Flags of the American Revolution - part 4 - stars and Whiskey Rebellion

This month for the quilt-along we worked on some star setting (filler) blocks...

I was going for very scrappy, with chambray blue, beige, and celery green.

... and the Whiskey Rebellion block - which seemed to be my constant companion all month - dense with applique!

And in other news:

This 51 pound puppy is giving us fits... eating her third or fourth (who's counting?) bed...

We've had our first snow...

Finally basted Kaela and Joe's wedding (um, Christmas) quilt top (Steps to the Altar)...  

Made WAY too many pies for Thanksgiving.... 

And now here we are, December already!  Can't wait to see what Lori has in store for us this month... I am really enjoying the quilt-along - the built in deadline pressure, and seeing how everyone else interprets the blocks.  Go over to Humble Quilts to check it out! 

Veteran's Day

Just a quick post this Veteran's Day with thanks in my heart for Veterans of our wars.  So many young families affected on all sides.

I have been working on family history lately, and came across the World War 1 Draft Registration Card for a great great Uncle.  I love the extra bits of detail we see on a Draft Registration Card...

And meanwhile of course I am continuing work on my Flags of the American Revolution quilt:

Flags of the American Revolution - part 3 - stripes

I'm really enjoying this quilt-along organized by Lori at Humble Quilts.  It's "homework" but the really fun kind.

Can't wait to see how the other quilters' flags have turned out this month, especially with three of the blocks calling for buttons.  I don't really want buttons on my quilt, so I got creative (lazy?).

Here are mine:

Guilford Courthouse Flag.  For the "buckles" the block called for, I blanket stitched felted wool ovals:

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Sons of Liberty, aka "Rebellious Stripes".  You can see that I ran out of the tiny red stars on white, and patched in something else.  PRIMITIVE.

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U.S. Navy Jack.  The fleet signal issued for the first ships of the Continental Navy:

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Bennington Flag.   This one called for thirteen star buttons arranged in an arc over the 76.  I tried embroidering small stars.... finally opted for one big star - I figure it's ok to improvise - it's true to the spirit of the flag and this quilt.

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First Stars and Stripes.  Sort of.  Perhaps I will find a way to attach a circle of 13 tiny white stars, perhaps felted wool while I am quilting it.

These blocks are all taken from Jan Patek's book Flags of the American Revolution.   Thanks Lori - can't wait to see what our next assignment will be!

Flags of the American Revolution - part 2 - Tree flags

For September we made the four tree-themed blocks for the Flags of the American Revolution quilt-along at Humble Quilts:


The Continental Navy sailed under this "Appeal to Heaven" flag:

A flag depicting the Battle of Bunker Hill:

The Pine Tree Flag - a symbol of strength and used as a symbol of Massachusetts long before the Revolution:

And another form of the Pine Tree Flag,

All of the blocks are from Flags of the American Revolution by Jan Patek.  Working these was challenging and I kept reminding myself that extra-primitive is OK in my book!

Meanwhile... fall is arriving!  My favorite season by far.

The first time I ever saw my house, I thought wow, someone had the guts to paint the door ORANGE and I love it!  It is high time to repaint the door... and I'm thinking of keeping the orange...

With the cold weather coming, someone has to stack this wood..... not me:).

Flags of the American Revolution - stars

Last night I finished up the last of these stars and attached the triangles this morning.... and so have caught up with Lori's quilt-along.

Tommy started school yesterday, his Junior year.  How does time fly by so fast??

Daisy is growing right before our eyes - formidable strength, boundless energy and playfulness, starting to challenge (unsuccessfully) old Molly's alpha status.

And... eight more blocks to go on Kaela and Joe's Steps to the Altar quilt:

Flags of the American Revolution - Eagle

Lori at Humble Quilts has started a "quilt-along" to make the sampler found in Jan Patek's Flags of the American Revolution.  Perfect first quilt-along for me, as we live in a pre-Revolutionary War house, our town celebrates its 300th year this year, and it is high time that I quilt something Revolutionary!

The first step, the center Eagle block - freezer paper templates, needle turn applique:

After I had started appliqueing, I realized my placement was a little off and I had to shorten and round out the beak at the last minute.... resulting in eagle, or goose?  But I guess part of the appeal of "primitive" is lack of precision.

Go over to the link-up at Humble Quilts to join in or just see what other quilters are doing.  Thanks Lori!


  I do have some catching up to do! Appliqueing these stars to red setting triangles:

Edited to add.... and here it is finished up: