HI Everyone!
Well, it's been a while since I blogged. So sorry. But I'm back...at least for a moment! (Please make sure you read to the end of the post for a giveaway opportunity!)
I was recently invited to participate in a blog hop with Paint Brush Studios fabric. I was really excited, because I love their solids.
I don't know if you have tried their solids yet, but if you haven't, you should! They have a very nice hand, kind of silky. I really like how they feel, cut, and sew. Therefore, I was delighted to participate in the blog hop.
These are the fabrics I received:
The colors are: French Blue, River, Patriot,Tomato, Claret, Crimson, and White.
Hmmm....so, now, what to make?
I have been working on trying to sew some of the patterns I already own or to sew from books I own. I recently purchased this book:
There are so many patterns in this book that I want to try, and they all pretty much use solids. If you are wanting to give solids a try, this would be a great source of inspiration for you.
Inside this book is this pattern:
The pattern is called Sweden, by Brigitte Heitland. I love it. I decided I would make a smaller version of this quilt with the fabrics Paint Brush Studios sent me. I decided I'd do all red stripes, but throw in a blue stripe in each block, placed randomly in the block somewhere.
And here is my completed quilt:
I'm calling it Modern Flags. I had a lot of fun piecing it. I quilted it with lots of straight lines in the white spaces. It was really hard to quilt long straight lines on my longarm. I started by by using my channel locks so my longarm would only move horizontally. This was great for making a perfectly straight line, but if your sewing wasn't perfectly straight (and believe it or not, mine wasn't...lol), it was very obvious. So, I switched to using rulers instead. I had a hard time keeping those straight, too. My ruler kept sliding on me. So, my lines are not perfectly straight or perfectly spaced. I just gave up on that and let it be very imperfect. I decided it looks okay, as long as you are riding by on a fast horse. LOL!
My neighbor was gracious enough to allow me to use her beautiful fences and chicken coop to do the photo shoot. I did a scrappy binding. It is mostly the darkest blue, but with shots of the medium red thrown in. In part, that was because I didn't have enough blue, but also because I wanted to have shots of red in the binding.
I am not sure if you can tell from the photo, but I joined the red binding to the blue with a straight seam rather than a diagonal seam, like you usually do when joining binding strips. I did that because I thought it would be more in keeping with all the other straight lines in the quilt. I thought a diagonal line would be very out-of-place on this quilt.
We share a driveway with our neighbors, and I love the bunting my neighbor hung on our gate. I had to get a photo of the quilt there, too. I'm using this quilt as a decoration right inside my front door. It gives a nice patriotic feel to the house as soon as folks walk in, which is great, because we have out-of-town guests arriving today for the holiday. We are so excited to see them.
I hope you like what I did! Thank you to Brigitte Heitland for writing such an awesome pattern, and thank you to Paint Brush Studios for allowing me to play with their fabrics. I just love them.
GIVEAWAY TIME!
This wouldn't be any fun without a giveaway, now, would it?! How would you like to win a set of 7 fat quarters from Paint Brush Studios? They have been so gracious to provide a set of these 7 fat quarters as a giveaway. If you'd like to win your own red, white, and blue fabrics to work with, please leave a comment here on my blog telling me what your favorite way to celebrate the 4th of July is. Leave your comment by midnight on July 6, 2017. I'll draw a name on Friday, July 7, 2017 and announce it here on my blog as well as on my Instagram account. (Check out my account....you'll find me @stephiepeterson. You don't have to follow me to win. I don't like giveaways that require that, myself. I only want you to follow me if you like what you see. If you do, I'd love it if you followed me.)
EDIT: THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THE WINNER WAS KATHY H! CONGRATULATIONS, KATHY! I'VE SENT YOU AN EMAIL. PLEASE SEND ME YOUR MAILING INFORMATION SO I CAN MAKE SURE YOUR PRIZE GETS SENT OUT TO YOU!
Good luck, and Happy 4th of July! I love America...I love all her strengths and warts alike. We live in a great country, and I'm proud to be an American!
Until next time,
Stephanie (AKA Mama Pea)
​
Small town celebration in Molalla Oregon
parade rodeo walks/runs swimming in the river and eating Marionberry Pie!! just like days of yore in mall towns all across America!!
Posted by: Marilynn | July 03, 2017 at 01:08 PM
July 4th is the day for a big family picnic. Lots of good food and relatives we don't see often enough.
Posted by: Lisa Marie | July 03, 2017 at 01:28 PM
I love your colour arrangement for the stripes on Modern Flags. Have a great July 4th!
Posted by: Linda Webster | July 03, 2017 at 01:31 PM
Thanks so much for the chance! We love to host a big 4th of July party at our home. We have a scavenger hunt, pot luck, weenie roast, water balloons, games, and end with a firework show my hubby puts on. It's really a great time. Happy 4th to you and yours!!
Posted by: Cindy | July 03, 2017 at 01:41 PM
I spend the afternoon and evening with friends who host an annual 4th of July picnic and barbecue. A great chance to see folks I don't ordinarily see and to meet new people who are coming for the first time. I've been participating in this tradition for well over a dozen years!
Posted by: Brenda | July 03, 2017 at 01:58 PM
We love to spend the morning watching our small town's 4th of July parade down Main Street!
Posted by: Jane | July 03, 2017 at 02:37 PM
It is really pretty!I like the solids with the stripes. I agree about the binding too!
My favorite way to celebrate the fourth is with my family in Utah at my grandma's house. She has a porch swing that we spend so much time on. The kids play all around the house and neighborhood. It's even more special because that's what I did when I was a kid.
Posted by: Anjeanette | July 03, 2017 at 02:47 PM
I love your flag quilt, it's really pretty! I'd love to win and make one of my own. Thank you for the giveaway! Happy 4th of July. Hugs,
Posted by: sandi | July 03, 2017 at 03:26 PM
No need to enter me, but I wanted to come on by and leave a compliment for your fabulous patriotic quilt! I love the stripes/bars and think it's perfect for this holiday. Thanks for such a fun project--Happy 4th of July!
Posted by: Elizabeth | July 03, 2017 at 03:39 PM
We have an afternoon picnic and watch fireworks in the evening.
Posted by: Vicki H | July 03, 2017 at 03:52 PM
The 4th finds us up north at the cabin. Lots of water fun, food and of course fireworks.
Posted by: Sandy K | July 03, 2017 at 03:53 PM
That looks fabulous and the setting for the photo shoot is perfect.
We always celebrate the 4th with a huge family gathering - my favorite thing to do.
Posted by: mary | July 03, 2017 at 04:21 PM
I love watching the fireworks. I usually have to work the day after, so nowadays I watch them on TV. When I was younger, we would take a quilt to the local park and watch them from there.
Posted by: Sandy A in St. Louis | July 03, 2017 at 05:20 PM
I love your quilt and the original one you used for inspiration. My favorite way to spend the 4th is to spend time with family and friends.
Posted by: Mary | July 03, 2017 at 06:22 PM
I love to go to small town celebrations, enjoy some good barbecue and sit with friends to watch fireworks! Love the quilt!
Posted by: Mary Lincoln | July 03, 2017 at 06:36 PM
We have a big family picnic with a big variety of food to go along with grilled burgers and hotdogs and homemade ice cream for a special dessert.
Posted by: Barb K. | July 03, 2017 at 06:38 PM
I like your R,W & B quilt. It's very modern and a great use of the fabric. Our favorite July 4th activity is watching fireworks in our city. This year the Air Force Band will do a concert on the Plaza prior to the Fireworks. We are attending with our granddaughter and her family.
Posted by: Judy Blauer | July 03, 2017 at 07:05 PM
Great quilt, Stephanie! I think it looks fantastic even while I'm sitting still! Hahaha. I hope you'll have a fun 4th of July!
Trying again, after reading the instructions...we hope to catch some fireworks, if the weather cooperates. Please delete my first comment.
Posted by: Amy DeCesare | July 03, 2017 at 07:29 PM
We usually celebrate with a picnic and viewing the local fireworks.
Posted by: Karen Addleman | July 03, 2017 at 07:57 PM
I like to watch the fireworks from a friend's deck and enjoy a good BBQ meal!
Posted by: Nicole Sender | July 03, 2017 at 08:11 PM
I don't need the fabric but I love your quilt. Happy 4 th We typically keep it chill on the 4 th with some fireworks in the evening.
Posted by: Stephanie | July 03, 2017 at 10:43 PM
I love our cookout with family and then fireworks at dark!! I think your quilt is awesome!!
Thank you.
Posted by: KathyCummings | July 04, 2017 at 03:37 AM
I love your patriotic quilt! My favorite way to celebrate the 4th is watching the fireworks on the beach in Ludington. I have memories of going there as a child with my parents, grand-parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins; and, now I get to share the tradition with my own children and grand-children. 😊
Posted by: Jeanine | July 04, 2017 at 08:18 AM
Grilling out and watching fireworks.
Thanks,
Peggy
Peggy_verdongibbs@att.net
Posted by: Peggy Gibbs | July 04, 2017 at 11:29 AM
I think this is my favorite quilt on this hop! Our favorite thing to do is to watch fireworks. We live in a town where people start setting them off on the first--so we watch them every night for several days. I love the family snuggles and the darkness of the sky with the fireworks going off. We also had a treat and had some family come for a bit so that has made it extra sweet.
Posted by: Chiska | July 04, 2017 at 01:18 PM