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I can’t believe that July 4th, 2013, is behind us already.  Although it’s a bit overdue, I wanted to share this patriotic rag quilt that I managed to stitch up just a few days before our holiday party.

I didn’t have a pattern, but I had a great stash of 100% cotton red, white and blue fabrics.  If you’re familiar with the basics of rag quilting, you can zip this one up quickly.  If you haven’t stitched a rag quilt, there are great tutorials on You Tube.

I cut the 6 strips which formed the lower half of the flag 3 1/4″ inch wide x 42″ long.  The seven strips to the right of the blue field* were cut 3 1/4″ wide by 26 1/2″ long.  I stitched these strips together before attaching the blue field, which was cut 16″ wide by 16 1/4″ high.  All seams were sewn 1/2″ wide.   Additionally, I placed a 3 1/4″ wide x 42″ long strip of white muslin between each strip set, making each strip three layers.  The muslin adds a little weight to the flag and helps fluff-up the seams after washing.

After the flag was fully assembled, I trimmed and squared-off any edges that weren’t exactly perfect.  Since I did not attach a binding, I top-stitched 1/2″ from the edge, along each side, before clipping** the seams.

Here’s a peek at the finished back:

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This flag is easy to stitch, and a great way to showcase your patriotic pride!

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“…and forever in peace may you wave”.

“A”

*yes, there are more than 50 stars here 😉

**Thank you, Teresa, for saving my aching hand by recommending the Fiskars Rag Quilter Snip.  It made the job 200% easier and was a great use of my 50% off JoAnn’s coupon!!

5 thoughts on ““Grand Old Flag” Rag Quilt

    • Ann says:

      Thank you, Peggy…and, yes…there are MANY things I cannot do…like stick to Weight Watchers 😉

  1. Kennedy says:

    I was thinking of making this for a foreign exchange student that is leaving. Would this work as a blanket?

    • Ann says:

      It might be a little small for a blanket, and there is no batting between the layers. If you google “rag quilt” you will see countless samples of rag quilts (along with instructions) that would be better-suited as a blanket, and I’m sure that any one of them would look beautiful in red/white/blue.

      Good luck!
      Ann

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