Flag Quilt Blocks on my Sewing Table

Time for another edition of "What's on my Sewing Table"! This week my sewing space looks like there was an explosion in a flag factory with red, white, and blue fabric everywhere! Partially inspired by Amy Chappell's fun flag mini quilts earlier this week, I'm working on two sets of flags at the moment - US Flag quilt blocks AND Union Jack flag quilt blocks. My US patriotism and anglophile enthusiasm are working harmoniously together.

Here's a little bit of a peek/preview of what's going on. (Don't let this picture fool you. The ~~mess~~ piles strategically cropped out of the picture paint a much more chaotic scene.)

I brought in all of the red, white, and blue bolts from all of my past collections to cut into and use. I love the way they all play nicely together. 🙂

Also thrown into this mix, a delicious stack of Riley Blake Basics in shades of red, white, and blue. We've got all the bases covered with swiss dots, stripes, plaids and woven ginghams.

Here are a few of the collections by colors: Christopher Thompson's Blossoms. (Available in a rainbow of colors and whites here, here, and here.) This one is such a good blender or low-volume print. With scattered blossoms casually tossed it's a versatile print that reads solid with a hint of something a little more interesting.

The Riley Blake Kisses are and often tone-on-tone blender and give some geometric texture and contrast with other prints. The wide range of Kisses colors are available here and here.

This sketchy design is Riley Blake's latest basic called Texture by Sandy Gervais and comes in a rainbow of colors. Again, I love the tone-on-tone quality that gives a little more dimension when using a solid, including the white on white. (These colors are red, white, blue, and navy.)

And here's a sneak peak of what I've been making. Lots of flags! I've been a sucker for flag quilts for years. I think I made my first patchwork flag quilt about 15 years ago. These blocks are for a new design that's been kicking around in my head for a while now and I'm finally getting it ready to share!

Go HERE to see the finished flag block tutorial and quilt.

In addition to US flags, I've also been playing with Union Jack quilt blocks.

About 8 years ago I made my first Union Jack quilt. It's still one of my all time favorite quilts! While making that version, I drafted my own Union Jack quilt block pattern that was more efficient and wasted a lot less fabric.

I published the block years ago as part of a tote bag pattern. Amanda of Jedi Craft Girl recently used it to make an amazing quilt for her daughter. And I realized it's time to finally update that pattern and include measurements and fabric requirements for a whole quilt.

I'm making these blocks in a more muted red, white, and blue color palette and LOVE where it's going!! This pattern will be available in PDF and printed format (also available for quilt shops) later this summer.

I may be using it on a future England inspired fabric collection as well...

If you're dying to make a Union Jack block now, you can find the old version of the pattern here. (It's pretty unpolished in this format and does not include full quilt instructions.) I am planning to automatically send the updated version, when it's published later this summer, to those who have the unpolished version.

So stay tuned in for lots more red, white, and blue flag fun coming your way!

One more fun thing to share. This week I was the guest on the Craft Industry Alliance podcast hosted by Abby Glassenberg.

The Craft Industry Alliance is for craft professionals looking to grow and support their businesses. Many crafty businesses are started and maintained by individuals working hard behind the scenes, often from home, to grow a small business. Abby provides a great service supporting and cheerleading those creative folks who share their gifts and talents and inspire so many of us.

The first half of my interview with Abby is a little bit of the Diary of a Quilter origin story. The second half we talk a little more about the business side of blogging, working with social media, and the quilting industry.