Using Orange Dream on Quilt of Valor

I recently finished a Quilt of Valor using the longarm pattern called Orange Dream created by Jess Zeigler from the Longarm League. The quilt pattern itself is called Stargazer from the 2023 Iowa Shop Hop Magazine.

I often come across patterns I like but never really have a purpose in mind. That's when I usually decide to turn them into Quilts of Valor using reds, whites, blues and in this case creams. It turned out to be a fairly large quilt measuring 82 x 82.

I chose the Orange Dream quilting pattern mainly because I wanted to try it out. It was a toss up between that and the Shields design also by Jess Zeigler. In the end I decided Orange Dream isn't a directional design. Since the quilt is square with no designated top or bottom I felt a more non directional design was necessary.

I think it turned out really well. I did decide to enlarge the pattern to around four inches rather than the original two inch design. It came out to 20 repeats across and 20 rows down. It took a fairly long time to stich out and nearly three bobbins to quilt out. I didn't speed up the design from it's original speed because of the smaller size of the design.

I am at the point of making the binding and will then need to put the binding on it. I plan to have it done before Veteran's day so it can be one of the quilts presented to a deserving veteran. Our area schools usually participate in a Veteran's Day program and last year our guild was able to present several quilts at about four different schools in the area. I want to try to attend the one in my community this year since one of the quilts is being present to a very special veteran who is well known and loved by our community.

It's always an honor to make a Quilt of Valor particularly since my dad was a 22 year veteran of the US Army. Yes, I am an army child, lived in lots of places, and had lots of adventures with my family. He has been gone now for over 20 years and every time I create a Quilt of Valor I think of him and how he loved serving our country.