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NEW Year/NEW Quilt Challenge!

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Our New Year brings NEW Beginnings, NEW Horizons and this year, a Brand-NEW Quilt Challenge! Rather than a Mystery, this will be more like an online sew-along w/twist. The 'Challenge' is to use patriotic fabric  remnants/leftovers from previous years, turn them into Patriotic Beauties to be Awarded to our Beloved Veterans and Service Members to Honor their Service and Sacrifice for our Country. This is my 'tub' or fabric remnants that I will be using throughout 2023 to create our Patriotic Beauties: Tub of Patriotic Remnants ...and this month, I've chosen the AccuQuilt GO! Feathered Star Die #55535 to create my January 2023 Patriotic quilt, inspired by the 'Icey Hot Stars' quilt pattern  Designed for AccuQuilt by Terri Vanden Bosch of Lizard Creek Quilting, available as a F R E E pattern download from AccuQuilt to members, and membership is also F R E E ;-)    AccuQuilt GO! Die #55535 Check out this wonderful AccuQuilt video on the Featured Star featu
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Sweet Freedom Mystery RESUMES w/Twist ;-)

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Greetings Sweet Freedom Quilters, ANNOUNCEMENT: Sweet Freedom Mystery   RESUMES April, 2022! Over the past few months, we have received some incredible feedback/suggestions/recommendations . As a result, we have decided to embrace many of your ideas going forward... Thank YOU! FEEDBACK/SUGGESTIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS: Finished Quilt Sizes - in the beginning, we thought that giving 'finished' quilt sizes would be too revealing and potentially 'spoil' the mystery, and possibly 'limit' the quilter's creative potentional in choosing 'How To' finish. We will now be providing Finished Quilt Sizes and variations in sizing options whenever possible. Quilter's Choice in 'finishing' their patriotic quilt(s) based on 'their' Standards of Excellence requirements, still applies ;-) More Visual Aids for Cutting/Quilt Construction/Binding & Quilt Labeling - while most participants vol
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Clue #2 = Pinwheels w/BIG Reveal!

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March is the beginning of our  'Twister Season'  in the  MidWest  - now is a good time to create some  Twister/Pinwheel  blocks for our March 2022 Sweet Freedom Mystery : Blue/White Pinwheel block Pinwheels: Thirty-two (32)   6 1/2"  in-the-raw Blue/White Pinwheels,  (6" FINISHED) GO!  Half-Square Triangle,  (3" FINISHED) ,  Die #55017 https://www.accuquilt.com/go-half-square-triangle-3-finished-square-die.html As most know - there are a gazillion ways to cut/sew HSTs into Pinwheel blocks - here are a couple: Fellow Blogger shares basic instructions on  How To  create a  6" FINISHED  Pinwheel block: http://delawarequilts.com/BOMs/BasicPinwheel/index.html Cutting Tips: It takes four (4) Blue and four (4) White Half Square Triangles/HSTs to create ONE (1) Pinwheel block - you need 32  TOTAL  Blue/White Pinwheel blocks = 128  Blue  HSTs and 128  White  HSTs. I was able to cut  ALL  my Half Square Triangles in less than an hour w/AccuQuilt  GO!  die & cutte
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Clue #1 - 2022 March Sweet Freedom Mystery

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It's time for Clue #1 of our March Sweet Freedom Mystery !   Are you ready to cut your gorgeous RED/White fabrics... well then, let's get ready ;-) Grab your Red & White fabrics and your 2 1/2" GO! Strip cutter die Cut 2 1/2" strips, sew them together = Red/White/Red and cut into 6 1/2" in-the-raw, (6" FINISHED) blocks You need thirty-two (32) Red/White/Red 6 1/2" in-the-raw blocks, (6" FINISHED) Red/White/Red sewn strips (32) 6 1/2" in-the-raw blocks, (6" FINISHED) Cutting Tips:   You may choose to cut your Red/White/Red fabrics into 6 1/2: strips FIRST, sew together... Quilter's Choice!    I was able to get six (6) 6 1/2" in-the-raw blocks out of my width of fabric/WOF, after  sewing/pressing, due to the width constraints of my fabrics.  You 'may have' different results - depending on your fabrics, whether using yardage and/or scraps, etc. Because I was only able to get six (6) blocks from my Red/White/R
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March 2022 Sweet Freedom Mystery is HERE!

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 Welcome to our March 2022 Sweet Freedom Mystery! First - beautiful fabric requirements...these are mine from my personal stash.   Red/White/Blue fabrics Trying to fulfill a 2022 goal of using as much of my personal patriotic stash this year to create beautiful patriotic quilts to Honor our Beloved Veterans and Service Members for the sacrifice and service for our country. Thus, between EQ8 giving me some 'wonky' fabric requirements, using my stash - which was originally  purchased because I liked the gorgeous fabrics and did not really have a project in mind - other than it would be 'patriotic ', so fabric requirements will be based on my best 'guesstimate' ! This month's Sweet Freedom Mystery lends itself well to yardage AND scraps, so dig into your patriotic scrap basked and let's have some FUN creating a beautiful patriotic scrappy quilt! My first quilt was created from yardage, my second will be from patriotic scraps.  Yardage requirements ar
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Clue #3 - February 2022 Sweet Freedom Mystery/Reveal!

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It's that time again!   Time for our Big Reveal/final clue of our February 2022 Sweet Freedom Mystery...and here it is! Big Reveal - Sweet Freedom Mystery/ February 2022 To complete your Sweet Freedom Mystery, you are going to need to add some more sashing to your previously sashed out panel. Add: One (1) 2" in-the-raw, (1 1/2" FINISHED) White sashing borders on 'each' side of the Red Star borders Press the White borders 'away from' the Red Star borders.  I realize this puts the border seams on the 'White' side of the sashing but, it's intentional to reduce bulk Once the White borders are pressed, Add one (1) 3 1/2" in-the-raw, (3" FINISHED) Blue borders to 'each' side, following the White borders.  Once again, press the Blue border seams towards the Blue fabric and 'away from' the White border Please Note:   these border measurements were used specifically to ensure the final star blocks will 'fit' within
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Clue #2 - Square Up/Sash

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Clue #2 of our February Sweet Freedom Mystery is ready! But first - time to square-up your panel(s) and add Red border sashings: Squared-up/Bordered out Prior to adding ANY borders, first things First.  IF you haven't already, now is the time to square-up/press your patriotic panel. Trimming the panel side Selvage panel trim Top/selvage trim Time to press w/Best Friend: Pressing is the Best w/Mary Ellen's ;-) Now that everything has been trimmed/squared & pressed, time to add some border sashing. I chose to add 2 1/2" in-the-raw (2" FINISHED) Red Star border sashing strips to each side of my panel - From my Red Star fabric I cut: (4) Four 2 1/2" Red Star fabric GO! Strip Cutter 2 1/2"  (2" FINISHED)  Die #55017 https://www.accuquilt.com/go-strip-cutter-2-1-2-2-finished-3-strips-die.html How to cut 2 1/2" strips w/AccuQuilt GO! strip cutter dies: Please Note:  You will need to determine the 'length' measurements of your sashing strip
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