Hey, everyone!

Miss me? As you know, I am finally home after spending almost two weeks traveling around France on my latest Craftour, and man am I glad to be back! Don’t get me wrong — it was a gorgeous trip and we all had a blast — I literally loved every minute of it, but after being away for so long, I was more than ready to sleep in my own bed by the time it was all over. Originally, I did not anticipate being there as long as I was, but as it turned out, most of the people who joined me on the trip ended up booking the extended stay, so I ended up staying the extra time as well — what a life!

Needless to say, the France tour was yet another trip of a lifetime and I’m so glad I went. I have lots of pictures and stories to tell, which I will talk about soon on a future LIVE show after I have a minute to go through and organize them all. I would have done that last weekend, however, as soon as I landed back on U.S. soil, I had to hit the ground running to be ready for the first session of my annual Red, White, & Blue retreat to kick off on Monday morning. I’ve had a phenomenal week but I think it probably goes without saying that I am absolutely exhausted and ready for a few days at home with zero items on my agenda.

What are your plans for the weekend? If you’re free as a bird and looking for something to do, I might just have the perfect solution for you. It just so happens to be the first Friday of the month which means that it’s time for the latest release from the Primitive Gatherings Weekend Edition Quilt Series! June’s release is red, white, and blue, and right up my alley. This sparky little quilt is called Bomb Pop — a fun, SUPER easy, patriotic quilt that is perfectly timed for the Fourth of July!

If the name Bomb Pop doesn’t immediately take you back to chasing down the ice cream truck as a kid, I don’t know what will. The original Bomb Pop popsicle was created in Kansas City, Missouri back in 1955, right in the thick of the Cold War. As you probably always figured, the six-fin shape was indeed modeled after an actual bomb, while the red, white, and blue colors were a deliberate nod to American patriotism. Nearly 70 years later, Bomb Pops are still around and still just as much a part of summer as sunshine and fireflies. Some things never change!

Just like all of our Weekend Series quilts, it doesn’t get any easier than a quilt like this! Bomb Pop is done in fabrics that have a slightly faded look to give it a warm, primitive, worn-in feel. Blocks are made up of super simple strip units consisting of five fabric strips in just three Bella Solids — red, white, and blue! To make this quilt you’ll need one yard of red, two yards of cream, two yards of blue, a half yard for binding, and four yards for backing. Finished, Bomb Pop is 60″ x 75″ which is a great size to lay across your Fourth of July table, take along on a picnic, or drape across the back of your favorite couch or porch swing.

New to quilting and think you might like to try this quilt? Please do! And even though I’m 100% confident that you won’t have any trouble, in case you do, you can always check out the video tutorial Kali and I put together for tips and tricks on how to handle the project. Really though… you’re not going to need to. It’s easy-peasy, baby!

You have just about a month before the USA turns 250 years old — is your patriotic décor up to par? If the answer is no, don’t panic… but DO grab the pattern and kit for Bomb Pop ASAP so you can get it cranked out with plenty of time to get it quilted before July rolls around. Heck, if you start it now you’ll have plenty of time to make two or three of these little babies before then… tick tock!

Alright, everyone — with all this talk of weekend quilts I am certainly ready to get mine started! The sun is out, the skies are blue, and I swear I can hear my boat calling from here, so with that… I am OUT of here! Have a great weekend, take care, happy stitching, and I will see you all next week! ~Lisa