Monday, January 27, 2014

Olympic Flag Quilt + Tutorial!

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Well, I did it.

This quilt has been something I have been dreaming of making for years, 
and I finally had the guts to attempt it. 

 I kind of LOVE IT!

First you should know, that our family LOVES the Olympics!
We actually consider Bob Costas part of the family. 

I think the Olympics are absolutely beautiful. They always give me hope of World Peace. 
And let's be honest, they are just ridiculously exciting to watch!


This year as we watch the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, we will snuggle up with our Olympic Flag Quilt and cheer on Team USA!  I am excited for my kids to learn the flags of the different countries while we watch. 

They are all so beautiful!







 I'll be the first to admit that this quilt is not "perfect".
I believe I made 4 different South Africa blocks and finally settled with this one. It's not perfect, but I love it just the same. 

For a few of the flags, Like Mexico, I used fabric iron transfers for the images. Worked like a charm.

There was a bit of applique,




And a WHOLE LOT OF MATH!
(Good thing I majored in math like 100 years ago)

 So, have I convinced you to make one for yourself? 

Good! Let's get started!

<----------------------------------Hit Read More for the tutorial             


Disclaimer: My instructions are not perfect. These are just some basic measurements to get you started. There will still be a little figuring and measuring on your part. I mean let's face it, it might take me 7 years to complete a step by step tutorial for each flag. (maybe I should get a start on that, *wink *wink)

These measurements will produce 14.5"x10" blocks. 
Measurements are what you should cut, they already have the 1/4" seam allowance figured in. 


South Africa


1. Sew a 3"x44" black strip to the Yellow 1.25"x44" strip.
2. Sew that to the green 2.5"x44" strip.
3. Sew all those strips to the white 1.25"x44"
4. Take those 5 sewn together strips and cut the 44" length in 1/2. 
5. Sew a red 3.5"x22" strip to one of the white strips, and a 3.5" blue to the other white end.
6. Turn those 2 sets of strips diagonal and cut a rectangle7"x5" . Follow my flag below for the placement of the strips on the diagonal. The green strip should be pretty much in the center of the corner. Mine were a little off.  You will also want to make sure before you cut those rectangles that they are cut on the exact same angle so the two rectangles will match up and the black strips will form a perfect triangle. This the hardest part of this flag.


The other half of the flag is a 2.5" green strip, with 1.25" white strips sewn on each side, and a red and blue 3.5" strips on the sides of the white.  Each of those strips should be about 7.75" long. 


I used THIS tutorial over at Quilt Story to help me make the flag for Great Britain. 
I trimmed her measurements down just a tad, and it worked great. 

You can find my applique tutorial HERE.

And iron transfer paper can be found in the paper section of any large retailer, and they have instructions right on the box. 

I will be adding a few more flags and their measurements soon, hopefully this is a good start for you all. 

 So, no matter what country you are cheering for, Happy Olympics Everyone!
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10 comments:

Laurel said...

Wow! That is all I have to say. What a fun quilt for your kids!

Jessica said...

thats so fantastic!! I would LOVE to make one of these! I have pinned it for future reference.
Jessica

Farm Gate Creations Incorporating Hummingbird Quilting said...

It looks terrific, well done.

Anonymous said...

Oh you clever thing! What a truly wonderful quilt...

Sonneküken said...

Wow, it looks so great :)
I envy your endurance!

Greetings from germany!

Michelle said...

I love this quilt!

I'm working on a flag quilt for my husband and have referenced this post several times. I'm to the point where I have made as many of the flags as I can, now I have to do the ones with applique and iron on transfers. My question for you is, what brand of iron on transfers do you use? I have to do 5 of them as my husband chose flags with detailed pictures (Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Albania, Bhutan, and Kenya). And none of them are going on white backgrounds.

I appreciate any advice you could give me!

Unknown said...

I love this quilt! I have been thinking about doing something similar but with the flags of my ancestors. I have a fair few countries to work with just need to figure out what layout will look best. Then I need to actually learn how to quilt, lol.

Unknown said...

Brilliant been thinking of making a flag quilt for my grandson for a while. You have given me the inspitation to get started as I was dreading the logistics. You are a star

Carole B said...

Do you have the patterns for the other flags? My friend would like to make this quilt for her son that loves the Olympics.
Thanks

Christy Scarborough said...

Would be interested in knowing where you got the iron on transfers. Most of the ones I can find are the whole flag; I know I could cut it, but would it be the right size? Anyway, would appreciate knowing the source.

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