Currently Stitching: Batik Flag

If you're looking for an approachable and quick patriotic sewing project, this is the one! I'm using the Liberty pattern by Villa Rosa along with a variety of red, white and blue cotton batiks. One of the great things about this pattern is you could do three colors, scraps or the specific variety the pattern suggests. I love when a pattern can be used in multiple expressions like this. 

I've had my eye on these patriotic batiks! I think they have such a beautiful pattern and dye to them. They bring a variety of textures and shades to this project. I'm a huge fan of batiks to begin with, and I love patriotic colors and patterns! This was a lot of fun for me to make.

I started by getting my fabrics sorted and ironed. Because this is not my pattern I can't share measurements. Majority of the instructions for all the colors are either blocks or strip sets. Once I got my first sets ready I tried to mix them up so there would be a nice variety in the final product, instead of clumps of the same kind of fabric. 

Next up was to get the corner setting blocks ready to make the diamond squares. I find myself in these scenario so many times... I draw two lines done the center of the framing snowball pieces. That way I can sew both at the same time and I end up with a bunch of half square triangles that I can use on another project.

The pattern calls for doing this to the white and blue blocks so you get a specific number of each set diamond block. Then it was time to start sewing them on the bigger blocks.

For projects like this I like to chain piece when I can. It can feel a little tedious when working on something like this so getting a bunch of them going at once helps. Then I can trim them apart and cut them down to the appropriate size once they're all done.

Then comes the endless trimming and ironing. I pressed to the dark side where I was able and got them ready for the next set of corner blocks to be added. I also pressed the extra half square triangles and trimmed them all to the same size.

Here you can see I've got all four corners sewn on, I'm trimming and pressing, and there's a nice little pile of half square triangles.

Something that helps me get through tedious projects like this is laying the blocks out as they get ready. It helps me stay motivated to keep going! It felt really good to get all the diamond blocks finished and up on the wall. From there I could continue rearranging them until I liked their order.

When it was time to sew the rows together, I took my time pressing the seams in alternating directions. It really helps the quilt top lay flat and go through the longarm better. Any seams that didn't need to nest together, I pressed open.

Once the blue and white star blocks were sewn and pressed I laid out the stripes. In this part of the pattern they continue to give you a lot of liberty in arranging and measuring. Which sometimes feels harder than a strict pattern.

I started sewing the red and white strips together keeping similar fabrics far apart where I could. I trimmed the strops down here and there and then sewed them back together again. After I put enough together, I pressed and cut them down to the final size that the pattern recommended.

Once the top and bottom stripes were sewn together I was able to piece all the parts into the final flag! It made me so happy to see it come together like this! I took it off the wall and squared the four sides until it was even.

Then it was time to load her onto the longarm! I took a few extra minutes to steam it really flat so it would stitch out cleaner. I used white batting and a light blue backing material. I wanted to keep it light and happy!

I decided to use these swirling stars to stitch all over. I just love the light blue shade of thread I picked out. It looks just perfect on the blue and the white, and pops out of the red fabric in such a fun way! I know some folks prefer a subtle, blending stitch out, but I like to see some of my all over quilting patterns.

Several hours later, here she is! All stitched out and trimmed up, and ready to be bound. I picked out a red, white and blue star batik to seal the edges. Check back soon to see the final quilt top finished and on display!