LONG MAY SHE WAVE QUILT
This quilt, Long May She Wave, started out several years ago with the purchase of the directions and 4 screen printed old patriotic (fabric) postcards.
I wanted to make a patriotic wall hanging that did not require a whole lot of work or time. Good intentions, right?
After buying, I brought the packet home, found coordinating fabric to use, and promptly lost the package. It has not to be seen for several years despite looking all over for it.
This week I found the packet rolled up in another project! I stopped what I was doing quilt project wise and made the wall hanging. It is a good idea before the packet got lost again.
I read the directions and made an “executive” decision to not follow the them but just do it my own way. It was a measure and cut as-I-went thing to make it my own quilt.
The machine quilting is simply straight lines in strategic places in the blocks. These lines are done freehand and aren’t always as straight as they could be. I quilted it in about an hour.
I am happy with how the wall hanging, Long May She Wave, turned out. The binding is not done yet so there is still a little work to do on it, but I am happy with how it turned out.
Moral of the story……
I work in a job that requires following the rules and regulations, but when it is time to quilt…well, I rarely follow the directions closely. I look at a pattern and think how I would like to make it.
That being said, each quilt is its’ own creation. Obviously sewing rules need to be followed (machine tension is correct, seams are lined up and sewn right, points match, etc) but that does not mean that you can’t move things around. Or eliminate or add something. Quilting should be fun, so make the quilt your own.
Other ideas for patriotic quilts:
https://indianaquilter40.com/prayerful-leader-a-george-washington-quilt/
https://indianaquilter40.blogspot.com/2011/07/founding-father.html
PLEASE NOTE:
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.
4 thoughts on “LONG MAY SHE WAVE QUILT”
Thanks for sharing the great idea for these postcard kits. I get bogged down in the directions and then the project ends up in the UFO pile, and it may never get done. I have two in parts and am going to pull them out of the stack and re-think how I want to do them so they will be complete. You are so right, quilts we make should be ours, and that may be different than the directions.
So glad you are inspired to complete your postcard quilt projects. Sometimes the directions are hard or what we want the finished item to look like just changes over time. I think quilts should be made to reflect your own tastes and style. May your quilts your own. Happy quilting.
I have seen kits like this in quilt shops but never bought one. I usually don’t like the way the “postcards” are set into the quilt. Leave it to you to come up with your own solution for making it how you like. The next time I see these, I will only look at the “postcards” and will get one that I like. I will come up with my own way to put the top together. Thank you for inspiring this old quilter to “color outside the lines”.
When it comes to quilt kits, sometimes it is best to have tunnel vision and just see the part you really like. We need to make the quilts we make “ours”. Happy quilting.