The Patriotic Family Quilt

In July 2009 during a family reunion, my cousin Sandi had the brilliant idea to create a family quilt. We had many sewers and quilters in the family, so she thought we could come up with enough people to create a memorable quilt. She asked which family members would like to participate and ended up with 11 people. Since it's difficult to create a quilt of only 11 squares, my dad volunteered to make two different squares.

A few weeks later my cousin sent out a few fabric swatches to each participant, so we could choose colors that would blend together. There's nothing worse than having two different reds that clash and make your eyes hurt. The theme was a patriotic red, white, and blue one.

Each person was asked to make 11 of the same 10"x10" quilt square, send it to her by January 2010, and she would divide them up into 12 sets of squares to send back to each of us. We also decided to embroider each person's name on the squares, so we could remember who made each one.

I made the Waterwheel square out of patriotic fabric. Since I only found a pattern in a 12"x12" size, I had the task of reducing my square to end up 10.5"x10.5". This square is basically a 9-block, so I had to make each smaller square 3 5/6" which is really difficult. I ended up shooting for 3 7/8" blocks and taking in a scant thread-line more. When I squared up each piece I made sure I trimmed an accurate 10 1/2" block.

Here are some of the other squares that were part of the quilt:

"Night and Day" by my Dad Chuck in Florida

"Pigs in a Blanket" also by my dad Chuck in Florida

"Windy Day" by my sister Cheryl in Tennessee

My Uncle Johnny's square in New Jersey

"Heart in a Snowball" by my Aunt Millie

My cousin Sue's square from California

My Aunt Shirley's square from California

"Flag of Slovakia" by my Aunt Betty and her
granddaughter Christina in Ohio

"Oh, Susannah" by my cousin China and
her daughter Katti in Germany

My cousin Sandi's square from California. This
quilt was her idea

"The Wave Edge" Log Cabin by my cousin
Sharon in California

After I received all my squares, then came the task of making the border. I wanted something interesting to finish it off, and since I didn't make all the squares in the quilt I wanted something that required a little more of my handiwork on the border. I came up with these squares.

They were 36 staggered stars and I got the idea from the Quilter's Attic newsletter. They have wonderful ideas. Here's the website to check out their current newsletters: http://www.quiltersattic.com/. I used fabric from my own square, plus some scraps from my sister and my dad along with some additional quarters I picked up at JoAnn's. Each of the squares is different.

I laid out my squares in various patterns on the floor until I got it just right. Here is a picture of my finished quilt top. It looks like I put it together is the exact reverse of my floor layout.

My dad had the top quilted by a lady in his area in Florida. The pattern is a bunch of stars and swirls.

Close-up of the stitching

I have it hanging in my foyer hallway and am very pleased with how it turned out.

Here are a few of the other quilts made by my father, aunt, and uncle.

Here my dad did a similar pattern with the star border
and he varied his red with blue and blue with red

My uncle finished his in a black sashing
for a stained glass window design

My uncle made a few pillows with extra squares.

My aunt's quilt in tans and creams. She
made a ribbon effect with her border.

The back of my aunt's quilt had a picture
of each participant and how they are
related to her printed on fabric.

None of the others has sent me a picture of their finished quilt, but I'm sure they're working on them diligently.

Carolyn "Care Bear" King