A productive winter–Nicolas’ Quilt

One of my favorite things about being at an RV Resort for the winter was “Quilting Fridays” at the clubhouse.  We had a bunch of quilters in this park, so on Fridays a group would gather in the clubhouse to work on our various projects.  I always made sure I was free on Fridays!

I had some ongoing projects that I could have worked on, but Nicolas wanted a quilt for his bunk in the barracks, and my sister had given me a cool Navy quilt pattern, so that was my project for this winter . . . and I was on a mission to get it pieced, quilted, and sent to Nicolas before we left here!

I visited the local quilt shop, and they just happened to have a new group of military-themed fabrics, including the blue camouflage that is the Navy’s work uniform.  I got started on the small blocks right away.

 

The quilt is made up of the small squares, arranged in such a way to spell out the work “NAVY” in blue and tan.

The two pinwheels in the upper right and lower left corners were supposed to be made from the tan fabric, but I found this cool flag fabric, and thought it would add a nice patriotic touch to the design.

The original size of the quilt wasn’t quite big enough for Nicolas to be able to tuck it in properly all around his mattress, so I increased the size of the borders, and add an extra panel at the top.

I added his name for a little added personal touch . . . and to identify its owner!

Next up was the borders . . . I was really glad to have room to spread out.  I was completely monopolizing two tables and 1/2 of the kitchen counter!

By the end of February, it was finished!

We have a lady back in Michigan who does all of our machine quilting, but with the added cost of shipping it to her, and then back to me, I decided it would be more economical to find somebody in Ft. Myers.  I went back to the quilt shop, and in the sewing machine store next door, there was a woman who did machine quilting out of her home . . . or rather, her husband – a retired Navy seal - did.

I dropped off my precious package with her, and three weeks later she called me to tell me it was done.  Her husband loved it, and even gave me a Navy discount!    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It turned out great, and I was really happy with it.  I just needed to add the binding and one more finishing touch, and it was ready to send to Nicolas.

On the day that Nicolas shipped out to boot camp, the man who ran the courtesy kitchen at the MEPS in Troy gave him a star – it was a star from a retired US flag, and it came with a message to keep it with him as a reminder of the freedoms he’s protecting.  He couldn’t take it to boot camp, so he gave it to me for safe-keeping.

I sewed it onto the quilt next to his name.

All finished . . . and ready to ship to South Carolina!

It arrived safely, and it was a perfect fit for Nicolas’ bunk . . . ignore the fact that it’s upside down!!

Nicolas loves it, and I’m glad he has a little bit of “Mom” while he’s away from us!