Thursday, October 31, 2013

Stars and Stripes Quilt

"Ohhhh....say can you see....."


 In unison ".....by the dawn's early light..."


Yes. No need to ask.  I love this quilt!


  I bought the Hexa go-go book last year and I cannot express my love enough for this book and quilt. It turned out to be better than I imagined!


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I started prepping my hexies at the end of December and had them all finished by the end of January.

The next months consisted of laying out


and hand piecing the blue section and rows together. 


I decided to cut out all fifty stars and raw applique them. I had attempted a few hand embroidered stars but didn't like the direction they were going. 


It was at this point when I appliqued the hexie rows on the backgrounds, that my plans for a Fourth of July throw changed a significant direction.  What I imagined to be a large throw became more.


 It was then, that my darling husband suggested that I hang it in the newly painted/rearranged game room. The boys have sports pennants, posters, and paraphernalia galore in the room.
 Doesn't a flag seem fitting? The one thing ALL the sports have in common?

When I had the "throw" mindset, I was going to skip the pieced borders.


I am SO glad I didn't. 
Love all my neutral "black and white" bits!  Memoirs fabric scraps?  Can I have more please?

I love this bit with the word ducklings, because I have always called my boys ducklings when we go out en mass to the store or zoo.  "Make way for ducklings!" 

The tiny blue paisley border?  A nod to our new home, Texas.


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The quilting. 


I originally thought I would quilt like the book. However, when I loaded it on my machine?
 It begged me to get a little daring. 

A wonky pattern back and forth frames the pebbled and curved frames for the wonky "bow tie" blocks.

A looped-y-loop pattern along the rows.


With reversed curves on the hexies themselves.

A reverse curved pattern around the stars.


Which resembles flowers on the back.

Meandering in blue variegated.   And yes.  That white in the middle does look a little "yellow".
 I ran out of Kona White scraps and popped a few Kona Snow hexies about!  I really like it!

The backing seems to have a way to enhance and hide the quilting on the back.
It's a cool French script by Tim Holtz.

It evokes thoughts of my favorite mini series, John Adams. He wrote his lovely Abigail frequently from Paris. Maybe in French?  If not, they were allies right?


And the binding.  I have had this red ticking in my stash and had just enough for this quilt.
 I liked that it was soft and didn't detract from the quilt itself.


I know I'm no Betsy Ross, but I am so happy to be able to have this hanging in my home, as soon as I get the sleeves in the next few days. I need hubby's help to hang it this weekend. It is QUITE heavy!

Oh, and other than the backing?
ALL SCRAPS and STASH I ALREADY HAD!!!!!!

"....and the la-a-nd of the free........"


God bless America!
(Had to share the blowing in the wind shot. I can't help myself!!)

Linking up to Bloggers Quilt Festival
(Category Wall Hanging) Entry #73
Voting begins today!


Blogger's Quilt Festival - AmysCreativeSide.com


Quilt Stats:
Measures 102" x 70"

Pattern: Stars and Stripes from Hexa go-go book
Fabrics:  Scraps, Kona White, Kona Snow, Kona Red
Pieced by:  Heidi Grohs @ Buttons and Butterflies
Quilted by: Heidi Grohs on Avante HQ 18" Longarm Machine


Thanks for stopping by, stick around. I have more quilts to come.
 Christmas is arriving and my WIP list is quite long!


****EDITED TO ADD:  
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT'S FINAL SPOT IN OUR HOUSE, YOU CAN SEE IT ON THIS POST.****

17 comments:

  1. Amazing! You must be so proud of this.

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  2. This is FABULOUS! I love it so much. And you quilting is inspired. Your machine is one smart cookie - daring you like that. ;) I just got this book for my birthday, I haven't made anything with Hexis before and am starting off with a supper small project - but this is a dream!
    - Katelyn @ Sing While Crafting

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  3. Everything about this is wonderful. I love the blowing in the wind shot. The fabrics are so perfect, and the design is so moving, just perfect for Veteran's Day coming up!

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  4. An absolutely fabulous job!!! Just love it. I have this book too ...it is beautiful. Good Luck. Thanks for sharing. Marie (mlismore@optusnet.com.au)

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  5. Definitely an amazing quilt. Lots of work and I love all the quilting variations.
    http://valspierssews.blogspot.com.au/

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  6. Bravo, Heidi! I'm amazed by the level of detail from the piecing right through to the quilting. I can see why you love it!

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  7. How cool to see this finished! So many hexies...

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  8. I can't say anything but AMAZING!!!!

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  9. Beautiful! Can't wait to see pictures of where you end up hanging it!

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  10. Yours turned out great! I'm making one as well, and have cast it aside because when I made the stars area, it was 1/2" too short all the way around even though I measured my hexies and they were the right size. After making 500+ hexies, I didn't really feel like making more to make the block the appropriate size. Did you have any problems with that?

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  11. I absolutely love, love, love this quilt. I really like the way you incorporated the written word fabric into the quilt. It gives it a great touch. I have the "Hexa Go Go" book too.

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  12. beautiful quilt! surely one to treasure! :)

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  13. This is absolutely beautiful. Took a long time though😬😬. Scares me that it would take so long to do this. I'm just learning how to quilt and I guess I'm gonna have to learn patience. Lol

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I cannot wait to hear what you have to say! Seriously! It makes my day!

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