Modern Stars and Stripes Custom Set Quilt

Learn the process of creating a custom set quilt by starting with a single block.

Often when designing, I am not sure where my design will take me.  One of the advantages of working with the Custom Set layout is that you have this large workspace that allows you to experiment not only with different blocks, but different sizes of blocks as well.

Once you have the quilt center nailed, you can add borders using a process similar to any of the quilt options.  One of my favorite border options is Spaced Squares.  Square blocks are typically the easiest to piece (particularly if they were designed with horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines).  And then EQ figures out the sizes for the spacers to make everything fit for each side of the border.  No math required.

Here is the center block from the video.  It was designed at a size of 14" x 12".

By including a square (with perfectly horizontal and vertical lines) the block is able to be used with the Serendipity>Merge block feature.

Here is the merged block.  You could definitely get creative and experiment with different centers for this block.

The fabric I chose to use in my quilt was Proud to be an American by Timeless Treasures.  This collection is part of the 2022 Stash Download 1 fabric collection available for purchase from the Electric Quilt Company.  I thought it was a perfect fabric collection for the July 4th weekend in the US. 

If you cannot purchase the Stash collection, you can locate individual fabric swatches on the Timeless Treasures website.

If you aren't into Patriotic quilts, select three different fabrics for your quilt.

I ended up coming up with two different versions of the quilt -- the first is more solid-like.  The second swaps the red for a plaid.  Which do you prefer?

Feel free to post pictures of any inspired quilts from this tutorial.  I've set up a post in the Learning EQ Facebook group.

Wishing those in the US, a safe and happy 4th!

Happy quilting.

​Kari
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