Hello! :)
Welcome to day 14 of the "Celebrate Red White and Blue Blog Hop"! There are only a couple more days left. Have you been hopping around and looking at all the fabulous blocks? I have. They're awesome! :) You can go here to find the entire schedule and links to the hop so you can start at the beginning. Don't miss out!
Here's Today's Hopping Schedule . . .
Thanks so much for stopping by today to view my blocks. At first I thought I'd come up with 3 blocks and then put a table runner together in the end to tie them all together. Then I thought that I'd just make a bunch of blocks. Then I was thinking about what patterns I should use. After looking through some ideas I decided to just wing it. I hope you won't be disappointed. I actually came up with six 12-1/2" blocks. I took pictures of all of them outside and inside so there will be 2 pictures of each block. I hope you will like what you see! :)
My first block came about by chance. I've been doing a lot of cross stitch lately. I actually made this one design for a swap. I liked it so much I made another for me. I used a different fabric then normal so it turned out bigger than I wanted. I decided to put it aside and made a third one for myself. I looked at the discarded piece and thought what should I do with this? Then it hit me. I'll use it in one of my Red, White and Blue blocks! Yes! That's it! Here it is . . .
Cross stitch and quilting combined! I echoed the cross stitch piece with fabrics from my stash. I think they accent it nicely! Here's another look . . .
A funny thing happened while I was working on this block. (Actually it wasn't quite so funny at the time.) I figured out the measurements for the stripes and began sewing strips together. Then I realized I'd forgotten to account for the 1/4" seam on both sides. Uggghhh! (This is something I do quite often.) So frustrated but eager to keep going I put it aside and cut new strips and started over. Then when I got to the center stripes I mismeasured again and sewed too many stripes together. Instead of picking it apart I sat it aside again, cut more strips and continued on. This time I got it right! Third time's a charm! :)
What did I do with the all those strips I had already sewn together? I made two other blocks with them. :) Waste not, want not I always say! ;) (Plus I hate ripping out seams!) With the first of the two
mistake strip blocks I appliqued some blue stars. I decided to blanket stitch around them in a golden yellow perle cotton thread. Another block finished.
Yea! Simple but sweet. The closer photo isn't really a good one (sorry).
Here's the other block I made with the
mistake strip blocks.
This time I didn't have as many stripes to work with so I added a blue field and two appliqued stars with a patriotic eagle print fabric. I
blanket stitched around these in a golden yellow perle cotton thread as well.
There are the first three blocks! All similar but different. Made by accident or was it fate? Hummmm . . . ;)
The next block is my favorite.
I had some beautiful vintage inspired fabric. I didn't want to distract from it's beauty so I just accented it with some stars and stripes. It needed a little something more. Hummmm.... I found some cool ribbon I had in my stash. It was perfect! Very simple and sweet! :)
4 down . . . 2 more to show. ;) The next block is a basic log cabin with a historical fabric as the centerpiece.
I used lots of patriotic fabrics from my stash to complete this block.
Last but not least . . .
I'm not sure what this block is called. Is it a pinwheel? Is it a star? It's definitely red, white, blue and patriotic! :) The center fabric is my favorite find this year. It reminds me of the peace and love of the '60s. The other fabrics are favorites as well.
Well that's it! 6 red, white, blue patriotic blocks. What am I going to do with them? I'm going to make up a few more and combine them all into a throw quilt for me and the hunky dude. I'd eventually love to have one for every holiday and/or season.
Thank you so much for visiting me and viewing my blocks! I hope you liked them! :) Thanks
Jane and
Madame Samm for hosting! It's been fun! Don't forget to
check out all the other wonderful blocks! :)
Also before you go . . . since I finished these up on Friday these blocks will be my submission for the Friday Night Sew-In.
Heidi and her cousin
Bobbi host this monthly event. It's always fun to get together online with women from all over the world and sew on the same night of the month. :)
Until next time . . .
