Covering the World One Quilt At A Time

Some of the products featured on this site were provided to me free of charge by Island Batik, Hobbs Batting, Aurifil , AccuQuilt and Schmetz Needles.

What is Covering the World: One Quilt at a Time?

From the AccuQuilt blog:

Starting in January 2022, AccuQuilt is partnering up with Moda Fabrics and Baby Lock in a pay-it-forward campaign called Covering the World: One Quilt at a Time.

Quilters and designers from AccuQuilt and Moda Fabrics are on a quest to donate their time and quilts to a charity of their choice, and we’re inviting you to join us on this big quilting adventure! Every week in 2022, one person from our teams will donate a quilt to a charity of their choice.

Quilt of Valor and Island Batik

The charity I have chosen is Quilt of Valor and I award the quilts myself. For my QOV Island Batik sent me these gorgeous red, white and blue batik fabrics from their Foundations Collection. Foundations are available throughout the year which is great because I am guilty of never purchasing enough yardage.

Blues-Universe and Harbor

Reds-Scarlet and Redwood

Whites-Moo Milk and White

AccuQuilt products

The GO! 6″ Tumbler die is a nice size to work with and creates a large quilt with little fuss in no time. The GO! Star-2″, 3″, 4″ Die and Heat N Bond Ultra added a nice finish. With the 2 shades of blue for their background they almost appear to twinkle.

The dog ears are removed with the die so there is no extra trimming involved and the patches line up perfectly.

The tumbler blocks are joined on their side in vertical rows and I alternated a dark then a light blue for the star area.

Assembled on my Juki with Schmetz Neeldes.

To square up my quilt I cut more tumbler blocks and sliced them in half and added them to the top and bottom of each vertical row.

Fuse the Heat N Bond Ultra to the back side of your fabric prior to running through the die. It’s a good idea to let the fusible cool prior to running through the cutter, just in case. With the Ultra there is no need to stitch the appliques down but I did add them before quilting and quilted over them.

The quilt is assembled in vertical rows. Not only did I alternate the blues but the reds and whites too. It was a little tricky to keep the alternating pattern going and there may have been a little un-stiching involved. Here it is hanging in my sewing room before it was quilted.

Quilt Label

First attempt at a quilt label using the Bernette B79. I have a lot of work ahead trying new stabilizers. I did make another one for the quilt without all the wrinkles. Not sure the brand of stabilizer, it was sticky on side.

The thread is Aurifil 40wt.

Quilt Awarded

Dan is a Vietnam Vet. If I remember correctly, I think he said there are only 30% of Vietnam Vets still with us. Let’s honor them while we can.

Dan is a local business owner. He owns and operates Knotty by Nature Hardwood in Grafton,Illinois. Here he is standing in his store front with his fathers flag proudly displayed behind him.

One thing that stands out most about my conversation with him, he said he would do it again. I asked, ” really ? “. He did not stutter or think prior to answering, “absolutely” ! That is one proud vet.

Keep in mind, things were not like they are today where our young men and women make the choice to join the military. Dan was drafted, he served proudly just as his father and grand father before him.

The reason I chose Quilt of Valor. To be quite honest, there as so many vets in need and I just don’t feel they receive the recognition they deserve.

When I was roughly 3 years old I remember my favorite uncle stopped in to see me after returning from Vietnam, yep I remember that. I remember sitting on his lap, his hugs and giving me a silver dollar. It’s all a little blurry now as 50 years have passed but that is my first memory of him. Funny the things we remember while forgetting others. Two other uncles also served in Vietnam, one I never met.

Quilting and piecing

Spirals in the blue area and wavy lines through the red and white. For piecing and quilting I used Aurifil Thread. Did you know Aurifil makes a longarm thread now? Forty3.

I love Hobbs Batting. Their Heirloom® Cotton Batting is amazing. But I also love their PolyDown and Wool, the project dictates which I use.

Thank you to all the sponsors for the opportunity to join in this great cause. If you haven’t yet, visit some of the sponsors by clicking their links throughout the post above.