Fourth of July 2014

Independence Day is one of our favorite holidays, with its festive red, white, and blue colors, parades, picnics, and evening fireworks underneath the summer sky. Here's a fabulous flag quilt in honor of this celebration. Happy 4th of July, everyone !

One Nation Under God by Janice Jones. Quilted by Penny Allen

Janice writes, "Two design ideas developed into this quilt: the Feathered Star center (from a class by Jean Biddick) and a patriotic quilt that contained 50 stars [for each of the 50 states].  Traditional and paper piecing  (small stars and log cabins) were used in this original design." We  love the vibrant contrasts of this patriotic quilt from the 2014 Tucson Quilt Fiesta in Arizona.

Close- up, One Nation Under God by Janice Jones

Janice's feathered star has five borders surrounding it. The innermost solid red border works as a great background for Penny Allen's quilting design of elegant scrollwork. The checkerboard and star borders provide a symmetrical, geometric motif which enhances the star itself. We especially like the angled red and white pattern of the outer border, which reminds us of the flag waving in the wind. This border gives an imaginative sense of movement to this design.

Close- up of quilting, One Nation Under God by Janice Jones

Each tiny red square in the checkerboard border was quilted to look like a cathedral window. Notice that the blue checkerboard squares have a variety of prints on them, which lends a vintage, scrap-quilt look to Janice's work.
If you'd like to make your own feathered star design, here's a feathered star variation that is a free pattern from Fons and Porter as of this date.  We hope that your quilt turns out just as gorgeous as the one above !

Image credits: Photos were taken by Quilt Inspiration.