A few months ago, Ruth, Irene and I started getting together to quilt. I guess you’d call us a mini group. We also go fabric shopping, exhibit visiting and other fun stuff together. Friends in real life who share similar interests is a great thing.
Irene suggested that we each make a Quilt of Valor. These are quilts that are donated to veterans. Always happy to do something for the men and women who serve our country. Then Irene suggested we all use the same pattern, Storm At Sea.
With the wonderful ruler out on the market, it has become easier to make a quilt from this block. Easier does not mean easy. A wonderful thing about this pattern is how fluid it is. No two iterations look alike. QoV requests red, white and blue, a patriotic theme. This isn’t a colorway any of us would chose on our own, but we are all up to the challenge.
I worked the old fashioned way, printed out the pattern and pulled out some colored pencils. Ruth has some amazing programs so she planned out hers on her iPad.
Yeah, I’m a little jealous, she made all her components and then put it all together. She also made an 18″ block, while Irene and I struggled with 12″.
To be honest, I probably wouldn’t work that way in any event. I had a crazy idea of the pattern crossing the block lines, so I ended up slowly working row by row.
Irene, who chose the pattern, noted that this is a hard one, she has never used her seam ripper more. Join the club! I can’t tell how many times I had to rip something out! And for all that, it appears as just a scrappy quilt.
Except it isn’t, there is a method to my madness. Because of my crazy choice I have very definite pentagons. Some are dark blue, some are light blue and some are the light background. 
I thought I was done. It was a little small and to be honest, borders hold the whole thing together, especially since I think every side here is on the bias. 
So I added a border and now it’s waiting on my dress form for me to get the backing together and buy the batting. QoV request polyester batting, makes sense, we don’t know how these quilts will be cared for and some people might be allergic to wool or other fibers. 
This is Irene’s’ version. I’m happy to say I gave her some of my blues and grays.
And here is Ruths’.
This is why a design wall is so handy. Get the layout right!
Group projects like this are so much fun! Being limited by pattern and color is a big part of the challenge. I’ll keep you posted about the progress.
Leah