Seaside Star Spangled Quilt

Published 2018: This summer I made a smaller variation of my Land That I Love quilt pattern featuring a crisp line of nautical red, whites, and blues, called Seaside by Tasha Noel. These fabrics are now out of print, but here's a variation on the quilt that will make this patriotic star-spangled quilt come together quick!

This collection has a nautical flavor with sailboats, lighthouses, anchors, and lobsters. I think I'm feeling extra sentimental with this collection because it reminds me so much of our trip to the coast of New Hampshire and Maine last summer.

With the 4th of July coming in less than a week (!) I thought it would be fun to make something patriotic with these reds, whites, and blues. I was originally thinking I wouldn't have time for anything big, but I kept sewing and adding and sewing and decided to make a summer wall quilt to hang over my couch.

The pattern comes from my Land That I Love medallion quilt.  I decided I needed a slightly scaled down size for the spot on my wall, and this turned out perfect. I substituted the pieced x blocks on the original quilt with the illustrated main print from Tasha's collection, which was a big time saver.

If you have the pattern and want to make this simplified version here's what I changed: I substituted the novelty fabric as a 4 ½" border in place of the pieced X-blocks. Instead of exterior flag border,  I made four 6" x 6" (6 ½" x 6 ½" unfinished) 9-patch blocks and put them in the corners of the 4 red 6 ½" x 40 ½" outside borders. This quilt finishes at 52" x 52".

Do you want to see something interesting? This is what I originally made.  I used the two different shades of blue for the star, like I'd done with my original Land That I Love quilt and liked the look of it up close. It wasn't until I took pictures and and stepped back and looked at the quilt from a distance that I felt like the aqua parts of the star didn't pop as much as I thought they would. So at 11:00 last night I unpicked the whole star block and made a new one.

I debated whether to change the star, but I decided I wanted it to have a real pop of navy in the center. So, for as much as I hate unpicking (especially something smack in the middle of a finished quilt top), I re-sewed the star in all navy prints. And looking at it now, I'm glad I did. So there's a lesson for you kids. When in doubt, just un-pick. You'll be glad you did.

It won't get quilted in time for the 4th this year - I'll just enjoy it on my wall as is this season. I'll get it quilted and ready to go for many future summers.

If you're looking for other ideas for fun, festive patriotic quilts and patterns that would be darling in this collection, check my list of other Patriotic Quilts and tutorials here.

Some other darling Seaside projects include the Fussy-Cut Mini Quilt that Amanda - Jedi Craft Girl shared on this blog a couple of weeks ago.

Amanda also has a darling Tote Tutorial featuring the adorable border panel that is part of the collection. Also, who can resist a good bias gingham print?