Free Patterns,  Home Decor,  Machine Embroidery,  Quilting

Quilted Garden Flag with Machine Embroidery

Quilted Garden Flag

spring garden flag

Stitch a springy quilted garden flag to display with your emerging flowers and veggies. This festive flag features machine embroidery, tiny piecing and quilting. If you don’t have a flag stake, the project easily converts to a wall hanging.

Finished size: 11 1/2″ x 17 1/2″

GARDEN FLAG SUPPLIES

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FABRIC CHOICE

Quilting cotton fabric is the best choice for this project. If using a lightweight cotton, cotton voile or the like, apply spray starch before stabilizing the fabric for embroidery to keep things nice and flat and reduce the chance of puckering.

spray starch on fabric

Use a fusible cut-away stabilizer, such as Sulky Soft n’ Sheer Extra, and keep it intact on the entire fabric piece after embroidery is complete. This acts as an interfacing as well as a stabilizer, keeping the backing fabric from showing through on a light-colored fabric. It also prevents the garden flag from sagging over extended hanging and use.

PATTERN MODIFICATIONS

This spring garden flag is easily customizable for any season, depending on the embroidery design you choose.

Swap the design for a holiday-themed design, such as Santa Please Stop Here. Either omit the quilt blocks along the upper or lower edge or use holiday-print fabrics to turn the flower blocks into poinsettia blocks.

small flower blocks on garden flag

Do as much or as little quilting as you like for your spring garden flag. The featured flag was free-motion quilted all over using Sulky Invisible Thread and an improvised “bubble” pattern.

You may prefer to stitch in the ditch, using the same 50 wt. Cotton Thread recommended for piecing. Or you may prefer to quilt through all layers (backing included) and bind the edges to use this as a wall hanging instead. Either way, choose a fun garden-themed print to make a springy wall hanging, as shown.

garden flag quilted with backing

HANGING SLEEVE

The free pattern comes with instructions for creating a hanging sleeve. Either extend the hanging sleeve abobe the garden flag upper edge, or tack down the long “free” sleeve edge to conceal it. The choice is yours.

back of garden flag with hanging sleeve

Whether you’re creating a garden flag or turning this into a wall hanging, the hanging sleeve is a rather nice touch.

Grab the free pattern today and create a garden flag to add color and fun to your spring planting beds. GET THE PATTERN NOW>

Garden Flag Cover

I am the Director of Content for Sulky of America. The former Editor in Chief of Sew News and Creative Machine Embroidery magazines, I hosted Sew it All TV on PBS for nine seasons. I've appeared on It's Sew Easy on PBS, DIY Network's Uncommon Threads, Hallmark's Marie Osmond Show, MacPhee Workshop and more! Come sew with me!

4 Comments

  • Joan Shriver

    If this is to be truly a garden flag, rayon thread is not a good choice, nor is cotton fabric.

  • Ellen March

    Thank you for the feedback, Joan. You could easily create this and use it as a wall hanging indoors, too. And/or swap the thread for Poly Deco. I plan to remove it from the garden in times of inclement weather.

  • Ellen March

    Thank you for the feedback. This project is meant to display the embroidery design of your choice. This way you can create it for any season or occasion you wish.