Friday, July 6, 2012

It's My Turn, Woo Hoo !

I hope you have been enjoying the Red, White and Blue Blog Hop. I have found sew much inspiration from these amazingly talented quilters! (This is just the beginning, there is LOTS coming in the next few days, so stay tuned!)

I'm new at this and learning "how to" from reading Madame Samm's SewWeQuilt and SewIQuiltNow blogs. She is amazing and has amazing quilters guest blog as well as host these fun hops. I also want to thank all the wonderful quilters who have already participated in this hop. I have found sew many new ideas and I am very excited to try them all!

Now I must tell you we like the patriotic in our house! We have lots of random patriotic things scattered throughout the house from Memorial Day in May until Labor Day in September. (that includes "D day" commemoration June 6th, Flag day June 14th and of course the 4th of July).  It's great to have everything patriotic for such a nice long time.  We have patriotic kitchen towels and wood wreaths, paper pinwheels and tin watering cans. From wooden Uncle Sam doorhangers and styrofoam hearts to TY babies that represent the Democratic and Republican Parties, to a patriotic dining table, we have a bit of everything.







Which of course made me want to participate in the RWB blog hop.
I have a few blocks to share with you. The first blocks I ever made as a wantobe quilter I sent to a lady who requested blocks for a military quilt. She requested patriotic stars. This is what I sent.

This next block I designed around the fabric I had in my stash. It was leftovers from a placemat project. The original squares were 2 1/2 x 4 1/2.  I added 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 squares of white and blue/red stars and a blue/red star border to finish the block. The words around the eagle say "God Bless America, Land that I Love" and the words in the red/white flag stripes are "It's red for love and white for law and blue for the hope that our forefathers saw, of larger liberty"



My inspiration for my next block came from the design wall in my sister's quilt room. I saw this hanging in her room and loved the design. (She didn't)  I asked her if she had a pattern for it and she told me to take it off her wall and keep it. (I guess she doesn't intend to repeat that one!). I knew when the RWB blog hop came about, that I wanted to try that design. (of course being a wantobe, I sometimes get myself in over my head)  I chose the fabric, very excited about the colors and the stripes. THEN it dawned on me, I need to rethink the HST sizes because her block is only 9 inch unfinished and I need 12 1/2" unfinished. Ok then, let's go back and try to remember how to do the conversion. Yeah, I think I've got it solved. I started to cut out the HST's. OH MY! you have to be careful! If you aren't, the stripes end up going the wrong way! Glad I caught that before I made a mistake! I had to make a drawing of the block so I would make the squares correctly. I used the "June Tailor Perfect Half-Square and Quarter-Square Triangles" ruler which takes 2 squares of fabric and turns it into 2 HST's. I've used it before and it's terrific. (just takes a bit of planning when there are stripes involved and a design that has the HST's twisting and turning). I am very happy with the way it turned out!


I know many of you hop along in hopes of a giveaway. Unfortunately, until I am a bit better at this, I won't be giving away any of my attempts. I hope to be good enough to do a giveaway some day soon, maybe for the Bowls Blog Hop (coming soon!!). A big THANKS to Madame Samm and Lady Jane for this wonderful, inspirational blog hop. We all owe you a big debt of gratitude for all you do.

Thanks for visiting and be sure to hop over to all the others on the list!

July 6th







July 7th








Diane P (we host)



July 9th








Quilted Sisca (I will Host)





July 11th

Nancy R





July 12th





July 13th




Kathy H (we host)


July 14th

Diann C (we host)







July 15th







July 16th
PolkaDotClassic





64 comments:

  1. Happy Hop Day, You are not a Wantobe quilter, you are a quilter! Wonderful job. Love the HST's I have said it many times they scare me, but yours are great. Thank you for playing!

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  2. Oh my, what wonderful blocks you have! Hard to pick a favorite. I look forward to visiting your blog again. Judith, Texas

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  3. They are absolutely lovely - I especially the little squares one. Love your patriotic house too I live in England and we all seem to be very patriotic over here at the moment with the Queens Jubilee and Olympics there are flags everywhere!

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  4. I love the quilt block! It looks especially nice in RWB. Thanks so much for sharing. I'm a newbie, too, so I understand how it feels to go out of the comfort zone a little. Great job; I love the whole post.

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  5. Wonderful additions to your house patriotic decor.

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  6. Such a wonderful variety of projects...real "eye candy"!

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  7. Love your patriotic memorabilia, all your blocks and all their stories. In particular, your last block and the staging of the picture is absolutely stunning! You are a quilter!

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  8. No doubt about it....you are patriotic...your photos. your accessories and yes ohhhh your blocks...were picture perfect...

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  9. Well done - what a conversion, congratulations,

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  10. Madame Samm also captured me last Summer with her Huge Heart and the Wantobe Campaign!! I just Love your Block!! My very first one you will see in a couple of days!! Thanks for sharing your fun filled Story!!

    Huggs, Nancy

    BTW, what is a HST?

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  11. I think your blocks are beautiful! I love your RWB house.

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  12. Wonderful blocks - and like you we love patriotic and celebrate all summer. Just do not get tired of the red, white and blue. Judy C

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  13. Your patriotic displays are wonderful and your block really turned out perfect ,thanks for sharing!

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  14. I love the patriotic look to your home..I leave mine up all summer! The block is great! I am learning that we are all "a work in progress" with our quilting. You are doing fantastic! Thank you for sharing.

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  15. Great blocks and displays. I especially like the last pic.

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  16. I love your block in those fabrics!

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  17. Great block! I love the way you tamed the stripes to keep them going in the right direction.

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  18. No giveaway was necessary--your blocks were the prize. Great job and I love all your patriotic decorations. :)

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  19. Love the blocks. Thanks for participating in the blog hop. Such wonderful inspiration from everyone.

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  20. I love that block you made from the leftover fabric from your placemat project. It's so scrappy and so good! Thanks for sharing!

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  21. Hi I love your decorating and your blocks!!!!

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  22. Great blocks! Love your decorating... thank you for sharing.

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  23. Great blocks. Working with stripes is challenging, but the look you get when you are done is so worth it.

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  24. Oooh, I like your block - way to go on the stripes!

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  25. Your blocks look great!! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  26. Our house looks like yours! Guess I should have included photos on my post! Love the block your sister didn't like! Oh well! Thanks for sharing!

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  27. I LOVE your block! (I am a nut for ANY pinwheel!) The RWB one pops even more that the inspiration one! ;o)

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  28. Great block. Those stripes always scare me too! I tend to get at least one going the wrong way. Sigh.

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  29. Love your block - really cute design. You did a great job of converting the pattern for the right size!

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  30. It's striking. I too love pinwheels, that a great design.

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  31. Fun decorating with RW&B and love your pinwheel block!!! TFS

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  32. I love this pinwheel block in the RWB fabrics. Your sister will probably want this version.

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  33. what fun patriotic things you have around your home. Love them. And all your blocks really nice. I do like the one you made for the hop.

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  34. I like your square and love all the patriotic decorations in your home. You are on your way to being a wonderful quilter. I found that participating in blog hops and swaps, pushes me to not only try new techniques but to Finish a project in a timely fashion. I learn so much from other quilters which has improved my quilting tremendously. Glad you participated!! I'm up tomorrow.
    Gmama Jane

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  35. Patriodic theme is in, everything looks great, love your blocks. I will be posting July 8th stop on by. I am following you.

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  36. Your blocks are great! thanks for being part of the hop!

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  37. I loved seeing your blocks - thanks so much for showing them. blessings, marlene

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  38. LOVE your block! Now I need to figure out how to size it and make it :o) Super movement. Hmmm, your blocks you sent for military quilts look familiar...did you send them to Florida a bit over a year ago? If so, then your blocks are being loved by the service members who received them! My little group was able to make 12 quilts with the blocks we received and the guys and gals just loved the quilts!!!

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  39. I love all of it. The quilty and non quilty. I do admire your block with all of the strips going in the same direction. I never have the patience to get it right the first or the second attemp. by the third attempt I have a block going in all directions and that's that.

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  40. As a first-timer your projects look very expert! We Like those RWB pinwheels!

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  41. I love your version of your sisters block. Great job on the stripes. Thanks for sharing.

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  42. I think you did a fantastic job with your blocks. They are really beautiful. The one like your sister's is especially nice, but I don't think I have the patience to work with the strips like you did.Great Job!

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  43. Very nice blocks! Even trying to figure out the stripes which went quite good by the looks of things!

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  44. You did a great block. I love the color placement on the block you copied from your sister's block. I have not heard if the HST ruler you mentioned, I will have to check it out. Thanks for sharing your block with us.

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  45. you did an excellent job on all of your blocks ... yay you!! thank you so much for sharing and can't wait to see what you bring to share again :)

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  46. Thanks for sharing your blocks with us!

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  47. Great blocks! I loved seeing your patriotic displays and learning what inspired your blocks. Just gorgeous.

    Thanks so much for sharing and being a part of this fun- filled blog hop!

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  48. Wonderful blocks! I love the last one. Many years ago I taught a class on that block. I made mine with all blue batiks as my husband was into fishing then. I still have that quilt and still enjoy it.
    Great job girlfriend!

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  49. The twisted pinwheel looking block is a good one. Especially in patriotic fabrics.

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  50. Great job on your blocks. That block from my sewing room isn't that I didn't like it but it was the wrong size. It was remade and in my Christmas quilt. I really like how you made it patriotic in red white and blue. Great job and hi from Norway!

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  51. I love your blocks! Thanks for participating in the Red, White and Blue hop!

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  52. great blocks - glad you could share them :)

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  53. Thanks for sharing your blocks. They are great!

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  54. Can't remember if I replied or not, but these are beautiful!

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