Muv - Wow! Congratulations again. What a great spot for your work, nice and visible. That cake made me hungry. I love fresh fruit and to add it to a cake is a bonus. The biscuits (cookies here, I think) look really cute. I'm sure no one noticed the missing cross lines.

ghostrider - We try. And we are ready for photos anytime you are, even if it is just the fabrics you will be using like I did in post #1 or the appliques ready to go. :) (Some might call it nagging, we call it enthusiastic encouragement.)

Beautiful, Murv. You got that done so fast too.

Muv and Ghostrider... LOL what W4Me said, Took the words right out of my mouth.. alright..Sew Im a copycat this morning.. But you must admit the words ring true. :) :) :) :) Awesome Job Muv.

My first Quilting Board post :).
I first read this thread when I joined a few weeks back and it was the same day I started designing my first Quilts of Valour project. I was inspired by the attached Union Jack quilt (pattern purchased from etsy). I stitched two of the Union Jack lap quilts and shipped them to the UK to donate for a dog rescue organization that is near and dear to my heart. One quilt was auctioned and the other one raffled and they raised £225 (about $350).

I designed my Canadian version in photoshop by dragging in a flag and creating a grid over top of it and then manipulating the maple leaf until all the points fell nicely on the edge of a square and used that grid to create a pattern to paper-piece. And I had to laugh at myself because after all that, I remembered I had purchased EQ6 last year and it probably would have been much more quilter-like to use that.

I forgot to take pictures along way but now need some advice to finish up ...
The proper Canadian flag ratio is 2:1 (length to height), I've already cheated that a bit - the quilt is 65"x35" - but in my opinion 35" is too narrow for a lap quilt that is likely to end up in the lap of a male soldier.
Should I add a border? I was thinking a 3" black border with a maple leaf pantograph - but I think that might detract from the flag look? or do I add a row top and bottom and throw the "proper" ratio out the window?
Any suggestions?

I plan on top-stitching it with the same wave pattern as the Union Jack - a self-made design that I created by stealing a 1"x4" six-foot length of wood from hubby's workshop, tracing a sine wave on it and using a jigsaw to cut it out and a mouse sander to smooth the edges. I then placed it on my frame at the back of the machine and used a guide to follow the edge of the wood. Again there's probably a more quilter-like way of doing it but this way fit my budget. :)

Mo

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Your quilts are awesome.. could you not just add a couple more rows of squares staying with the same pattern to make it the size you are wanting? That would be my humble opinion. :)

Hello Mo - Fab Union Jack quilt!

For the maple leaf quilt, why not get the flag to the right dimensions, then put rows of very dark blue squares around it to make the quilt the size you want it to be. It won't matter if you have more rows going in one direction than in the other, just tell people it's all part of the artistic effect.

rdy1tk2 - Wow. Just stunnning. You are very talented and also inventive. I love both quilts. So nice that they raised some money for a worthy organization.

I'm with Jenniky on maybe adding a couple of more rows length and/or width. No one is going to notice that the ratio may not be perfect. They will be too busy admiring the work and design.

Personally, I would not add any sort of a border to the Canadian flag. It looks fabulous now and I think an actual border would take away from the true flag effect you have amazingly achieved. Just my two cents.

Beautiful Quilts on both counts!

For the Canadian, ITA with you that the width may be narrow for a soldier! However, does QOV give a required size? It looks so nice the way it is, that I'd be worried you might start throwing it out of proportion by increasing the size, as you wouldn't be able to increase the maple leaf!