Book Shelf Quilt of Valor

 Quilt Name: Leave the Past Behind. This one is a special request from a friend for a friend. Took a long time to create, as I 'built it' on the backing fabric. The recipient of this quilt has just retired from the Army, after 30 years. The quilt is named 'Leave The Past Behind'. The books with titles included are all books that look forward, suggesting research, learning, hobbies, and fun. The yellow is representative of the area of the Army that he served, and also the a wall covering with Bee's buzzing, bee's are all about pollinating new ideas in places where they didn't perhaps exist before. 

The globe with the blue jay is a reminder of his college, as are some of the books in the bookcase. There are plenty of books available without titles that could have titles embroidered on, should someone decide to do so. It's slightly smaller than many of the Quilts of Valor I have made, which are the largest size allowed. This is the mid-size or 'recommended size' of QOV's. 

I made the books as blocks, and then added the shelves. I spent a lot of time ripping out ad starting over. Building out from the actual book shelf, I finished it with an Army fabric. Of course, his name, the quilt name and all the information I include on the quilt is on the binding. The back is not as smooth as I like, because of the way the quilt was built on it.

Making Book Strips to create Quilt Blocks