Carole! Your friend will value this quilt forever as much as you value her service. Thank you for sharing the quilting on this, step-by-step. That includes a peek at the back as well.
Lovely work with all those feathers on your QOV.
Your quilt looks great.
That is a lot of quilting time for a gorgeous finish.
A lot of love went into that quilt. You did a great job for your friend. You are getting a lot of practice in free motioning. Looks great.