Old Glory Tutorial

After many requests for a pattern for my Old Glory quilt, I decided to put together a little tutorial for it.  Because structured improvisation is included in my book in great detail, I am only including basic instructions for the components and layout for the quilt using solid color representation for the blocks.  If you want to make this quilt using your scraps with improv as shown, check out my book, Stash Statement, for three different easy methods!

This quilt is actually pretty simple in its design.  It only uses two classic quilt blocks, the half square triangle (HST) and Sawtooth Star, plus squares.  It's not even constructed on-point!  What makes it so much fun is the scale of the quilt. The layout of these components creates a giant flag, and with the diagonal arrangement of the stars and stripes, it creates quite a striking result!

For this quilt, first you'll need to make your Sawtooth Star blocks.  These should measure 6.5" so they finish at six inches in the quilt.  I love the four-at-a-time method for HST, but if you prefer another method, feel free to modify the construction to suit your preferences.

Then, you'll need HST's and solid squares.  I've counted up the number of different combinations for you and included them in the graphic below.  Again, make sure your unfinished units measure 6.5" so they will finish at 6" in the quilt.  I used the four-at-a-time method, starting with 9.75" squares to make the HST's.

Once you have all of your components ready to go, just lay them out, and sew into rows!  The quilt is constructed in 12 rows with 10 blocks in each row, yielding a quilt that measures 60" x 72".  

It goes together easily, but it gives really big "bang for your buck."  I hope you try it, and if you haven't already, I hope you'll check out my book Stash Statement HERE!

The NEW Stash Statement actually has the full Old Glory pattern included!  Hope you enjoy it!  :)

Old Glory and NTT

Happy 4th of July to all of my friends in the USA!  I hope your day is filled with family, fun, and maybe even a few fireworks.  I showed a peek at my latest quilt on IG back in March, but for a handful of reasons, I never actually revealed the full finished quilt.  Well, I figured that Independence Day would be the perfect time to share it, and you can see why!

ps- with today's holiday, I'm posting NTT early, so I don't forget!

I had lots of fun digging into my red and dark blue scraps for this quilt, and I even borrowed some from a friend to make sure I had enough variety.  I love the variation in tones;  it adds so much depth to the quilt.

I also got a little more creative with the quilting on this one.  It was a bit more tedious than an allover design, but definitely worth it.  I quilted the stars with a very dense crosshatch, stippled the blue background, and then quilted organic waves in the stripes of the flag to give it rippling movement, as if waving in the breeze.  I used 50 wt. Aurifil #2024, #2260, and $2783 (White, Wine, and Medium Delft Blue) corresponding to each color, and the effect is so neat.

These denim blue and red prints are just perfect on the back.  They're not quite solid, but almost, which is a nice contrast to the scrappiness on the front of the quilt.  They allow the quilting to really show up.

I continued the thread colors onto the back, so that when the quilt is turned over, you can still see a shadow of the colors on the front (it is definitely more pronounced in person).

If you're a regular around here, you know that the technique of sewing scraps in this way is from my book, Stash Statement.  Just to be perfectly clear- though the book does give three methods for improv piecing, as well as twelve full quilt patterns in this style, this quilt isn't included in the book.  You can see all of the quilts included in Stash Statement HERE.

Included in the book or not, when I have an idea, sometimes I can't stop thinking about it until I make it a reality.  Creativity is like that sometimes.

Anyway, before we link up, take a look at some of the projects from last week that really caught my eye!  I'm loving this modern batik scrappy squares quilt by Sarah Goer Quilts-

I love this scrappy quilt by Something Rosemade.  Scraps with a black and white background and a green binding- how could I not love it?

These double wedding ring blocks by Patty at Elm Street Quilts are looking amazing!

Melanie at A Bit of Scrap Stuff shared this awesome Flamingo Fever quilt finish-

 And finally, you know I can't resist the color wash goodness of this Postcard From Sweden finish by Tanya Quilts in CO-

1. You can link finished projects or WIP's , but just keep it about quilting and sewing!

2. Link to your specific post (not to your home page!) to make it easier for others.

3. Please remember to spread the word and post my button or a text link.  

4. Spread the comment love far and wide!

5. Following me is not a requirement to link, but is so very appreciated!

*If you're new to the party, here's a helpful tip for linking up- select "Auto Crop"  when selecting your thumbnail photo.  For some reason, trying to crop your own image results in the dreaded "white question mark box," and we definitely want to see your awesome work!  :)

**Also, after you link up, be sure to visit my post HERE to check out the awesome 4th of July sales going on and enter the giveaway!

Quilt of Valor

I'm so excited that I get to share a quilt finish that has been months in the making, and has involved the efforts of several awesome ladies.

The members of my quilt guild (the Memphis Area Modern Quilt Guild) decided to channel our charitable quilting efforts into a couple of different areas this year.  One was that we made the decision to work together to make a Quilt of Valor, and I could not be prouder of the end result.

We are a very new guild, and very small (around ten members- but trying to grow!), but though we are few, we are very dedicated modern quilters.  We have wide variety of experience levels, and our guild members include several other bloggers that you probably know as well- Janet from Simply Pieced, Katelyn from Sing While Crafting, and Lori from Crossquilt.  Since we are so small and all have super busy lives outside of quilting, we wanted to be sure that we didn't bite off more than we could chew with a charity project.

We decided to work together to make a sampler quilt to accommodate everyone's fabric stash, sewing preferences, and experience levels.  We all agreed to use Kona White as our background (if any) so that the blocks had some continuity, and we divided up the quilting jobs as well.

We all contributed blocks, and Katelyn assembled the quilt top.  Janet put the backing together, and she and I basted it.  Then I quilted and bound it.  I just LOVE how it turned out!

The backing is Kona Navy with a fantastic patriotic text print, along with one orphan block.  Incidentally, this may be my favorite block in the entire quilt- but it is so hard to choose just one!  I quilted with white on the front and gray thread on the back so that it blended in just a little bit better with the dark backing.  The binding is Kona Rich Red, and frames the whole quilt beautifully.

I used my own labeling method, and left space to write in the recipient's name.  By the way, even though it looks crooked in this picture, I promise the writing is straight.  Just a funny camera angle, I guess.  I hope that the serviceman who receives it can feel the appreciation we have for him (or her!) in every single stitch.