A Quilted Finish {For God & Country}

It is finished!!! I absolutely LOVE those words, not only do they draw my heart back to Christ's words on the cross, but they express that sense of accomplishment I feel every time I'm able to declare that a quilt is finished.

This particular quilt was created as a gift for some very special friends who are moving to the Midwest as the follow the call of the Lord on their lives. We have shared life together in this crazy Northern Virginia/DC area for several years now and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.  I have to laugh when I think about how we both ended up moving here after making the declaration that we would never live here. I am thankful that we were brought together and I meet a friend who has touched my life and blessed me in ways that I know we will be long time friends even over such a long distance.

As my dear friend leaves with her husband to begin a new chapter in their lives, we presented them with this special quilt:

For God & Country

The quilt and it's name are representative of this special couples life of faith and patriotism. A cross is both pieced and quilted into the center of each block to represent their faith and the colors of red, white and blue in conjunction with the patriotic motifs throughout the quilt represent their many years of service in the United States Coast Guard.

The one thing I would do differently is to be more strategic about the placement of the
eagles and actually fussy cut these squares.

The back of the quilt highlights my friends favorite color and her favorite
stitches found on the quilts I've made, stippling and feathers.

My helper telling me his arms are tired from holding the quilt up so long.
I think what he really wants to tell me is to stop taking so many pictures!

One of my favorite parts of giving a quilt is.....
The recipients genuine reaction...overflowing with excitement,  joy and appreciation.

I'll smile every time I look at this picture, knowing that our dear friends are truly enjoying using their quilt!








{{{HUGS}}} & Happy Quilting,

For God & Country {In Progress}

"For God & Country" is coming along pretty well. I don't have as much finished as I'd like to have at this point, but I'm pleased with where I'm at with it. The blocks are all quilted and all that's left to quilt are the sashing strips and the setting blocks.

Sashing strips will be quilted with feathers in variegated blue.

Each center block creates a cross which is outline quilted to highlight the cross.

The stippling is again used to help the crosses jump out of each more.

Had to take a break from quilting to prepare supper for the family.
Red Velvet & Chocolate pancakes were on the menu tonight.

Happy Sewing,