This quilt is for my brother and his fiance. He is a serious history buff and she lived in Great Britain for many years. They asked for a quilt last year and when I suggested something with flags, they loved the idea. Then he told me it needed to be king size. Then I panicked, then I made them this kickin' quilt top. This quilt by Amy Smart became my jumping off point.
Both the Union and American flags are pieced according to their official sizes.
Three of the American flags have 13 stars that have been hand appliqued.
The flags were my starting point and from there I looked to history for my next step. I loved the idea of a central motif surrounded by border upon border as seen in quilts from the late 1700's to early 1800's. Unfortunately by the time I came up with this plan, my panel of flags was too wide to have all that extra border on the sides.
Things like this tend to happen when you plan as you sew.
So I went with bands at the top and bottom. This book cover gave me the idea to make rows of off kilter flying geese.
I kept the feel of the historic quilts by adding corner blocks to the borders.
A red star in each corner that was closest to the flags and then Union shields on the corners of the flying geese rows.
Here's the completed quilt top.
Did I mention it's huge! We had to bring it outside for a picture and call in our neighbor for an assist.
I've sent it off to my aunt to long arm and I can't wait to see it when it's done.
