Red, White and Blue quilt along

I made this quilt originally for my grandson Liam, prior to his birth. I knew he would have a July birthday so I leaned towards patriotic colors for his baby quilt. Ya'll know, I am a little to the left..right? So here are your fabric needs:

RED, WHITE AND BLUE BABY/LAP QUILT


Blocks~8 ¾” square

Quilt~42” x 53”

Fabrics:

For the blocks:

White with small blue print~6 strips 3 ½” wide x WOF

Blue with white print~total 6 strips 3 ½” x WOF

Red with white print~2 strips 3 ½” x WOF

For the sashing:

Red and white stripe~4 strips 2 ½” x WOF

Inside border:

Blue with medium white print~4 strips 2 ½” x WOF

Outer border:

White multi-colored print~5 strips 5” x WOF

Refer to photo for color placement as needed. Cut the block prints into 3 1/2” squares. Piece 2 blue squares on opposite sides of 1 white square, repeat once for 2 sections. Piece 2 white squares on opposite sides of red square. Now sew all 3 sections together to form 1 square. Repeat to make 12 squares.  (If you are machine piecing, leave the strips in one piece, lay 2 strips face to face and sew together, press and repeat with the third strip, press. I use the shape cutter and cut 3 1/2" wide segments, then piece the 3 block segments together into a block)
 

                                      

                                                                                 
                         

 

As an added treat for you quilters itching to learn something to do on the go, how about some hand stitching pointers/directions?

 
      ~~ Hand Piecing~~
If you want to use scraps and hand piece, mark the backs of your squares with a 2 ½” mark and cut out each one leaving ¼” all the way around. Lay 2 squares face to face and pin at each end of your marked lines. Sew with a running stitch and one strand of thread from one mark to the other. DO NOT SEW PAST THE SEAM LINES!

                                                                                      
                                                                     
Press the seams towards the dark. Sew three blocks together, repeat 2 more times. Take one section of 2 blue and 1 white and butt the seams together with a section of 2 white and 1 red. Pin the first and last seams and as needed keeping the butted seams together. Sew on the line, as before, until you reach the butted seams. Make a backstich as close to the vertical seam as possible. Now, take your needle and insert @ the backstitch you just made, and run it thru the seams to the middle section. Make a backstitch as close to the seam (that you just went thru) and continue with the running stitch to the next seam. You don’t want to sew the seam down, just go thru it to the next section. Continue in this manner until all 12 of the 9 patches are sewn together.

Stay tuned for the next installment tomorrow. If you have not tried hand piecing, I encourage you to try it. It is a lot faster then you would imagine and quite portable. Simply cut your blocks, mark them and off you go! All you need to work with is: marked patches, a few pins, needle, thread and scissors. Stash them all in a small container or baggie and go watch the kids play ball! You can even get creative and use the bowl edge of a spoon to "press" in a pinch.