I Love the USA Blog Hop!

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Wahoo, the Blog Hop has arrived! I am so excited to share some of the projects I have completed from my box of goodies that arrived in the mail back in April!

I made a few different pieces! And I am most proud of my awesome “Happy 4th of July” Banner! I love it!

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Materials used to make this awesome banner:
Fabric designed by Laura Kelly, available at Jo-Ann Stores

Laura Kelly’s Patriotic Mix of Buttons, available at Button’s Galore & More
Red, White, Cadet Blue, and Antique White Classic felt from The Kunin Group, available at Jo-Anns
Coats & Clark thread
Coats & Clark Embroider Floss
Pure Color Grosgrain Ribbon

Planet Applique’s Firecracker Applique Alphabet and Firework Applique

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Using my embroidery machine, I embroidered each letter from Planet Applique’s Firecracker Applique Alphabet and Firework Applique.  This took the most time because of having to change the thread.

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After all of my letters and fireworks were done, I folded my pieces of felt in half so that my rectangles would be double.   I then used a piece of cardboard cut to my desired size, a ruler, mat and a Fiskars rotary cutter to cut the sides evenly.

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Because the designs were not even on the felt, I wanted to measure them to make sure they were all even once they were cut out.  I knew that all of my appliques were approximately 4 inches square, I decided to cut them at roughly 1.5 inches from the applique tops and bottoms.  That way, once they were all cut out and lined up, the appliques were all even!

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After they were all cut, I did trim the stabilizer from the back of the felt that was used for the applique.

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Then it was time to sew the two pieces together.  I lined them up and sewed them up at about 1/8″ away from the edge.

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Once they were all sewn, I used the Coats & Clark embroider floss and added some buttons from Laura Kelly’s Patriotic Mix.

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The next step was the put the banner together, attaching it to the ribbon.   Before sewing it, I folded the grosgrain ribbon in half and ironed it so that it would stay.  I laid it all out and put my desired amount of space between each letter and the fireworks.  I tucked the top edges between the ribbon, pinned them in and then it was time to sew!!

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I hope that you like my 4th of July banner using Laura Kelly’s fabric and buttons!  I can’t wait for it to be July!!!

Here are a few of my other pieces that I created with Laura Kelly’s Patriotic Fabric:

Happy 4th of July Garden Flag

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Patriotic Peeps Decorated Bag

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A Patriotic Peep Pillow Case Dress

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Peeps Hair Clips

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Thanks for stopping by!

Now, Hop on over to some of the other designers participating in the I Love The USA Blog Hop!

The Country Chic Cottage – Angie Holden

The CEO Blog – Debra Quartermain

Major Hoff Takes a Wife – Sara Hoffman

Doll Diaries – Char Polanosky

You can find a full list of all of the designers that participated in the Blog Hop at 100 directions!!!

Here is an awesome Rafflecopter Giveaway you should definitely take part in!!

12 thoughts on “I Love the USA Blog Hop!

  1. Pingback: A Patriotic Peep Pillow Case Dress | A Sweet Berry's Blog

  2. Pingback: Peeps Hair Clips | A Sweet Berry's Blog

  3. Pingback: Patriotic Peeps Decorated Bag | A Sweet Berry's Blog

  4. Pingback: Patriotic Flag Crafts: DIY a Duct Tape Flag | Crafts 'n Coffee

  5. Susie Smith

    Beautiful projects….love the embroidery. I have been wishing for an embroidery machine for many moons….what type/model do you have? love to hear what you think. Thanks for sharing. susie

    Reply
    1. asweetberry1

      Thanks Susie! I love my embroidery machine, but I am ready to upgrade. Since I was new to embroidery, I purchased the Brother SE-400 to begin with. It’s a great starter embroidery machine. It comes with a very handy user guide and a DVD. The only downside to this particular machine is that it will only do up to a 4×4 design. That’s the main reason I want to upgrade, so that I can do larger designs.

      Reply

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