GO! Peace Sign Hippie Quilt

Hello all, I'm back to share my GO! Peace Sign Hippie Quilt. When I found out AccuQuilt was releasing the GO! Peace Sign Die childhood memories began to pop into my head. Although I was a little young to be considered a hippie my older sister definitely fit in that category. The timing of this die could not be better - because we all want peace and love right now.

Fun Applique Quilt Tutorial

This is Denise from For the Love of Geese and I hope you love my sample as much as I do. If you have an embroidery machine there is also a free download with your purchase that makes this applique so simple.

It's okay if you do not have an embroidery machine. You can still stitch around the shapes with your domestic or use a non stitch fusible web.

The yardage estimates will be a little different for you depending on your hoop size (if not stitching on your domestic machine) and other shapes you choose to add or eliminate.  Also, if you have a clear plan unlike me, you could use a solid piece of background fabric.

Dies Needed

• 55593 GO! Peace Sign
• 55187 GO! Truck
• 55228 GO! Camper
• 55007 GO! Round Flower
• 55042 GO! Funky Flowers
• 55354 GO! Cute Car
• 55327 GO! Daisy
• 55350 GO! Dove
• 55496 GO! Summer Medley for the Flip Flop shape.
• 55331 GO! Stems and Leaves
• 55306 GO! Love
• 55305 GO! Peace
• 55017 GO! Strip Cutter 2 1/2" (2" Finished)
• 55054 GO! Strip Cutter-4 1/2" (4" Finished)

Fabric Needed

• 3y background
• 1 1/2 y for applique shapes - depending on how much applique you intend to add.
• Misc scraps for stems and leaves
• 1y border fabric cut with 4" finished strip die
• 1/2y for the binding cut with 2" finished strip die
• Stabilizer and fusible web

Peace Sign Applique Project

I LOVE the GO! Peace Sign Die and feel so honored AccuQuilt sent it to me. The only clear plan I had was tie-dye fabric and a solid black background to resemble a blacklight poster. Then, I found the awesome peace sign fabric and had to have it too.

The Peace Sign shape is a 4" diameter circle that could be added to handbags, towels, clothing...Oh, the possibilities are endless! You could also use foam and glue a magnet to the backside for your favorite hippie to hang on their refrigerator. Mug rugs and placemats also come to mind.

You will want to cut your background fabric large enough for your embroidery hoop or to square up after stitching on your domestic machine. You can always trim it down to fit your needs later for placement or add an additional shape to fill the hoop.

My background strips were cut to 12" by width of fabric (WOF) and it was pieced just like you would a row by row quilt.

While searching for a light fusible web I found Tack-n-Fuse by Pellon. It eliminates the need to fuse the shapes down for stitching on your domestic or embroidery machine. One side is fusible that is fused to the backside of your applique fabric, the other side is sticky. The sticky side is placed on the background fabric prior to stitching the shape down and it does keep your shape from shifting. 

Fuse your chosen fusible web to the backside of your applique fabric following manufacturers' directions and allow it to cool prior to running the dies through your GO! You can use the Peace Sign Die with the GO! Me, GO! and GO! Big. The GO! Peace by Sarah Vedeler Die is a must-have to pair with it.

If you don't like waste save the center cutout pieces to use in another block on your quilt or handbag.

You can choose satin, buttonhole, or decorative stitch to finish your Peace Sign if you have downloaded the free embroidery file. It will begin with this outline stitch. At this point, you would place the shape fused with Tack-n-Stitch over the outline stitch without ever removing the hoop from the machine.

Using a regular fusible web? Remove the hoop from the machine and fuse your Peace Sign in place.

Please please accept my apologies for the fuzzies. Apparently, I placed the black fabric on batting.

Begin stitching your Peace Sign down. Remember I suggested you save the center cutouts? You could also add these to give a reverse applique look. See the photo above, the shape under the needle.

After you have stitched around all your shapes, choose your layout and trim the background fabric as needed. Add the 4" finished border strips if you like.

This is my Peace Sign border with the border strip to the right as I wanted the Peace Sign applique border to be separate from the rest of the quilt.

Peace sign and flip flops.

The wind was blowing as usual while trying to take photos.

I love the Cute Car doing wheelies. All of the dies that were chosen represent the hippy era well, and I love that you are able to use the cutout from the Peace Die.

AccuQuilt offers a free embroidery download with purchase for all of the applique shapes except for the lettering of Peace and Love. These are pretty easy to run a straight stitch around though.

All of the fuzzies were removed and you have the final photo with the ol' truck. One of my sisters told me if someone broke into my home and the only thing missing was this quilt, "It's not at my house."

The Peace Sign die would also pair well with 6" finished or larger quilt blocks.

If you make your own version of this tutorial, please share the photo on social media using the hashtag #AccuQuiltBuilt and don't forget to tag @fortheloveofgeese and @AccuQuilt so we can see your fun creation!