When I saw a post for the Island Batik Ambassadors about doing a Quilt of Valor quilt, I was quick to sign up!
I LOVE patriotic quilts!!
Island Batik sent us all some goodies to play with!
They are called Freedom batiks
A lovely 10″ square pack and matching yardage and solid white.
So then I started brainstorming!
I’ve done a 50 states block quilt before and that was fun, but I saw an ad from Annie’s for this United states quilt block pattern
I then had the “plan” to be able to create all the blocks with Accuquilt QUBE sets!
As the QOV “rule” was a final certain size range and I figured that it would 12″ blocks with a layout of 5×6 and a border, now that only added up to 30 blocks and there’s 50 states!
Also I then went into EQ8 and simplified some blocks to be able to work with QUBE sets, if a block was based off of 2×2 grid or 4×4 grid, I could easily use the 12″ qube set, but if it was a 3×3 block like a nine patch then I’d use the 8″ qube set.
Also I needed to add the 20 blocks extra somewhere, so I recruited my son to figure out a layout, if I made 4 blocks that are 6″ and put them together into a 12″ block, how would it work out and still look great?
He figured out that if I had 28 of 6″ blocks that would make 7 larger 12″ blocks, so then there’s 23 left, and 23 +28 is 51so I HAD to add a block for Washington D.C!
and sure enough the Annie’s block had a D.C. block in there too!
Now since my own rule was to use QUBE sets, several of the blocks in the book didn’t work or I modified them a LOT! but the end result turned out GREAT!!
This was my general idea at first with some white parts but that was before Bjorn helped me 😉
I first used my 6″ QUBE sets and made all the 28 6″ small blocks
I also made a rule that I had to add some of the yardage on each block and only one NEW fabric from the 10″ stacks.
I sewed all the small blocks together into the larger 12″ blocks in alphabetical order
Then I made the 23 – 12″ blocks only a few were made with the 12″ qube set, some I used the 8″ set or even the 6″ set too.
The blocks were SEW much fun to make!
I did some playing around with the layout and blocks but finally came up with this
Want to know which blocks is which state?
Starting top left and if it’s a 4 in 1 block I start top left too
Row 1:
North Carolina (where I live!)
Texas
Alabama(that one is changed a LOT from the book
Alaska
Arkansas
California
Utah
West Virginia
Row2:
New Hampshire
Mississippi
Vermont
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Kansas
Row 3:
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Iowa
Virginia
Wyoming
Maryland
Louisiana
Maine
Michigan
Minnesota
Row 4:
New Mexico
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
Ohio
Montana
Massachusetts
Arizona
Row 5:
Illinios
New York
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
New Jersey
Indiana
Row 6:
North Dakota
Kentucky
Rhode Island
South Dakota
Tennessee
Washington
Washington D.C.
Wisconsin
Let me know if I missed any- there’s a few blocks that are similar in EQ so I might have duplicated it when I wrote it down.
With the borders added, the quilt measures 66″ x 78″
I didn’t get to quilt it yet, as I had hardly any scraps leftover!
I did have enough to make this pincushion
I just love Red, White and Blue quilts!
If you haven’t seen this already, here’s the participants
Participants
July 1
Becca Fenstermaker — Pretty PineyDenise Looney — For the Love of Geese
Gail Sheppard — Quilting Gail
July 2
Pamela Boatright — Pamela Quilts
Anne Wiens — Sweetgrass Designs
July 3
Bea Lee —Bea Quilter
Carla Henton — Creatin’ In the Sticks
July 4
Emily Leachman — The Darling Dogwood
Joan Kawano — MooseStash Quilting
Jen Strauser – Dizzy Quilter
July 5
Steph Jacobson — Steph Jacobsen DesignsLeah Malasky — Quilted DelightsAnja Clyke — Anja Quilts
Maryellen McAuliffe — Mary Mack Made Mine
Thanks again to Island Batik for sponsoring all the fabrics!
OMG, you really put a lot into figuring out this beauty to make it work with EQ. It's spectacular!! Happy 4th.
Very nice! I would love to see what they had for the Alabama block in the book.
This is fantastic, Bea. Your quilt is so unique and I love it in the Freedom Fabrics. You make me want to try these blocks.
Very nice. You’re one determined lady! Wish I had a way of sharing with our Illinois Quilts of Valor!
Hi Bea! What a wonderful quilt to share with us on the day before the 4th, and what a fun blog hop. Kudos to representing all 50 states. This quilt top really is a beauty. I look forward to seeing how you are going to quilt it. Happy 4th of July to you and your family. ~smile~ Roseanne
It's a gorgeous quilt, Bea!
Lovely
WOW…that is gorgeous! Nice job with the conversion to Qube
This looks fantastic, Bea! Great job making the math work!!!
Oh my goodness, this is INCREDIBLE! What a commitment to make the blocks work both with the Qube and the QOV specifications, and the result is totally worth it. Gorgeous!
Love your quilt, what an adorable pincushion.
That was a lot of hard work. Glad your son could help with the setting/math.
Very nice idea and yess I love red white and bluecolors….. happyness04431@yahoo.com
Wow, that's really going to be loved by a veteran! You did a lot of work on this one, and it looks great!
Wow, Bea! That is incredible!
Great idea, and a very special quilt.
What a gorgeous quilt for a great day and a great cause! As a relatively new user of EQ8 and also Accuquilt cutters, I love seeing your ideas and tips. Thank you.
Great job on the quilt! Nice to have help with the math sometimes, isn't it?
It's amazing. It looks great.
Fabulous! Thanks to your son for helping figure out the math and EQ for planning it all. I love the scrappy feel.
Beautiful. I love all the different representation of blocks.
I love your QOV quilt! It is fun to look at with all the state's represented! Good job on the layout! I try to make all my blocks with my AccuQuilt as well! So much nicer cutting! I have the 12" and 8" block sets too. (From before they named them cubes!)