American Hero Quilts Finished

I finished these two quilts in three days of sewing.  I talked about the piecing of them in my last post. 

I have decided to call them "American Hero."  I was originally going to call them "American Star,"  but the fabrics were so bright that it reminded me of super heroes.  The large one will be given to a friend whose husband is in the service, and he really is a hero.  Cheetah, my connoisseur of quilt names, agreed that it is a good name.  ;)

The backing for the large quilt is a chunky, uneven plus, to use fabrics from my stash.  I laid the quilt top on the floor, and kept moving fabric around on top of it to plan out my backing.  It was a lot of fun, but my boys were wondering what in the world I was doing. 

I quilted the large star in a loose stipple with three different threads: blue, red, and cream. 

I love the way it turned out. 

Quilt Stats #86
Name:  American Hero
Pattern:  Altered from Jeni's Giant Star
Fabric:  Old Jinny Beyer fabrics from my stash
Amount used:  10.5 yards
Batting:  Hobbs 80/20
Finished size:  about 72 x 90 inches
After washing: about 68 x 86
Date finished:  January 2014
What I learned:

• I love the modern look with the borders on only two sides. 
• It is like a puzzle to piece a backing with fabric from the stash. 
• The Hobbs 80/20 seemed to shrink 2 inches for every 30 inches.   

On the small quilt, I Frankensteined my batting together for the first time. 

It worked a lot better than I thought it would. 

On a side note, I had to put my scissors on the batting to take this picture, because my camera could not focus on just the batting.  But they are my favorite scissors for clipping threads, because they are small with rounded tips.  They are the Nifty Scissors brand. 

I used a new to me quilting pattern.  It is that line wiggling back and forth.  I love the texture it gives the quilt. 

The backing, a cream star print, looks really cool with all the quilting.  I used the three thread colors on the small quilt, too. 

I am excited to have this as a reminder of the quilt I made my friend.  It will be such a fun seasonal wall hanging or table topper.  (I think I need to buy a fun patriotic centerpiece this summer.)

Quilt Stats #87
Name:  American Hero Mini
Pattern:  Eight pointed star made with HST
Fabrics:  Scraps from the giant American Hero
Amount used:  2 yards
Batting:  Frankensteined Hobbs 80/20
Size:  about 28 inches square
After washing:  about 26 inches square
Date finished:  January 2014
What I learned:

• Frankensteined batting work very well.  I will be sure to do it again. 
• I love small versions of larger quilts I have made.

On another side note, I consider this quilt a wall hanging.  I once read that mini quilts for a challenge had to be smaller than 24 inches square.  So this would technically not be a mini.  Is that correct? 

I used the same Jinny Beyer fabric for the bindings on both quilts.  I cut the smaller quilt's binding at 2.25 inches and the other at 2.5 inches.  I bound the small one by hand and the large one by machine. 

As I mentioned in the quilt stats, it seems like the Hobbs 80/20 batting shrunk about 2 inches for every 30 inches.  Does this seem like a normal amount?  I must admit that I love how crisp new quilts are, so I don't normally wash them right away.  I do LOVE the crinkled look too, but I was surprised at how much they shrunk. 

I washed them, because I didn't want my friend to be surprised at the crinkliness after the first wash.  Also, I wanted to see if the reds bled.  I am happy to say that two out of three color catchers turned dark pink, but there was no bleeding on my fabric.  :D

This is what they look like after they were washed...

And a close-up of the larger one. 

I took these pictures inside, because I didn't want them to get dirty outside again.  LOL.

XX,
Jasmine

P.S.  I will be linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts, Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation, Can I get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and Finish it up Fridays at Crazy Mom Quilts this week.  .