Patriotic Archives : Indiana Quilter 40

VETERAN QUILTS FOR OUR PATRIOTS

American Flag and clouds for Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day. We probably all know at least one person who has served this country either as active duty, reservists, or as a loving spouse. Have you considered making one or many veteran quilts for our patriots? If not, please take a moment to think what a quilt means to you – it’s a kind of warm hug, right? Our service members would love to have that “hug” as well.

Ideas for places to take or send veteran quilts

There are several places to donate veteran quilts for our patriots. Please check the sites out, find the one that feels right to you, and follow the guidelines they have for the gift quilts if you are interested.

https://americanheroquilts.com/

https://www.quilting-tidbits.com/quilts-of-valor.html

https://www.quiltsofhonor.org/

Please don’t forget that local VFW posts might take quilts for their members, and local quilt guilds can also have members who head up quilts for veterans. Check around at local fabric shops or libraries for points of contact. Also local churches may know or participate in making veteran quilts. Many nursing homes have veterans as residents.

My personal journey with veteran quilts

I am extremely patriotic and have had exposure to military members and their families my entire life. They give an awful lot so I have the rights available to me to as an American.

I have donated many lap size quilts over the years to groups or churches who dealt directly with wounded or traumatized veterans. The need is great. Sometimes I worked on the quilts alone, sometimes as part of an informal group who wants to do more than just say “thank you” to veterans.

I do not have bragging rights because of helping with this worthy cause. It was within my skill and interest simply to do something.

Other people told others that I was involved in this and suddenly people starting donating fabrics and supplies. Many, many thanks to those who help by keeping me or us in supplies. Not all the fabric was patriotic themed, but all of it is used.

With the informal group, the lap “quilts” were crocheted, tied, machine quilted, and even sometimes hand quilted. We give them to local wounded vets, and I know of one woman who keeps several in her car to be given to those “old” men that are seen in caps that say “______ veteran”.

Sometimes I cut the pieces and hand those off to another quilter to piece. Or I tie the finished tops. I bind many that need it. All those involved worked around their own schedules. We only get together every 2 or 3 months for a work day together. Here are photos of a few simple veteran quilts that I have been involved with over the years:

Conclusion

Quilters tend to be very giving in mentoring new quilters, making quilts for local charity auctions and local victims of domestic abuse or house fires. Here is another idea for volunteering your time and talents by utilizing your quilting skills to make veteran quilts for our patriots. Think outside the box. Look around your community and see who would love to have quilt “hug”.

Thank a veteran today.

Happy Stitching.

PLEASE NOTE:
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE MY OWN UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

FREEDOM QUILT

Do you buy cheater blocks on a whim, and then just not know what to do with them? I sure do. I seem to collect them up for awhile and then try to figure out a fun, unique way to use them. That is how Freedom quilt came about.

I am very patriotic and tend to collect patriotic items and fabrics. When I pieced this quilt back in 1996 for my “AF brat” son, I decided the time had come to make something out of the patriotic cheater blocks.

It would also give me an excuse to utilize some of the blue and reds that were stacked in my sewing area.

There is no pattern to do a quilt like this, so you get to be super creative, and use a few of those rusty math skills.

Step 1

The first thing I did for this quilt (after gathering the fabric together) was to decide which cheater block to use for the center. In this case, I wanted to use the flag. It had some smaller patriotic blocks on the same panel that I cut off. I knew I needed a twin size quilt.

I figured that 3 rounds of 4″ wide fabric borders around the flag would make a nice center.

Step 2

The next cheater block I wanted to use was 4 blocks of flags with a border around them. I cut that panel of 4 in half. Now there were 2 sections of 2 flags each. I cut those sections apart and added the navy fabric with white stars.

Step 3

The final step for piecing was to add more 4″ wide strips to the sides of the 2 flags sections. Trimmed off the strips to the correct length.

The Freedom Quilt has 3 distinct sections when looked at. The top and bottom sections are 2 small flag cheater blocks and red/blue strips. The strips are sewn vertically.

The center section is distinct with the flag panel in the center and 3 rounds of strips around it.

Great the top was done. It got ironed and hung up with other tops that needed machine quilted. It would be a few years before I did any more with it.

This quilt was machine quilted by MG in 1999 in an all over “cloud” design. It was done in time to be a Christmas gift for the son.

Finished size was 66″ x 88″.

Wooden plaque with outline of US. Saying is Born and Raised.

I entered this quilt in the local county fair in 2001 and it won a blue ribbon. Not a big deal in the scheme of life, but fun and confidence building.

Finally

Please don’t be afraid to mix and match various items together to make the quilt you want. It is not about whether the “quilt police” like your quilt. You are making the quilt to suit a need you have.

It is just fine to make a quilt from an idea with no real pattern. Those patterns we use regularly started out as an idea. No better or worse than ours. The difference being that some patterns are for sale, while others are done simply for enjoyment.

Other ideas for patriotic quilts:

https://indianaquilter40.blogspot.com/2018/07/flags-teddy-bears-quilt-top-for-sale.html

https://indianaquilter40.com/long-may-she-wave-quilt/

http://quiltinspiration.blogspot.com/2014/05/free-pattern-day-patriotic-and-flag.html

Happy Stitching.

PLEASE NOTE:
ALL PHOTOS AND WRITTEN CONTENT ARE THE PROPERTY OF INDIANAQUILTER40 UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED.

AMERICAN MELTING POT

AMERICAN MELTING POT: No doubt you have done this too. Purchased some fabric because it really “spoke” to you, and then had to figure out a quilt to go with it. This is the story of the quilt that used this fabric of eagles and flags.

I pieced the top during 2008. The blocks are a mix of left over shapes of fabric, so there are both “strings” and “crumbs”. I pieced this to scrap paper for stability, then when I had a pile of them, wet down the paper to remove it from the back of the block. It is a pretty easy process.

Supplies for the top:

Fabric scraps of desired size and color.

Foundation for the fabric to be sewn to. It can be paper, or a lightweight sew in interfacing. A light weight fabric such as muslin or an old sheet also works well.

For step by step directions to make crumb blocks, click: https://indianaquilter40.com/happy-hibernation-quilt-or-using-those-crumbs-strips-part-2/

Borders and Finishing:

The alternate blocks are a dark red brick fabric. To me it represents all the legal immigrants over the years. It takes all of them to make up the wonderful American Melting Pot of this country – the USA.

Close up of American Melting Pot blocks.

The inside darker blue border and the binding are the same fabric. The blue is similar in shade to the blue in the American flag.

The outside border is the flag and eagle fabric that is a wonderful old fashioned looking patriotic fabric perfect for this quilt.

American Melting pot 2 borders — The two borders

The machine quilting was done in 2009 by RLM. It is a swirly design. I used a printed sheet for the backing.

American Melting Pot - view of backing and machine quilting — Backing and machine quilting design

I completed the binding and tag in 2010. The binding is machine sewn down on the front. Then I folded it over to the back, and hand sewed it down.

I think of the pieced blocks as “crazy” blocks because of all the various shapes of fabric in them. As I pieced American Melting Pot, I thought that these blocks are a lot like our country – lots of various people, languages, and cultures mixing together to make our great country.

American Melting Pot - backing and folded over front to show binding.

Our country is a country of immigrants and I am happy for any who choose to come here legally, work, and contribute to the USA.

Finished size is 72″ x 54″.

Help to make string or crumb quilts:

https://indianaquilter40.com/happy-hibernation-quilt-or using-those-crumbs-strips-part-2/

https://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/06/crumbs-crumbs-crumbs.html

https://newquilters.com/how-to-make-string-quilts/

PRAYERFUL LEADER (a George Washington Quilt)

Image of George Washington from $1 bill — Source: Shutterstock

This patriotic quilt started with one left over picture block of George Washington (who was known for being a prayerful leader) from another quilt and built out from there simply framing the center block with borders until it was the size I wanted for a large wall hanging for my living room. It can easily be adjusted to fit any size desired by simply shrinking or enlarging the border sizes.

Medallion quilt with George Washington in the center.

Super easy quilt to piece – I actually did it in a long day of sorting, cutting, and piecing. The center block can be any pretty or novelty fabric you want to frame so that it is a “medallion” quilt. Borders can be changed in size and number of them to make a quilt that fits your creativity and project.

Starting in the center, add the first border to the center block. I started by adding the side borders to the center block, ironing, and then adding the top and bottom borders for center block. I used this same method for all the borders.

Please note that the supply list is finished size once sewn.

Fabric supplies for quilt top:

Center block 12.5 ” x 13.5″
First border (on above the red and brown stripe) 1.5″
Second border 2.25″
Third border 3.25″
Fourth border 5.25″
Fifth border 5.25″
Sixth border 1.0″
Seventh border 5.5″

Since it was going to be machine quilted, I used a good quality polyester batting. It was quilted by RLM in a medium size stipple design.

The backing is 2 different toile fabrics I had on hand and a dark red/cream floral print that was aptly named “Martha Washington”. I pieced them together to make a big enough back. In this photo the hanging sleeve is still not sewn on.

Back of Prayerful Leader quilt - three different toile fabrics.

The binding is the “Martha Washington” print. I cut several 2.5″strips, sewed them together into one long strip. I ironed this strip in half (so 1.25″) and machine stitched the raw edge a quarter inch along the front of the quilt. The mitered corners are quite do-able with practice and a straight pin to hold the pleat where it needs to be. The binding is finished by pulling the binding over the back and whip stitching down.

Finished size is 60″ x 63″.

This quilt was pieced, machine quilted, and bound in June 2019. Currently, the tag (story of the quilt) for the back is done, but not sewn on.

Two other medallion style quilts featuring George Washington:

https://humblequilts.blogspot.com/2014/07/independence-day-in-usa.html

Medallion wall hanging of George Washington. — Source: Humble Quilts

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/651371

Another medallion quilt of George Washington. — Source: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA