Potholder Quilt Progress

 Progress has been slow on the potholder quilt this week, due to me having a mild case of the flu.  I felt like I just had a cold last Sunday, and was able to finish making, quilting, and binding all the blocks.  It got worse all week til yesterday, when I started finally feeling better.  I'm still taking it easy today.
I'm at the point of hand sewing the rows together.  I have six of the eight rows sewn together as of this morning.  Once I finish the other two rows I'll start sewing the rows to each other.  When that's done, that's it!  The sewing will be done!
If you're wondering about that weird roll of brown thread, I'm using up some thread that had a serious problem--the spool broke apart, I have no idea why.  I've been saving it for hand sewing.
Here are the finished rows, laid out on the floor.  It's not going to be a very big quilt.  There are no borders, of course, and the blocks are about 9" finished.

You can see I still have the row markers pinned to the first block in each row.  You can also see that I have used two fabrics for binding.  I ran out of the first one, and just used another from my stash.  This is what the ladies would have done during the Civil War (and even during the Depression).  "Use what you have" wasn't just a good idea, it was a way of life.
The last detail of this quilt will be the inscriptions I will write in the center of each block.  I'm doing research now, and thinking about what I want.  Here's my idea for the first block:
This quilt is dedicated to the memory of the loyal hearts that saved the Union.
Overall, I'm happy with this quilt, although I've learned that I never want to go into the potholder making business.  The chain stitching worked well, no problems, and of course the Davis VF made the quilting and all that binding lay flat.  There's quite a lot of hand sewing, which I don't mind at all, especially as I recover from being sick.
I think I'll actually enter this quilt in the Sun Prairie show, instead of the Debbie's Challenge.  Debbie isn't finished yet, and we have this idea of them hanging side by side. (Hi Debbie!)
What are you working on?