This past weekend, our car club sponsored a Quilts of Valor event. We honored seven veterans, all with Vietnam service. It was the ceremony where this quilt I made with donated stars was awarded to a friend.
You may also recognize this quilt top, sent to me by Mary Ellen. I quilted it for the same ceremony.
Mary Ellen’s quilt went to Edward R, third from the left. My quilt went to Dave B, on the end on the right.
We had a wonderful reception for them following the ceremony, with trays of good things to eat. The buffet began with fruit and cheese, followed by fresh veggies.
There were several sandwich options starting with cubanitos – ham and pork with Swiss cheese and pickles.
Then there were chicken bacon naan and wrap sandwiches in three choices – tomato wrap with roast beef and white American cheese, spinach wrap with turkey and provolone, or white wrap with ham and Swiss cheese. A tray of deviled eggs is always a favorite, and lasted just long enough for me to nab the last one. As the host of the event, I was last in line.
Dessert was amazing, with two trays. One was called Decadent Sweets and was mostly chocolate tidbits, with chocolate dipped strawberries in the middle. The other was a vanilla cream tart with fresh fruit. Yum!!! One thing this club does well is food. You may recognize my Patriotic Table Runner on the buffet.
So, I was inspired to begin another Quilt of Valor for a future ceremony. I had this panel purchased at Beginnings a couple of months ago. The uneven balance of stars at the top and bottom didn’t make sense to me.
So, I cut them off.
I pulled out the last of the star blocks that were sent in for my block drive earlier in the year. I’ve lost track of who sent what, so if you recognize yours, do let me know in the comments so your name will be on the label. If I don’t have that, the label will say “Blocks by Friends of Quilts of Valor”.
I had planned to put panels of a print in-between the stars, but I realized if I put an inner border on the panel, I could use all the blocks I had. That makes the most sense.
I had this lovely fireworks print on a pretty shade of blue background. I measured it out in order to make this inner border as large as possible. The quilt needs to be a minimum of 60-inches wide, so getting there is easier with wider borders.
I added the inner border to the panel, then placed stars around the edges to look at placement. I have four that are a different star than the other 8, so I wanted to distribute those around. I found I only had small strips left to fill, so I got out more white background to do that.
I sewed three stars together and added strips on each end, then sewed those to the center. Using white background rather than a print keeps the focus on the stars.
For the top and bottom, two stars are placed in the center, with stars on the corners. I did the math to add strips for filler.
The strips are added, then the corner stars are sewn to the strips.
With all the stars added to the panel section, I measured it to find the final border width needed to bring it up to size.
It only needed six inches total, so I made the border 3-inches wide. I auditioned a couple of prints, and this subtle one in navy was best. It framed the quilt nicely without competing for attention.
The assembly of the top took about six hours. At the end of the day, I loaded it on the longarm to quilt. I’ll work on that this week.
The goal is to finish quilting and get the binding sewn to the front by the end of the week. Then I’ll have some hand work to do while watching the auto races and the Stanley Cup hockey finals – go Carolina Hurricanes!!
From My Carolina Home 
What a wonderful occasion — celebratory and honoring friends who have served. The quilts are marvelous and the food table looks to die for. What is it about deviled eggs? There are rarely leftovers! (When I’m making them, I always make one or two extra that I stash away for breakfast because I know none will be left!). What a great time!
So exciting to see the veterans honored at such a wonderful ceremony and the reception food looked luscious!
I really appreciate you sharing your thought process as you created your new top. It really helps me when I work on a top with no pattern. I have a couple of panels I’ve been afraid to use because of not knowing exactly what they needed to stand out.
Carole, I really love all these quilts and the mission of Quilts of Valor. I have two local friends who also participate in this club. The array of food is also a beautiful gesture for our veterans. Thank you for giving your talented gifts so generously.
Awesome ceremony, food and great quilts, Carole. I enjoyed seeing your step by step journey to put together your next QOV quilt top.
I think the Quilts of Valor program is such a beautiful way to honor our veterans. Food looked yummy, quilts were beautiful and the vets looked so proud and happy. Thank you for your huge part in it.
It sounds and looks like a lovely event, and I love that you were inspired to immediately make another QOV! Looks like you are going to be set up to enjoy the weekend and get another quilt finished.
Thank you for sharing your process! Wonderful service!
Beautiful quilt with lovely star blocks. I really love the border fabric you used, it works perfectly. We’ve been enjoying the Stanley Cup Finals too — Go Canes! Of course, we also like watching because it takes us back a few years ago when we watched our niece graduate from NC State right in the same arena!
You are so creative Carole. The quilts are beautiful.
That looks like it was a lovely event, and the quilts are beautiful! I’m glad you can use the star blocks that people sent in these quilts. And I love that pretty blue that you used for the inner border.
We have a friend staying while he gets treatment at the Veterans Hospital and when we go there the entry way is large and has sofas but mostly Vets waiting for rides, appts. And many have a Quilt of Valor on their lap. It’s poignant reminder of their service and the people who care about them. Thank you for doing this and reminding us to “see” these people who served.
It must be quite overwhelming for these Veterans when they receive such beautiful quilts and it must be a proud moment when your quilt is presented to these fine men. Lovely gesture.
Mary :))
It’s so nice seeing the Vets with their quilts. Re the panel, I’m supposing they had to get the panel to a specified size & whomever added the stars knows nothing about balance or symmetry. Your solution was perfect. Yup, I missed the last deviled egg at today’s picnic & was outbid on my favorite item. Ah well, tomorrow is another day.
that star quilt with half red and half blue is really neat I love that one and can see it in any color arrangement Looks like a nice ceremony
I love the new quilt. It is breathtaking with all those beautiful star blocks surrounding the inner panel.
Oh, it must have been fun to present the quilts! I understand why you were so excited to start another one. I relly like what you did with this panel.
I love that this ceremony moved you to another quilt. Fabulous!
Great ceremony – they look so good with their quilts!
glad it inspired you – that is a great new one