Patriotic Modern Pattern Update 1

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Hello everyone,

This is the first in a series of blog posts inspired by requests from workshop and lecture attendees.  Some of you have seen and purchased a copy of my book, Patriotic Modern Quilts.  My sincere thank you for that!

These patterns are great for decorating for patriotic holidays here in the USA.  But some quilters have mentioned that they rarely (or never) make red/white/blue quilts.  So, I thought I would publish a series of Patriotic Modern Pattern Update posts showing some of these patterns in alternate colorways.  I hope these posts jump start your thinking about how to change a pattern with thoughtful fabric and color selection.

Strings & Stars #1

Strings & Stars #1 (page 21) comes in 2 quilt sizes and includes a layout for a table runner. Here’s the whole quilt:

 

The quilt is made with just two blocks: an 8 pointed star and a string half square triangle block.  Both blocks are simple paper piecing –it’s a perfect project for a confident paper piecing beginner.

In addition to showing these blocks in very different colors,  I’m also giving you an alternate layout for a table runner in this  post.

I decided to use the table runner so that you can see how the different colors might play out.

Here’s the original red, white, blue and gold colorway in the book.

Original patriotic colorway with layout in the book.
Here it is in a set of batiks in green, blues and yellows. I added another set of blocks to the original layout.
Some of us love purple and yellow!  This might be fun on a table or as a wall hanging in a child’s room.  [original layout from book]
Christmas Holiday colors anyone? In this case, the addition of these traditional Christmas prints moves the quilt away from the modern design aesthetic. There’s less contrast and the holly print is pretty but very old-school.  But you could easily change it up by using more modern prints or solids like these two examples below.
Modern colors AND I changed up the layout by adding more star blocks.
Here’s the full quilt in red, bright green, bright yellow and blue solids and tone-on-tones.  What a difference fabric choices can make!

Fabric and Block Requirements–Table Runner

The fabric requirements for the table runner as shown in the book are on page 28.  If you decide to make this alternate layout with more blocks, you can easily calculate how much fabric you will need.  For example, in the alternate layout shown in this post, there are 6 string blocks and 6 star blocks.   To make this new layout, you will need:

  • 1/4 yard yellow
  • 1/2 yard blue
  • 1/2 yard red
  • 3/4 yard green

Have fun experimenting with this pattern in lots of different colors to suit your mood.

1 thought on “Patriotic Modern Pattern Update 1”

  1. Kathleen McCormick

    I always find it interesting that people have difficulty with that part of quilting – imagining things in other colors. I sure do love the colorways you showed and love virtually making a number of quilts!

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