Although I’m in Australia and it’s the first day of winter here, it’s hard not to know what is happening all the way over in the US of A.
Every day Pinterest shows me images that tell me American schools are letting out, the northern hemisphere summer is coming and occasions such as Memorial Day are being observed. Then there’s the big one – 4th of July. The time for BBQs, fireworks and flag-based, patriotic quilts.
Now would be the moment to tell you that when it comes to the US, I have serious flag envy.
Look at the US flag compared to ours:
It looks like someone actually spent some time planning the US flag. It’s very orderly and organised and professional looking. Ours looks more like an improv exercise; “let’s take one of these, and throw in a bit of that and see how it goes”.
The main reason I like the US flag is that it has great quilt-adaptability. A blue rectangle and some stripes and everyone knows what you’re referring to.
And even though both flags are made from the same colours, what country does everyone think of when you mention red, white and blue? Sure as sunshine it’s not Australia or any of the other 36 countries with solely red, white and blue in their national emblems (yes, I had to google that. I was surprised there were so many.)
Whenever I hear red, white and blue I immediately think of the US (and sing You’re a Grand Old Flag in my head). This is why it’s easy to make a quilt feel American just through the use of colour, even if not a single star or stripe is included.
Pondering the intricacies of the Australian flag layout and the kind of paper piecing it would require, I decided that there was no rule that said I couldn’t try my hand at a 4th of July quilt. Globalisation, right? Once I gave myself permission I had some fun Americanising (ahem, Americanizing) some of my patterns.
First up, I made a few colour tweaks to my Off the Rails quilt pattern. This is a free pattern that I’ve had for download for a couple of years now – perhaps some of you already have it?
My first version swapped out the dark neutral for blue, the light neutral for off white and the yellow for red.
Then I tried reversing the colours so that the dark neutral was red, the light neutral was off white and the yellow was blue. 
Which version do you think has a more American feel? I really like the blue (my favourite colour) but maybe that feels more French?
If you’d like to download the free Off the Rails quilt pattern, you can do so below. Just substitute the colours as explained above to make your preferred 4th of July version.
Next up I had a look at my The Plus Side quilt pattern which is always a lot of fun to play around with due to the contrast between the opposite sides of the blocks.
Here’s an alternate version of the lap-sized quilt layout: 
Fabric requirements for a scrappy version of this quilt would be 8 red FQs, 8 blue FQs and 15 white/low-volume FQs. Make 15 blue/white blocks and 15 red/white blocks as per the pattern and join them in the diagonal stripe layout seen above.
A smaller, crib sized version would be cute for a summer baby. This version needs 5 blue FQs, 5 red FQs and 10 white FQs.
If you want a more literal translation of the flag you could try this layout:
3 blue FQs, 11 FQs red and 14 FQs white/light will provide enough blocks for this layout (48″ x 84″).
Phew, all that editing has me tired and I haven’t even sewn a stitch. I think I’ll go have a nice glass of iced tea, lie down and think of summer. Only 6 months to go!
Greetings from the USA!
I also appreciate your respect for our (USA) flag. But, did you know there is a tool available for making a seven point star? It’s called “the perfect 7” by Phillips fiber art. You can do some amazing designs with it. Let us know if you give it a try. Maybe i’ll try it and share with those “down under”.
Great post and patterns. As a citizen of the USA, I appreciate your comment about our flag. With that being said, I love your flag too! It is easier to quilt an American flag, but you could also quilt and APPLIQUE your flag. ;-)
I’m an American and I definitely like the blue one better. But then I tend to go for cool colors rather than hot ones, in general.
Oh, and I love your Australian flag.
I have always loved the Australian flag, it represents a very gracious friendly people and also some of the most wonderful quilters on the planet. I love HSTs and cheerfully sneak them into many a project. Just by placing them in different ways you can create so much fun. Enjoy then winter, suppose to be in the nineties here today and I’m not a fan of heat. Keep the new designs coming, I watch for them eagerly.
French or a flag for The Netherlands! We’re travelling to Europe as I write and I have the simple Dutch flag highlighted on my toe nail, along with a little more complicated Canadian maple leaf: which also makes lovely quilting designs especially with our sesquicentennial flag for our anniversary this year… yeah 150, go Canada!
I think the more red version of Off The Rails seems more “American.” I think it’s the strong presence of the red and white stripes.
I also like the literal interpretation in the Plus Side quilt.
Everything here in Canada is sesquicentennial related these days! Huge branding opportunity for every single business. One of our stores, Roots, has a campaign called “nice.” Because everyone knows that Canadians are nice, right? I say that because it’s true. :)
150 years is a great excuse for a party. And I must say that nearly every Canadian I have met (I’ve met a lot through work) have indeed been nice. Really nice. (I can only think of one I didn’t get along with.)
Actually, I think your flag has elements that are very modern. Stars that are of different sizes, placed somewhat randomly. Have fun with it! In Canada we are celebrating our sesquicentennial, 150 years that is, in layman’s terms. Quilters are having a blast interpreting our flag.
ha! I love the more literal interpretation with the Plus quilt pattern. My six year old has been asking for an american flag quilt for ages. This might just push me to get started on one for him. (To provide some perspective, he wears american flag lacrosse shorts with a red, white and blue t-shirt that has the bald eagle on it. His nickname is “Mr. America”). Also, I never noticed that there are two types of white stars on the Australian flag. When I looked closely, your improv comment really made me laugh!
PS. It could be worse – our flag could be green and gold!!!
LOL – Thank you for the laugh!!
You are so right, it is definitely harder to make our flag quilt friendly.
I love your American take on your patterns, they are so fun.
We really need to create our own iconic Aussie quilt. I probably should pattern the flag quilt I made for my son last year, but the amount of work in that quilt was crazy!!
I like the first one best: Off the Rails in blue.
My youngest son wants a quilt of the US flag …
I’ll start on that as soon as I’ve finished my current WiP
Cover yourself in quilts & cheers