July Block of the Month

Patriot’s Star

The July block is my design and could easily be repeated for a four block quilt for the Honor Flight quilts. With multiple   repeats of this 16” block a patriotic throw for 4^th of July picnics would be possible. The block goes together quickly with the table mat being made in about four hours, quilting included.

What are your memories of the July holiday celebrating our nation’s birth? Living on a farm I remember that our celebration often included handcranked ice cream made with the cream from our cows. There were sometimes fireworks like sparklers and some kind of black snake thing that curled on the sidewalk. I love to watch fireworks and as an adult I was most awed by the fireworks at the Amelia Earhart celebration in Atchison, Kansas a few years ago. They were computer timed to a wide variety of patriotic music and were spectacular along with the rest of the air show held each year.

Patriot’s Star

Blue (1/3 yd)- cut two 3 ½” x 18 ½” and two 3 ½” x 24 ½” strips for border; cut twelve 2 ½” squares;

Red (1/8 yd)- cut two 1 ½” x 16 ½” and two 1 ½” x 18 ½” strips for inner border;

Asst’d red, white and blue prints (use your scraps)- cut 24 2 ½” squares

Light blue-cut eight 3” x 7” rectangles;

Gold- cut a 4 ½” square and four 5” x 7” rectangles.

Make 4 nine patch blocks with the blue and asst’d rwb squares. Make your own paper foundation pattern by drawing a 4” x 6” rectangle and add ¼” seam allowance on all sides. From the center point at the top of rectangle draw a line to either corner at the bottom of the rectangle. Make 4 copies of this pattern and use foundation piecing techniques to make the star points. Assemble the block in horizontal rows as shown in the photo. Add red inner border strips to sides and then top and bottom. Do the same with the blue outer border strips. Layer backing batting and top and quilt. I quilted fireworks in the star using metallic thread for a fun finish.