This wonderful summer weather makes us all think of celebrating Independence Day, family picnics, lemonade with a hint of mint, tables with red, white and blue decorations, front doors with festive patriotic wreaths, and the great freedom we enjoy in this beautiful country!  Add some “Grand Old Flag” décor to your home with Miriam Rawson’s project – it measures approx 8″ x 10″.

Materials:

• Fat quarters: Two red prints  and one plain red shot cloth; one cream hand-dyed flannel, one cream shot cloth, and one blue hand-dyed muslin.(Miriam used POMEGRANATE LANE and SHOT-CEE Shot Cloth, but other Marcus fabrics can easily be substituted)
• 8” x 10” foam core or cardboard to mount the finished piece
• Embroidery floss, light oatmeal color (Anchor #0388) and needle
• About 36 buttons, various sizes (cream, tan, etc.)
• Hot glue gun or white craft glue for fabric

Instructions:

1. Cut out a 10” x 12” piece of the red shot cloth for the flag backing. Zigzag around the edge with your sewing machine to prevent raveling.
2. Cut two strips measuring 1 ½” x 22”, of the two red prints, and two strips of the two cream fabrics from the fat quarters.
3. Cut one 4 ½” square from the dark blue muslin.
4. Center the foam core or cardboard mounting board onto the red shot cloth and use a Pilot Frixion® pen to mark a line around the board.
5. The marked border will serve as the boundary of the ‘flag’ components. Start with the left upper corner and pin the blue square in that section.
6. Starting at the top, next to the blue field, place a red stripe. Trim the right end to fit within the marking.
7. Add a cream strip, overlapping over the red about 3/8” of an inch. Trim and pin each stripe in place.
8. When the stripes get to the bottom of the blue field, adjust the overlap amount, if necessary, so the bottom of the blue field and the stripe are even.
9. Continue to the bottom edge of the flag, starting and ending with red stripes.
10. Stitch the blue field in place with a 3/8” seam allowance.
11. Stitch each stripe in place, with a 3/8” seam allowance. Do not stitch through the next stripe—lift it up a little, if necessary so you won’t stitch through both stripes at the same time. This will give the flag a better ‘raggy’ effect.
12. When you are through stitching, use a light-color pencil to mark  X’s onto the blue field. It doesn’t really matter how many you do—mine ended up being five rows of four, with a total of twenty.
13. Thread the needle with the floss and stitch each X.
14. Throw the flag into the washing machine with a couple of old towels. When it is finished, throw it into the dryer.
15. You may need to trim some of the loose threads which have formed ‘balls.’ Just don’t trim too many of the loose threads. It’s what makes the flag so charming!
16. Center the flag onto the foam core (or cardboard), and hot glue the edges onto the back. Be careful not to burn yourself!
17. Hot glue the buttons down the cream stripes, and frame the flag for a nice way to celebrate the birthday of our country!

 Thanks, Miriam!