Red, White and Blue! (And a Giveaway Too!)

July 9th

Home Designs by Amanda

A Stitch in Time

Karen ~ Briarside Lane

Stitching by the Lake

Moose Stash Quilting

Stitchin' by the Lake - that's me!  When I first saw Madame Samm mention Red, White and Blue I was so excited - I mean, really, who doesn't love that color combination?  And Jane, bless her heart, agreed to coordinate the Blog Hop so I couldn't wait to sign up.  About two minutes after I sent that e-mail I went into a dead panic!  What was I thinking?  In the summer my husband and I volunteer at a mission in south Louisiana, 400+ miles from our home.  I always take my sewing machine with me, but truth be told I don't get a lot of time for sewing.  I felt a bit like the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland running around saying...hurry, hurry, hurry, no time to waste, no time to waste, no time to waste.  Did he say that or did I dream that?  :)

Several years ago I participated in an internet swap of red, white and blue blocks and I still have several that I made during that time - you might enjoy seeing those.

I had no idea what I would do for this hop but a few minutes here and a few minutes there.... I figured I could stitch up a few blocks for you to see.  First I went to Quilter's Cache because one of my reasons for the panic was ... I brought no books or patterns with me!  And if you ever need a pattern for a block, oh my goodness they have a million!  I wanted a few traditional blocks to add to the ones above and these were perfect:

 This first one I found is called Antique Tile...and I swear, it really does look like a tile, doesn't it?

Then I stumbled across this one, called A Dandy, and I thought it would be fun to make - Yankee Doodle Dandy!

 But I really got excited when I found Arkansas Cross Roads - I was born, raised and have lived in Arkansas all my life so it was perfect.

At that point I thought I was done but I do love machine applique and I do love quilting so these Hearts came to mind.

When I found out we were going to have a few days off for Independence Day I was thrilled because that meant I could go home and go through my books.  I love Art To Heart books and I found Uncle Sam in one called Easy Does It Patriotic.

I loved him so much I decided he needed to become a small quilt hanging for one of my Ackfeld Quilt Hangers so I added a bit of hand quilting with Valdani  Floss, a bit of free motion quilting, and a bright binding.  Don't you just love him?  I do!

What would a Blog Hop be without a giveaway?  Fun, yes, but absolutely so much more! fun if there's a chance to win a gift!  If you're a follower then leave me a comment telling me you are and I'll add your name to the hat for this hand embroidered tea towel, two patterns, and four red, white and blue fat eighths.    :)