My Stars

I always seem to go off on a tangent. This time I saw a Quilt for Valor pattern and fell in love with it. It is a simple pattern of stars and bars - sort of like a flag but different enough so that is is not just like a flag.
Here's the link for more information on quilts of valor http://www.qovf.org/; basically they are quilts given to service men and women as a way quilters have of expressing our thanks for their service.

Here's the quilt I fell in love with:



It is a simple pattern but with most quilts there is a lot of sewing involved. I spent the first weekend measuring and cutting the blocks - not the whole weekend but that's all I got accomplished.

Next time working on the quilt I spent making all the half-square triangles needed for the stars. I decided to make 14 star blocks so that's 112 half-square triangles. I also need 8 blocks for the center of the star and 4 more for the edges so 64 more squares.



Here's the pieces:

Sew the blocks together - I'm not going to go into too much detail about that part. You can probably figure it out by looking at the picture.

Then sew the rolls together and Voila! Star block, the total size of the block is 16 1/2 inches. Just 13 more to go, then I get to work on the strips. I need to figure out what size to cut 8 strips taking into consideration 1/4 inch sewing allowance and making them all even so that the final block is 16 1/2 inches.

UPDATE 

Well I have finished piecing the top, but with a couple of changes. By the time I finished piecing I realized how really large the top was and I was worried that if I added any more to it I would not be able to quilt it. At this point I have not decided to remove a row or two and add the borders like the sample or leave it as it. I'll have to live with it for a week or two. Which needless to say means that it will not be finished for July. Here's what I have so far, what do you think?