Badass quilt for a badass brother

Jessica and I took on the task of making a new quilt for my brother Ron while he was in Afghanistan this year. On one of his previous deployments, maybe in Somalia, his quilt from my grandma was actually stolen while on his naval ship! My grandma makes a quilt for each of her grandchildren when they graduate from high school. Grandma made Ron's Milky Way pattern quilt in shades of blue, including navy, since he planned to enlist in the Navy. Here is a picture of Ron, mom and the quilt in 1997:

Jessica and I decided to take a more modern approach to the new quilt while also incorporating the friendship stars and some of the colors of Ron's original quilt. Jessica found a great way to lay out the stars at Fresh Lemon Quilts. We chose two batik black fabrics, a blue batik, solid gray and small scraps of Alexander Henry Regent Skull fabric left over from when she made Ivan's quilt.

Laying out the quilt was tricky and blocks couldn't easily be pieced ahead of time. Jessica and I pulled an all-nighter the Friday before our quilting appt and finished the quilt. Jessica sewed all of the tiny pieces together while I pieced the back with a couple patches of stars. Some progress photos:

Horizontal quilting is owning me right now - I love it so much! It turned out to be perfect for this quilt.

 Jessican and me with the finished quilt