Stars and Stripes Quilts for July 4th

Happy July 4th!

I finished two Stars and Stripes quilts this week just in time for the holiday.

Pattern is by Thimble Blossoms.

Around the end of June last year, I went through my Island Batik fabric leftovers and I cut out some red and blue fabrics with the intension of finishing these before the 4th last year...

Fast forward one year and they are finally complete. I added a couple different blues I collected through out this year and am glad I did.  No two blue rectangles are the same in one quilt.

I was going to make both quilts using aqua sashing as shown in the pattern but changed my mind after seeing some others on Instagram. 

When I finished the top for the aqua sashing I had looked on Instagram for some quilting inspiration and saw several made with darker sashing.

Luckily I had just enough if the dark navy fabric for the second quilt, and was able to stick with all Island Batik fabric for both tops.

These were quick to sew up.  I pulled out what I had already cut on Monday and by Saturday morning I had both tops together, quilted, and bound.  I worked on them a few hours every night after dinner last week.  

Having the long arm sure helps.  I am so glad I have that.  It only took one and half hours to quilt each one.

For the backs I dug out some oldy but goody fabric.  I have been collecting fabric as long as I have been quilting  and these guys have been waiting their turn to be used up.  I now only have a few inches of each that will go in the scrap bin for something else.

I had intended to make one for me and one to give away, but as soon as this one was finished I felt like it needed to go to my neighbor, so she is now the new owner of this one.

This one I gave away at my family 4th of July party.  I had a jar of red white and blue M&Ms and who ever guessed closest to how many were in the jar won the quilt.  It was fun.  I have been asked to bring a quilt to giveaway at every family function now.  lol.  We shall see...

I still have some left over blue rectangles and red stripes, so maybe I will make one for myself to keep for next year.

Happy Quilting and Happy 4th!

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June Island Batik Challenge with Accuquilt

This month Island Batik Ambassadors were challenged to spread love and joy through quilting by creating and giving away a project using a Block on Board (BOB) die from Accuquilt  mixed with a block from the Accuquilt Cube Die Set.  

Gifting the quilt away was the easy part of the challenge.  Most of the quilts I make I usually give away.

I was talking to my nephew a couple weeks ago about this very subject.  He told me I should sell my quilts. I responded they are too expensive to sell so I just give them away. 

He stared at me confused and said, "That doesn't make sense, aren't you loosing money that way?"

I told him it is more fun to give them away to friends and family who will love them than to sell them.  He nodded and said, "That makes sense."  I will be passing this quilt on to a little friend.  

For this project I used the the new Island Batik fabric line called Forecast by Ebony Love of Love Bug Studios. It hit shops in May.

For this challenge I was sent the Arkansas Traveler BOB. It makes a 12 inch finished block.

The cube set makes 8 inch finished blocks.  Mixing an 8 inch block with a 12 inch block was the harder part of this challenge for me. 

My first thought was to make an 8 inch block and put a border around it to make it 12 inches, but I really wanted the block to meld into the Arkansas Traveler block so I kept thinking.

As I was thumbing through the book that comes with the cube set inspiration hit! I could take any of the blocks in the book set up as a four patch and insert more 4 inch sections to create a 12 inch finished block to go with the Arkansas Traveler block.

I settled on the Turnstile block with a plan to turn it into a 9 patch instead of a four patch.

I used the four original sections of  the Turnstile block for the outer corners. I used die #3 and die #4 in the cube set to make all these sections of the block.  The center hourglass block used die #4 as well. 

Four the triangle in a squares sections I used another die I had purchased muself. The 4 inch Triangle in a Square die. So other than the borders, this whole quilt was cut out with Accuquilt dies.

Everything sewed up super quick and lined up perfectly with the notches already cut out for me.

I used the last of the Hobbs polyester batting that came in my January box for a nice fluffy quilting look.

I quilted it using white Aurifil Thread and a  Schmetz 90/14 Quilting Needle.

Since this one will be used and washed a lot I did a quick all over meander.

The Arkansas Traveler Block

My newly created 12 inch finished block using the 8 inch cube die set.

When you place the two blocks next to each other they create a whole new look!

This quilt is like a big nine patch in itself.  The Arkansas Traveler block alternates with the new block in rows of 3 x 3.  It measures approximately 50 in square.

And another picture just for fun.

Happy Quilting!

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Unicorn One Block Wonder - Fairy Tale Blog Hop

 

Welcome to day two of the Fairy Tales Blog Hop hosted by Joan of Moose Stash Quilting.

Hopefully you are not sick of seeing One Block Wonders, this is my third post in a row with them, but I couldn't resist sewing this panel up for this hop.  Unicorns with beautiful colors and a castle glowing in the background... all kind of fairy tale goodness going on here.  

I got tired of flipping the ruler back and forth cutting one strip at a time into triangles, so I laid out all my strips and cut them one way then turned the ruler and went back and cut them all the other way.

Made it a wee bit quicker.

I saved the edges of each strip and sewed those together to create even more triangles.  

I had over 200 hexagons with the extras I pieced together.  I used all but one and a half.

I am loving the colors in some of these blocks!

They didn't all fit on the design board.  Had to squeeze everything in.

I love pressing the seams open.  Some people press them all one way and then swirl the center, which works too, but I really love this look!

So many fun hexagons in this one.  The panel was a wide one, a full 36 inches. 

I cut my strips at 3.25 inches.  With everything sewn together the top measures approximately 85 x 83 inches.  It's a biggie!

Check out the back with all those open seams!  Super cool. 
Next up for this one is to pick out some backing and get it quilted!

Make sure to keep hopping to see all the wonderful Fairy Tale inspiration today!

 Tuesday June 22

Quilted Delights (Me)

Stitchin at Home

Karrins Crazy World

 Quilting & Learning - What a Combo!

Sewing Up My Fabric

Selina Quilts

Cabbage One Block Wonder

 Another UFO off my list! Yay! 
I started this one in November of 2017 and finished at the beginning of June.

Several reasons kept this one a UFO for a while.  Of course I made other quilts in between for other people or occasions, but the first delay in this one was when I cut a whole in one of my triangles as I was trimming dog ears off one of my hexagons.... frustrated with that, it sat while I tried to figure out what to do to fix it.

The I realized I could fussy cut the same triangle out of the left over yardage I had.  So did that and it was on it's way to completion...  until it was time to pick the layout.

Picking the layout for this one took a while.  I couldn't find something I was really happy with. I went through several different versions letting them each sit on the design wall a couple days to see if I liked them.  I tried random all over, a swirly heart shaped heart with the pinks, a swoosh of yellow...

And finally settled on pink coming from the top left corner going to the center.  But I was one block short.  So it sat.  I tried cutting out a big hexagon from the print, but that didn't look right.  Then I saw  a tip online to use the left over edge pieces from the cut original strips and sew them together to make more triangles.  I did that and had my last hexagon.

Now that the layout chosen, I needed the perfect inner border fabric.

I took one of my half hexies with me to several quilt shops, but couldn't find anything that I liked.  So it the sat...



After several months, I finally found the perfect pink and white print online and ordered it.  I was back in business.  Until...

I couldn't find that half hexagon swatch I took to the store!  I looked everywhere: in my purse several times, all over the sewing room, every room in the house, all my jacket pockets, and in the car, but it was no where to be found.  I really didn't' know what to do now... so it sat.

I thought, maybe I will just leave it out. It was on the edge of the quilt, so it wouldn't draw too much attention, but deep down inside I wanted to have a full hexagon.  I had already convinced myself I didn't have enough yardage to fussy cut three more triangles, but decided to see if I could get at least one original triangle and two somewhat similar. When I finally pulled out my left over yardage, I found had enough to get three full triangles!  I was excited and could have kicked myself for not pulling out the original fabric sooner.  

I made that last half hexagon and didn't stop till this one was finished. I got the inner border sewed on and added the last of the original fabric for the outer border.

I had this lovely floral print in my stash with almost all the same colors of the cabbage fabric, just a little brighter, so it went on the back with some pink, green, and yellow.

I like the back just as much as the front, so bright and fun!

I am glad to call this one finished!  Now on to the next one!

Happy Quilting.

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