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Stars, Stripes and Eagles Wall Quilt

This patriotic wall quilt is fun and easy, and can be put together in plenty of time for July 4th. We of course used red, white and blue fabrics, and one-color designs from the Stars, Stripes and Eagles Set.

The finished size is about 26" x 26".

You will need

embroidery thread (either polyester or rayon), in either red or blue,
light- to medium-weight cut-away stabilizer, or polyester craft felt (optional),
about 1/2 yard each of white, red and blue fabrics,
backing and batting.

Cutting:

Out of blue fabric, cut

12 squares measuring 2 1/2" x 2 1/2",
72 squares measuring 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" and
3-4 strips 2 1/2" wide and the length of the width of the fabric for the binding.

Out of the white fabric, cut

4 squares measuring 8 1/2" x 8 1/2",
8 strips measuring 2 1/2" x 8 1/2",
16 squares measuring 2 1/2" x 2 1/2".

Out of red fabric, cut 12 strips measuring 2 1/2" x 8 1/2"

Assembly of the Blocks:

Note: seam allowance is 1/4". Press every seam immediately after you make it.

Take 12 strips of the red fabric measuring 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" and 48 blue squares measuring 1 1/2" x 1 1/2". You will use these to make strips with blue corners.

Position a 1 1/2" blue square on one corner of a 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" strip. Draw a diagonal and stitch on the line. Trim seam allowance to 1/4", unfold and press. Repeat for all the corners of the strips. Make 12 strips in this way.

You will also need 12 white squares with two blue corners. To sew this unit, take 12 white 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" squares and 24 blue 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" squares.

Position a 1 1/2" square on one corner of a 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" ssquare. Draw a diagonal and stitch on the line. Trim seam allowance to 1/4", unfold and press. Repeat for the neigbouring corner of the square. Make 12 squares in this way.

Assembly of the Rows:

Sew two block rows as shown on the picture below: white 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" strip - red strip with blue corners - white 8 1/2" x 8 1/2" square - red strip with blue corners - white 8 1/2" x 8 1/2" square - redstrip with blue corners - white strip.

Assembly of the Sashing:

The first and last rows of the sashing are assembled as follows: white 2 1/2" square - white square with blue corners - white 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" strip - square with blue corners - white 2 1/2" x 8 1/2" strip - square with blue corners - white 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" square.

The three middle rows of the sashing are assembled as follows: white square with blue corners - blue 2 1/2" x 2 1/2" square - red strip with blue corners - blue square - red strip with blue corners - blue square - white square with blue corners.

Assembly of the Top:

Sew together the first and the second sashing rows as shown:

Sew the first block row to the lower edge of the sashing.

Sew the third sashing row to the lower edge of the block row.

Sew the second block row to the lower edge of the working piece.

Sew the fourth sashing row to the lower edge of the working piece.

Sew the fifth sashing row to the lower edge of the working piece.

Embroidery:

Stabilize the white squares with light- to medium-weight stabilizer. Alternatively , if you'd like a trapunto like look to the embroidery, stabilize with white polyester craft felt.

Upload the four files that you like best from the Stars and Eagles Set (they all work well) into your machine and embroider them in the white squares.

Remove the stabilizer. If you used felt, cut away the felt around the embroidery close to the stitches. This is what the back of the stitch-out will look like with felt cut away.

Quilting and Finishing:

Now place the backing on a flat surface (table) face down. Cover with batting. Spread your working piece over it.

Pin all three layers together with 1" pins and start quilting. We quilted in a free motion style around the embroidery and all over the quilt.

After the quilting is finished, press the work with heavy steam and square the work -- all corners should be 90 degrees and opposite sides should be of the same length.

Finish the raw edges with the binding.