Red, White & Blue Patriotic Quilt

Quick & easy Patriotic Quilt made with Fabric Edition’s new fat quarter designs!

This fast and price-friendly quilt has to be on the top of your to-do list. It finishes 48″ x 56″, just right for a little picnic, a lap throw on cool nights, or a table topper. The size makes it a weekend project, start to finish! You’ll find these special rolled pre-cuts in your local Walmart fabric department. The free pattern is right here – the Patriotic Quilt on the website.

For this quilt, I used eleven 97₵  fat quarters from Walmart’s Patriotic assortment. These are new in the fabric department for this summer.  Twenty red, white, and blue designs printed on quilting weight, 100% cotton, in 18″ x 21″ pre-cut fat quarters.  Crisp navy blue, bold reds, stars, geometrics and more.  You’ll find traditional to modern prints, even some trendy distressed prints. Go out and pick your favorites!

Our Patriotic Quilt Tutorial:

The quilt top was made with 8 1/2″ squares. New to quilting? Use a rotary cutter, self-healing mat and clear acrylic ruler for accuracy. For a complete step by step instruction sheet, visit our website or click here.

Supplies:

11 Fat Quarters for patchwork top, 2 Fat Quarters for binding (or 1/2 yard), 2 1/4 yards for backing, 50″ x 60″ batting.

Cutting:

Each fat quarter will give you four 8 1/2″ squares for a total of 44.  Note: Two squares are not used.

Quilt Design:

Using a simple 6 x 7 layout (six across, seven down), start by numbering each color as 1 – 10.  Fabric #11 is the wild card, the squares were tucked into row 6, the bottom row corners, just to change up the pattern.

Play with your squares to get even distribution of reds, whites and blues. See the numbered chart in the instructions for guidance.  If you like more symmetry, plan diagonal rows of colors. If you like a red and white quilt, pick up equal amounts of white-backgrounds and reds. You’re the designer, so pick your faves!

Sewing:

Sew with 1/4″ seam allowances on all pieces so the intersections will match. Press the seams to one side, each row going in the opposite directions so they ‘nest’ together when putting the rows together. Use pins to hold the rows together as you sew.

Quilting:

Baste the top, batting and backing. Use a walking foot for the quilting. First, test your machine and use a medium length stitch. Next, start on one side in the center of the quilt and sew a gentle wavy line from side to side. Turn the quilt and echo the stitching about 1″ from the first line. Keep quilting waves out to the top and bottom. Trim the edges and square the corners.

 Finishing:

How would you like to try something different?  For a quick machine binding finish that will wear well, sew the binding to the back and fold to the front. Tip:  Instead of a straight stitch, if your machine has a decorative serpentine stitch, try it! It echoes the wavy quilting lines and keeps the binding from pleating and puckering.

Don’t forget to label your quilt on the back. It’s the finishing touch! Wash your new quilt in cold water, gentle cycle with a ‘color catcher’ sheet.

We love to share our fun and fast projects with you. Look for the 97 ₵ Fat Quarters at Walmart, in stores now and create your own red, white and blue quilt!