Friday Finish

It's always fun to have a finish to share on Friday! Patriotic 9 Patch (formerly QOV 9 Patch) is in the DONE! column for my October goals. I had planned to donate this one to Quilts of Valor but it ended up just shy of the minimum size so I will either donate it to Project Linus or keep it on hand for when a need arises. I really like this one so it might just end up living with me.

This quilt was started in 2008 with the leftover 2.5" strips from Patriotic Squares which was donated to Quilts of Valor. I'm such a fan of 9 patches so that was an easy choice and paired them up with the metallic star fabric.  When I ran out of patriotic fabrics I mixed in a few reds and lights to make enough blocks.

I found some gorgeous red,white & blue King Tut thread that I used for quilting. The color changed often and I tried to capture how pretty it turned out by adjusting the contrast a bit on the close-up. Originally I was going to quilt it crosswise too but I really liked the channel look so I laid it out on my cutting table to ponder while I worked on another quilt. I didn't change my mind so moved on to the binding stage.

I'd had a blue binding picked out but one of the things I liked about the top was how the reds were scattered throughout the 9 patches so I replaced it with a red instead. I think it was the right choice. The backing is a wide small dot print which shows off the variegated thread nicely.

I pulled my old cutting table out of the storage closet and set it at medium height to the left of my sewing table for additional support. This was suggested by a few of you after I quilted 9 Patch Swap last month and it made a huge difference in my quilting comfort.

My trio of Quilt Inspectors also approved! Usually they wander in and out one at a time so this cracked me up. Jax is in motion reacting to my attempt to get their attention... he is the people pleaser of the group.

One last thing... I will never tire of LOVING the thread cutter on Mr. Juki. Those teeny little tails just make wonder "How can it do that?".

What I Learned:

• Trust my instincts... sometimes less quilting is more. It's OK to change plans midway.
• Use more red!
• It's worth it to set up the extra table when quilting a larger top.

I'm linking up to Feline Friday@sarah did it!, TGIFF@Quilter in the Closet, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop@Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Link A Finish Friday@Richard and Tanya Quilts, Needle & Thread Thursday@My Quilt Infatuation and Finish it Friday@Crazy Mom Quilts.