Stars and Stripes - Quilt #14
A Stars and Stripes quilt. This quilt was a really fun one to make!
Spring 2019. A quilt along was being hosted on Instagram to make a Stars and Stripes quilt. I had heard of quilt alongs before, but had never participated in one. Working full time means that quilting deadlines can be challenging to hit. I knew this was a quilt I wanted to make one day - I had even bought the perfect backing fabric already - so when this quilt along was announced, I thought maybe this was one I could participate in and keep up with. It seemed like the quilt would go together pretty quickly and it would be perfect for summer! With those two things in mind, I ordered a quilt kit and was so excited to join in the quilt along!
Isn’t that backing fabric amazing? I’m pretty sure I want a quilt for every holiday with Snoopy fabric!
Some of the fabrics for the quilt top are from the Vintage Holiday line by Bonnie and Camille. I love that because I love Christmas in July! See those snowflakes?
One of the great things about this quilt is that everything is very neat and orderly. I didn’t want to have worked hard on this quilt only to end up with misaligned rows!
After having to undo an entire row because the flags didn't line up with the row before it, I came up with a great way to make sure my flags aligned row to row and I want to share it with anyone who may be working on this quilt struggling to line-up their rows.
This is for after you've completed the rows and you're ready to sew the long sashing strips to the rows and sew the rows together. I added sashing strips to the top of the flag rows first.
Start out by lining up a ruler with the edge of the sashing on the side of a flag. You want to mark the top edge of your row (on the sashing) with where the edge of the flag is. Do this for all of the flags in the row. Now there is a visual reference for where the flags from the next row are supposed to line up. Align the seams of the flag/sashing with the marks you just made. I put pins on either side of the mark to keep everything in place. I don't take out the second pin until I've sewed the place where the first one was. Also, start your pinning at the sashing between the flags first. Work from the center out and do the edges last. Doing it this way, I was able to ease in any little bit of fullness and all my flags aligned!
The quilt along went really well and was a lot of fun to participate in! I managed to keep up with the assigned work for each week and even sent it to a quilter before the quilt along was over!
The binding of the quilt is a great red stripe! It’s from the Smitten line by Bonnie and Camille and it’s one of my favorite parts of the whole quilt!
After finishing this quilt, I took it on a beach trip thinking I’d be able to get some great photos! I took it to a lighthouse and couldn’t have been happier with the final photos!
I’m already planning another Stars and Stripes quilt! It’s possible that I’ll like it better than my first, which is hard to image because I love this one!
Quilt finished June 14, 2019. Pattern: Stars and Stripes by Camille Roskelley of Thimble Blossoms. Fabrics for quilt top and binding: Bonnie and Camille Fabrics by Moda. Various lines including: Vintage Holiday, Smitten, The Good Life, and Little Snippets. Backing fabric: Snoopy Fireworks. Quilting is by Kaitlyn of Knot and Thread Designs. Pantograph: Wavy Lines.