FLAG AFGHAN

I got it in my head that I wanted a flag afghan to put out on my sun porch on and about patriotic holidays. I picked out a pattern from the Pamphlet "Red, White & Blue Afghans published by the American School of Needlework in 1991. I don't remember where I got it. I used Caron Simply Soft yarn in Celestial Blue, Garnet and Off White. The 50 stars were crocheted separately. I finished all the crocheting and then procrastinated quite a while on finishing it off. I finally got it out and set myself a deadline of getting it done by July 4, 2011. I got the loose ends all worked in and the blue square attached and still procrastinated. I couldn't make up my mind how to attach the starts. I thought and thought and thought and sought advice from the Crochet Partners group on Yahoo. July 4 had passed when I finally decided "Today's the day."  I got some Elmer's Fabric and Paper glue. I laid out the stars on the blue field as precisely as I could. I started in gluing them with a generous amount of glue on the first round of the stars. They dried and cured overnight. Surprise! They seemed very secure and just a little stiff. Then I started sewing down the points of the stars with matching off white yarn. I had only done a few when I began to wish that I had just glued them all the way down. But I finished the sewing. It looked great but there was a right side and a wrong side.  I took some pictures and posted them on Crochet Partners and Facebook. I got some very nice responses from family, friends, and fellow crocheters. It feels so good to have it done. It is draped over one of the wicker chairs on the sun porch and I think I'll leave it there until after Labor Day (September 5).