I sewed my fourth and last quilt of valor in 2012. To create Star Spangled Sky I used a new technique that would become very important to me in more recent years, based on the book One-Block Wonders: One Fabric, One Shape, One-of-a-Kind Quilts by Maxine Rosenthal, and several subsequent books that expand the technique’s myriad possibilities. To make a basic One Block Wonder (OBW) quilt, you align six identical repeats of fabric and cut triangles that you then sew into half-hexagons. These you pin and arrange into unique patterns on your design wall before sewing together. The technique involves simple cutting and piecing but very complex design work. As a result, this quilt of valor was my most time-intensive.

You can drive yourself a bit mad obsessing over rearranging the pinned half-hexagons to get the final design you want! It’s immense creative fun though and this year (2020) I’ve really embraced the technique and made/started a bunch more OBW quilts, in large part due to the support and inspiration of the very active OBW Facebook group, https://www.facebook.com/groups/OBWQuiltForum/.

As I said at the beginning, Star Spangled Sky would be my final quilt of valor. The organization instituted some changes for volunteers that I disagreed with, in particular requiring quilters to pay for memberships to be allowed to volunteer their time, skills, and fabric to make and donate quilts of valor. I am glad I made four quilts of valor when I did.