My Patriotic Quilt (Quilt #6 for 2026)

You may remember that I wanted to make a Patriotic Quilt this year to celebrate our country's 250th birthday.  I started this quilt on June 3 and finished it up this week, just in time for the 4th of July!

The pattern that I picked out was Stardust, a free pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop.  It was easy to follow and fun to make.

Some of the fabrics are from the Old Glory fabric line by Lella Boutique.  I especially love the red one with the flowers.  :)

Thankfully I have some fabrics left over to make another project.  Isn't that the story of my life?  I might made another quilt with some of the same colors to coordinate with this one.

I had seen this line of fabrics on Facebook and wanted to get some of these for my quilt. While I was on my Shop Hop, I happily found some of them at a local store.  I added in a couple of other colors to complete the look that I was going for.

Starting out, I found the pattern easy to make, as long as you label the squares!  Most of the quilt is made with half-square triangles and whole squares, in all different sizes.  Thankfully I had a new set of Alpha Clippies to help me out.  

Here is a pic of the starburst before I put on the border.  You can see the size of it with my chair in the photo.  I think it's about 60" square, which makes a nice throw.

In this photo I am free motion quilting it on my sit-down longarm.  Because it wasn't too big, I finished it in a couple of days.  

The color of the medium blue is more to it's true color in this photo.  I made a quick journey to Hobby Lobby and found a very nice dark blue fabric with ships on it for the back.  

All in all, it turned out so nicely.  And it's actually done - yay!

 

Valley in Bloom

I thought that our current Stampin Up catalog is one of the best that I have seen.  On page 22, there is a beautiful stamp set with papers that highlight the lily of the valley.  I had a great time playing around with this suite and made 6 pretty cards.

For my first card, I cut into a sheet of the designer paper, which is so amazing.  The rest of the card is just cut outs from the set.  I brushed a little bit of teal onto the white flowers to give them some dimension.  I got the idea for this card from Mary Deatherage.

My next card idea is from Angela Meiritz Reid.  I love the teal colored designer paper in this pack.  This is a simple and beautiful card.  For the background I used an older die called Stitched Greenery.  I like the look of it on this card.

 

The next two cards I call the "twins."  They are mirror image cards made with a sheet of designer paper that you punch a circle hole in the center and then slice it down the middle.  Keep one half for one card, and the other half for the second card.  Cute, right?  I got the idea from someone but can't find her post.

This yellow paper also comes in the designer pack.  I love this card.  It might be the black frame around the scalloped square that ties it all together.  And the little lily of the valley image is just the right size to be placed in a shaped focal point.  I could make this card all day.

Last is this sweet pink and green card.  I die cut a circle in the white cardstock and adhered it using dimensionals to give the front of the card a lift.  I love the cut out leaves and the simplicity of this card.  I saw the idea on Facebook from Laura Seki.

I'm so glad that I got this set.  It makes simple, easy and beautiful cards.  What do you think?

 

More Waterside Cards, Please

After making the three cards from the last post using Waterside Retreat designer papers, I just couldn't stop using the beautiful papers to make more cards.  The beautiful images were calling to me from my stamping room (Craft room #1).  

For this card, I started with Pebbled Path cardstock and added the dock scene to my card along with some cut out oars and life jacket.  For embellishment, I put a small banner and button on the top and added a srtip of Just Jade fancy cut out that was sitting on my desk.  

The little seagulls are stamped in the sky to make the scene come alive.  This card can be used for birthday, Father's Day or any special day that you feel like sending someone a card.

The next card is a trip to the ice cream shop along the boardwalk.  Sit for a bit sipping some coffee and enjoying your ice cream.  The Relaxing Waterside coordinating stamp set has the chair and cup image in it that I fussy cut and added to the card.   I put another small banner and the loose anchor trinket to the top of the card.  Copper Clay is the background cardstock and it just ties right in with the ice cream sign.

The next card takes you back to the cabin along with an Adirondack chair and some oar and life jacket cut outs.  I embossed Happy Birthday in white powders and added some late afternoon seagulls to the sky.  

What an amazing set of products to work with!  I just want to make more.  :)

 

Waterside Retreat

I have to say that Waterside Retreat is my favorite product page from the May catalog!  It comes with 2 pages of watercolored landscape images that you can cut out and use for your cards.  This first card has a beautiful boat scene and I used Peaceful Pine and Misty Moonlight cardstock and colors to go with it.  

The paper pack also has papers with images of oars, life jackets, fish and boat buoys that are just adorable.  The papers can be used for both masculine and feminine cards, and especially for anyone that loves being at the lake.

For this card, I started with Misty Moonlight cardstock and added the beach scene.  The fence posts are from On the Horizon die set and I think they really add to the card.  I used some little pebble embellishments in the sand.  It's completed with the oars and Father's Day saying.

This third card has some wave paper for the background.  I added two of the scenes from the designer papers, some buoys and a loose anchor trinket to the card.  In the background is a sea net cut out from the Sunset Coast.  I love the peaceful blue colors to this card.  

Don't these cards make you want to take a day trip to the lake?  Sea shells, sailboats, a walk on the beach and a ride in the rowboat.  Mmm, great summer cards.  

 

Patriotic Quilt

So what do I sew next?  I've been wanted to make a patriotic quilt to celebrate our country's 250th birthday.  I chose the free pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop called Stardust.  It looks pretty easy and hopefully I can get it made before July 4th.  

These are the pretty colors that I picked out for my quilt.  They are from the Old Glory collection from Lella Boutique and they're exactly what I wanted.  I found them while on the Shop Hop last month at a local store.  

The quilt should finish about 60x70 inches.  I plan to use it as a throw in my family room.

I started it two days ago and this is what I have so far.  I think with adding the other colors, it will turn out so beautiful.  I'm off to do some more sewing...

I'll keep you posted.

 

Geese in Flying Colors

Every year my quilt guild has a themed challenge for the members to make.  This year was Revolution in Color and the quilt could be displayed for our local quilt show in April and also voted on in our guild meeting in June.  

I wanted to make a quilt with "flying geese" going in a circle and then more geese flying the opposite way in the outer border.  Flying Geese is a quilting term referring to triangles that look like geese that are flying.

I started by making some "geese" in different colors and then found a pattern on how to make them fly in a circle.  I pulled some different colors from the fabrics that I had bought last year on the Shop Hop and somehow they worked for the different colors.

For the middle square, I wasn't sure what color to use.  I tried many different colors, but ended up using white to make the gray star stand out better.

Here are my geese flying in a circle!  I was happy with how it looked.

Somehow the flying geese colors worked out so well that they also fit along the sides of the next border.  I made some little sawtooth stars to fit into the corners and love how it all came together.

At first I quilted 1/4" lines in the large center star and in each of the flying geese triangles.  But them I thought that it needed more quilting in the center.

Then I had to put more quilting in the outer white areas and then more quilting in the white areas around the geese border and finally, more quilting in the gray border.

I had wanted to enter my quilt in my local quilt guild show, but I was sick for 3 months at the start of this year and couldn't do any sewing.  So I decided to make my wall hanging for the June meeting and started and completed the entire project in just 30 days!  

I brought my entry to the June meeting and won 1st place from the members' votes.  I'm so proud of my quilt and the fact that it came out what I dreamed it to be and that I actually finished it in time.  

I'm calling it Geese in Flying Colors.  I will definitely keep it and hang it somewhere in my home.

 

Re-Purposing Old Quilts

I've got a couple of old quilts that I use to cut up and make things from.  I've bought them from vintage and antique fairs.  Although I have made some of the quilted hearts before, I love to keep making them.  They're fun and easy to make.  

The large hearts are about 9" and the small ones are around 5" big.  I like to sew vintage buttons onto them to go along with the vintage theme.  They look good in a basket or bowl paired with old lace or can be used to sit on a shelf for a decor piece.  

Each cut from the quilt gives a different look to the heart.  Of course, I don't know who made these quilts in days past, but it's kind of fun to see them being made into new projects instead of getting thrown away.  

Someday I want to make a coat from one.  It's a trendy thing right now and lots of my quilty friends have made them.  Hopefully one day soon.