Throwback Thursday: Let's See It for the Red, White and Blue

I didn't have a problem choosing a topic for my July Throwback Thursday post hosted by Sandra of mmm Quilts.  For me, July is the month for Red, White and Blue and I have plenty of quilts made with these colors which also happens to be the colors of my family room.  I almost gave my Hubby, a.k.a the Master Quilt Holder, a heart attack when I mentioned that I needed to take a photo of each of the seventeen quilts individually in this photo but I only said that in my continuous and relentless campaign to get a clothes line in the backyard.  As you can see in my photo, I have two piles: the ones on the chair are what I consider Patriotic Quilts which were made with the many wonderful patriotic fabrics designed after 9/11 and the red and blue quilts on the floor which has floral prints designed by Jan Patek and Barbara Brackman.  I can honestly say that ever since I started quilting over twenty years ago, I've made red, white and blue quilts.

It was really hot on Wednesday, so taking photos of each of the quilts was out of the question.  It just was exhausting to round up all of the quilts together for the group shot in the hot screen room and I did not include the ones hanging on the wall. If I could be granted one magical blogging power, it would be to twitch my nose and have all my quilts laid out, perfectly photographed and then the quilts and furniture moved back.  Since I don't have magic on my side, I'm only going to post a photo of these two quilt blocks, one embroidered and the other foundation pieced which is something I still don't do very much of being the strips and squares quilter that I am.  I love the doggy star.

And speaking of strips and squares (almost), I wanted to share the story behind this Scrappy Flag Quilt made over fifteen years ago.  I made this quilt when I was working at our local quilt shop and this pattern was brought to our attention at the weekly Show and Tell by a customer who saw it on the then Worldwide Web.  The 9" (finished) flag blocks were made through an exchange of patches, four of them consisting of one 3-1/2" x 5" blue rectangle and three red and white rail fence blocks of varying sizes and layouts.

Here is the pattern, based on my quilt, which I've drawn on graph paper and, yes, I still need to get EQ back on my computer.  The one thing not noted on this pattern is there are two layouts for the blocks, one with the blue rectangle on the upper left corner, which is the traditional flag layout and one with the blue rectangle in the upper right corner as you can see the two block layouts in the quilt.  Depending on the size you want to make your quilt will determine how many of each layout you need to make.  

We did a patch exchange amongst the staff and customers and to the best of my recollection there was no set amount to make, just that you have to have equal number of patches and you got to pick as many patches as you made.  I remember the tables which were set up in the basement of the shop with all of the patches laid out and how fun it was to see all of the different fabrics used.  Of course, it was quite daring or fun back then for Lynn, the quilt shop owner, to use fuchsia in some of her rail fence patches (see arrow on the left photo) for a color pop.  I guess we could have exchanged flag blocks but it wouldn't have been as much fun putting together your own combinations.  If I were to make another Flag quilt, I would use the same fabric or the same tone, like a beige or gold for the bottom 2.5" strip in Patch D to give a more defined zig zag line in the quilt.

Here's a photo of the Star Spangle backing fabric, which I still have some in my stash, and the wonderful Star longarm quilting done either by Marcia or Sue.

I don't participate in any online block or fabric exchanges now but am wondering if a scrappy flag would be a fun exchange.  I still have a lot of patriotic fabrics in my stash and still have some small wallhangings which this post is reminding me that still need to be quilted.  I made this door hanging several years ago and included lime green and aqua, colors I thought were fun when I first started seeing them in modern flag quilts several years ago. As much as I love adding these fun colors to the mix, red, white and blue quilts will always hold a special place in my heart and home.

Linking up with mmm quilts' Throwback Thursday