Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Hooray for the Red, White & Blue!


Welcome, welcome, welcome!  For those of you who are visiting for the first time, my name is Heather and I am the Reformed Heath'n.  This is my first ever blog hop experience.  I've loved skipping around in other hops and seeing all the amazing projects that everyone was working on.  I thought that was way beyond my experience level, though.  BUT, when I saw spaces open for this blog hop, I knew this was the right one for me to get acquainted with this experience!  I hope you enjoy my project as much as I enjoy all of yours!

Thanks so much to Jane @ Jane's Fabrics & Quilts for organizing this two-week-long event and also to Madame Samm for cheering us all on.  I'm especially excited to be coming to you on Independence Day!  For the full line-up, click on the button on my sidebar.  Here are the rest of the lovely ladies who are also posting for you today:

A Reformed Heath'n (you're already here!)

I've always loved this holiday--and anything related to celebrating our pride in the stars and stripes.  One of my fondest memories growing up is visiting the Smithsonian Museum of National History.  I was in second or third grade and recovering from the chicken pox.  I was no longer contagious, but not yet ready to go back to school.  My dad worked at home and offered to do anything with me that I wanted to do for a day.  I think he was a bit surprised that I requested a museum trip :)  In those days, the original Star Spangled Banner was hanging in the entryway behind a protective screen.  They would lift the screen and play the national anthem at certain times.  That day, we planned our trip so we would walk in just before the music started and I could be front and center by the railing.  I remember being in awe of the flag that was so old, that had survived so much and was the inspiration for our national anthem.


Protective “Olio”
http://americanhistory.si.edu/starspangledbanner/national-treasure.aspx
This memory is why I wanted to do a traditional star block.  After much searching and playing with designs, I found this one that I absolutely love:


I looked through my 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks by Judy Hopkins and found the one I was looking for on page 227.  It's name is The Sickle, and with a couple of modifications, it is one-fourth of this quilt block.

I used the dimensions from the book and here is what I cut for each larger 12" block:
Main Color:  4 squares of 3-7/8" cut in half on the diagonal to make 8 triangles
                    8 squares of 2"
Second Color:  8 squares of 2"
White:  4 squares of 3-7/8" cut in half on the diagonal to make 8 triangles
           16 squares of 2"

1.  Chain stitch all the HSTs together--half white, half color.  **Note:  The next time I do this, I will not cut the HST's apart until they are stitched.  For this alternate method, see my other tutorial HERE (under Day 3).

2.  Chain stitch all the 2-1/2" squares together the same way--half white, half color.

3.  Press all the seams.  Because I want this to lay flat as a table runner, I chose to press them all open.
4.  Combine the rectangles to make four squares.   Then combine two of the 4-square blocks and two of the HSTs to make the reformed Sickle block.  (I like how these smaller squares kind of look like butterflies.  Opens up a whole new can of, well, ... )  Press the new seams.

5.  Lay out all your squares to create the desired pattern.  Each large finished block is made up of four smaller blocks.  There are tons of possibilities, but this is mine.

Stopping here is the one red, white and blue block, as promised.  Keep going to see the table topper ...

For the table topper, I made four blocks.  One-half yard is all you need of both the red and blue, and one yard of the white.  For the thin border, I cut 4 strips that are 2-1/2" x WOF (approx. 1/3 yard) and for the outer border, I used 5 strips that are 4" x WOF (approx. 2/3 yard.)  I'm planning on using about 2 yards of fabric for the backing and 2 packages of regular old white bias tape for the binding.

I sure hope you all enjoyed the project and come back often to see what's going on around here.  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Independence Day!!

**Thanks for your patience everyone.  I had it scheduled to post at 12:01 AM today, but apparently I did something wrong.  Thanks for coming back!**


58 comments:

  1. I love your blocks and the runner it terrific , Happy Independence Day to you and congrats on a great hop .

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  2. Very lovely table runner...you did a great job on your blocks

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  3. Yay! Worth coming back for, great block...good to hop with you!

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  4. I love this block. I will definitely try it myself. I also love the fabric that looks like bandana material. It would be perfect for us Texans.
    Thanks for the tut. Well written and easy to follow.

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  5. The blocks are lovely -thanks for sharing. I have been to the Smithsonian too - very interesting.

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  6. well you are here...and that is all that matters....july 4th is all day long and your block is out of this world...great job my dear

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  7. Lovely table runner... great!!!!

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  8. Love the table runner.
    Happy 4th

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  9. Your runner is beautiful and I very much enjoyed your story of seeing the original Stars & Stripes! I actually was not aware that the flag is still in existence and can be seen :*)

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  10. I really like this block. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  11. Really festive blocks. I especially like how you used the red bandana type fabric. No worries about the scheduling, I had it happen to me, too! Happy 4th!

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  12. Great work! Love your blog.

    Karen

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  13. Glad I came back, too! You've got a wonderful block that you presented! Thanks!

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  14. It was worth the wait--I love that block! The runner is just beautiful!

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  15. That is a great block and the table runner is gorgeous. Thanks for the instructions.

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  16. Great block and wonderful runner. Glad you decided to join the hop.

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  17. Happy Hop Day, Oh what a great memory! I love the block and your fabric picks. the runner looks amazing. I had trouble with the schedule post too. I was told once you schedule the time and save it, then hit publish and it will show up as scheduled on your post list. hope that helps and thanks for playing.

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  18. Wonderful memory. Love the block and the table runner. Have a wonderful 4th.

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  19. Very nice block! I had to laugh ~ I'm also a Heather, and one of my bffs calls me Heathen!

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  20. This is really an awesome block! I love it. I have Judy's book so I am going to check this block out.

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  21. Nice to meet you Heather.
    What a special memory.
    Great block and table runner you created.
    Happy 4th.

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  22. Love it! So fresh and crisp looking!

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  23. You did a wonderful block and so well thought out - be very proud of your work and thank you for your participation. This is a wonderful blog hop and Jane has done a wonderful job of putting it together. Judy C

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  24. Your block is amazing! and your runner turned out beautiful. Runners are great to decorate with. I have that same book by Judy Hopkins, a great resource. Thanks for sharing your block. Have a safe and happy 4th!

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  25. You did a great job on your block and how you explained each step. Thanks for sharing.

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  26. love your blocks and table runner

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  27. Fantastic design runner.Love your blocks.Thanks for the tutorial!

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  28. Glad I came back what a great table runner.

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  29. I like your choice of bandanna fabric. I love that there are so many summer holidays that have the RWB theme. Thanks for sharing.

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  30. Once again you do amazing designs and work. That is so interesting. I love the story at the Smithsonian - makes me want to go for a visit. Cooked pancakes with your mom this morning for the flag raising/breakfast at CP Ward. Keep up this great blog Heather.

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  31. Sometimes blogger is just glitchy! LOL great tutorial!

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  32. Great block...fantastic table runner...I like the bandana fabric..thank you for the tutorial. My first hop also..

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  33. I'm so glad I came back! Your blocks are so beautiful! Thanks for sharing!

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  34. Cool thing about a day ... there are 24 hours in it and your block was well worth the wait. I really like your fabric choices, very attractive! Thank you so much for sharing :)

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  35. Great story and your blocks looks great. Love the table runner and the tutorial as well. Thank you.

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  36. Beautiful block and what fun fabrics! Thanks for the tutorial and I had the same problem with blogger a couple days ago....frustrating!

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  37. Thanks for the great tutorial. The bandana fabric works perfectly with this block.

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  38. Your block is lovely and like the style of the fabric you used. Thanks for the post and photo journey.

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  39. Love the fabrics you used! I will have to check out the pattern! Thanks for sharing!

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  40. Really like your block, even have some of the red fabric in my collection. Thanks for taking part in this blog hop.

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  41. That's a really pretty table runner. I love it. I'm going to make something like that for my table. Today I have a quilt top covering the whole table (an unlayered one). I like how it looks and am thinking of just putting a very light bat in it and using it as a table cloth. You can see it on my blog....it's called "Founder's Truth". Thanks for letting us stop by.

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  42. lovely block and tut to boot.
    in stitches

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  43. Great tutorial for a lovely block. It made for a really sweet runner. Thank you for sharing with us today.

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  44. Love your blocks and your table runner!! Thanks for the great tutorial!!! Happy 4th!

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  45. Nicely done! My first hop too! Isn't it fun?!

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  46. Fantastic block and table runner! Thanks for the tutorial, too.

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  47. Terrific block! Thanks for the tutorial!

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  48. Thanks for the tutorial. Your block is so fantastic.

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  49. Beautiful and I love how it looks as a table runner! As usual, I'm running late like the white rabbit.

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  50. I think it is a gorgeous block- thanks for participating in the blog hop- lots of wonderful blocks to admire and fun tablerunners created.
    Regards from Western Canada,
    Anna

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  51. Wonderful block. Love the table runner also. Thanks for participating in the bloghop.

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  52. nice block and looks great as a table runner

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