We are back again with month 2 of the Piece and and Quilt Sampler project.
Last month we made one block that consisted of 12- 3″ blocks surrounding a 6″ block. It was lots of little fiddly sewing so pat yourself on the back and get ready for month 2.
12- 3″ blocks for month one.Shoreline by Camille Roskelley. Aren’t these fabrics yummy?!Breakdown of what blocks to make each month
These blocks hold go together fairly quickly. Have fun with the layout and mix it up some if you want. I love squinting at the block below. The navy triangles float off the edges and the square on point adds an interesting movement.
I cannot get enough of this fabric. I am making this sampler and also my Moda blockheads5 quilt using the whites, light blues and greens.
Be sure and visit the following people as they sew along also.
I am such a fan girl of Vanessa Goertzen/Lella Boutique. Every fabric collection that she creates I become obsessed with. I don’t really need to describe why, if you know you know!
What is a word for fresh traditional modern? Vanessa’s designs cover it all.
I recently finished several of her patterns using OLD GLORY and have moved on to her FALL fabrics, HEY BOO! These colors are so fun and different for Halloween. I made the quilt that Moda will be kitting, named Pushing up Daisies. Stock # LB 231 and the quilt finishes at 80” x 80”
I have the pattern WEB, stock # LB 229, cut out and started from a retreat project.
FRANK! What can I saw about this one….freakin’ adorable and will be making him as a pillow.
Pattern # LB 232
Since I own almost all of the patterns for HEY BOO, I had to jump in on Lella’s MONSTER MASH Halloween Sampler Quilt.
Blocks are parts of patterns, Stock # LB 230, LB 231, LB 232 and LB 233. I had purchased 3 of the 4 , so all I needed was 1 more pattern to have all the parts and pieces.
You don’t have to buy all the patterns for the QAL . They will be available for purchase as downloads from Lella Boutique during the QAL.
New Year, New Projects or in this case a continuation of last year’s Blockheads 5. Each blockheads series I struggle with what my setting is going to be. While I think I am one of those go with the flow kind of gals, I know I suffer from paralysis from analysis. Knowing what the layout is, does influence the fabrics you are using in your blocks or at least the color placement.
Do you struggle from this also?
This is the newest block to start 2024 off with a bang. The block is from Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life.
This block is also by Sherri Mc Connell (round 1). I made the 6″ block inside of the 12″ block. Squint at it. I see a secondary design and think once it is quilted, it will show the design more.
I have made some of the blocks as 12″ versions but now that I know what my setting is going to be I am making all 6″ blocks.
I started my project with Nantucket fabrics by Camille Roskelley, mixed in some greens and lights from her current line Lighthearted and will be adding Shoreline which will be in stores later this spring.
We have a weekly Facebook group for Blockheads. If you have not joined the group, please do.
I decided to use the BLUEPRINT quilt by Susan Ache as inspiration for my setting. I am using 6″ blockheads blocks and larger filler blocks from the Celebrate with Quilts book. I did a quick video showing the book and the status of my progress on Blockheads.
So far the quilt has a soft and vintage feel. I can’t wait to finish it.
For a complete resource guide for everything Blockheads, visit here.
I can’t believe the Scrappy Celebration QAL is almost over. It is like putting together a puzzle and getting down to the final pieces. Happy but sad and what to do next. Thought I would share some of the pics from both color options of my quilts here.
My original quilt is the perfect combination of summer sherbet colors, but for the QAL I remade the quilt with Red, White and Blues.
I thoroughly enjoyed picking out fabrics each week for blocks.
Keeping a pile of my bits and pieces so I could pull some of the sizes I needed for other blocks came in handy. I do have leftovers and may have to make something from all these pieces.
I had been holding on to a bolt of Bonnie and Camille dots from Bliss and knew I had to use this for the backing. Then I dug through all of the leftover bias bits and thought I would funk it up some by adding some yellow to my red white and blue version. Will show the finished quilt soon.
Thank you to Electric Quilt Company for creating fun quilt design software that started this whole project.
Get the Quilt-Along Pattern
This quilt is featured in the April 2023 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting, on newsstands or at your favorite retailer NOW. (You can buy the magazine online here.)
Time flies! I can’t believe it has been 10 years since I did a quilt-along with American Patchwork and Quilting for their 20th anniversary.
Fast forward to their 30th anniversary and I am honored and proud
to be featured….on the cover…
APQ April 2023 Cover
I am a newbie to using the quilt design software, Electric Quilt. To play with this I started adding a variety of nine patches, four patches and any similar block. I fell in love with the mathematic look of the quilt and knew I just had to make it.
All images in this blog post are used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting magazine . Meredith Operations Corporation. All rights reserved.
Let’s skip to the good part. American Patchwork and Quilting is featuring my quilt as one of their 2023 QAL and they have a Facebook group you can join to play along. I am going to make another version of this quilt during this QAL using red, white and blues with my collection of Minick Simpson fabrics.
If you want to join in, the details are included below.
This quilt is featured in the April 2023 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting, on newsstands starting February 3. (You can buy the magazine online here.)
Buy a digital issue of the April 2023 issue of American Patchwork & Quiltingon Zinio.com starting February 3 (for our international friends).
Quilt-Along Schedule
The quilt-along runs from February 20-April 16. While there is a recommended sewing schedule (see below), you can also sew at your own pace!
If you’re posting on Instagram, use the hashtag #APQQuiltalong to share your progress.
I hope you join us as I share more about Electric Quilt and all things 9 patch.
and lastly THANK YOU so much to the talented team at American Patchwork and Quilting. The April issue ( on newsstands now) is full of wonderful projects and a look back over the 10 years. I have drooled over the pages and talented in this issue.
hello, Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving break. I so enjoyed the break and can never have enough food or family time. Not all my crew was able to come home but we did have a houseful.
I re-arranged my sewing room and did some SECRET SEWING and vegged on the couch some, so it was a productive break.
The countdown to Christmas has begun both at home and at work. At work we are working on getting the rest of Holiday 2022 out to our salesteam. They will be making their rounds showing stores fabric lines shipping info next summer. seams so crazy to be living in Christmas 2021 and 2022 all at the same time. FUN ! FUN!
Today’s assignment on the #OHSCRAPCHRISTMASQAL is to add your sashing pieces. I cut my sashing pieces first since they are a bigger piece and I wanted to make use of some of the larger scale prints.
The corner squares are nine patches so you can use parts and pieces from your four patches or following the directions in OH SCRAP to assemble these.
This should come together fairly quickly. I have heard from several of you that have completed your quilt top already. I know when I am excited about a quilt project I am working on, I cannot stop sewing.
As a quilter, I am so highly influenced by color so seeing some of the combinations other people have put together always inspires me. That is the reason I had to make this Christmas version, inspired by @happinessinthemaking and the Hustle and Bustle fabrics by Basic Grey.
I wanted to share just a few of the pics I found on Instagram of some of the progress happening on the QAL as more color inspiration.
This is where it all started. A fat quarter bundle and some extras. I love how Jennifer has her book on a bookstand for easy reference.
Richy’s from Basic Grey ‘s version is dreamy, using the greens where I used lights.
Kim Walus of @bittybitsandpieces has finished her quilt top and I love it. It is always amazing to me how scrappy versions can be so different and intriguing to zoom in to see all the different fabrics.
I can’t wait to see Candee complete this one. It is going to be a classic for sure!
This one just makes my heart happy. I love anything rainbow and this fun colorful set of four patches from Gina of @Games56 is a ton of fun! Gina is a long armer so I bet the quilting will be fun to see as well.
I fell in love with Jen’s 4 patches. Don’t they look like boxes of trusty fruity or mike and Ike’s? I was drawn in to the background fabric also but realized that is her Ruby Star ironing board cover.
Thanks so much for following along on this little quilting journey. Check back next week for my final post about the quilting and maybe a few other surprises.
I have had so much fun sewing with you on this QAL. I have enjoyed the pictures you have shared and so proud of those of you that have already completed your quilt top. Kuddos to you!!
This stack of completed quilt blocks looks like a hot mess but will turn into a wonderful keepsake. What is your favorite part of the quilt making process? I love picking out the fabrics, planning what the project is going to be and making a test block. Then I am very inpatient after that. I just can’t wait to see each part of the quilt develop.
Quilting is my job and my hobby but mainly it is my therapy. The hum of the sewing machine and watching bits and pieces of fabric put me in a mediative zone of some sort. I sew and sew and sew until the quilt top is complete, then I get to the point of second guessing some of my choices, kind of a lull in the process.
I send 99% of my quilt tops to be machine quilted. Once I get the quilt back from the quilter, it is like I receive a special package of magic that has made my quilt come to life. Not that the quilt is full of sparkles, glitter and neon thread, but there is just something so special about the artistry and texture that the quilter adds to my project. More on this in a future post.
I don’t have too many tips on how to assemble your blocks other than just do it and enjoy the process. Each block is a creation all it’s own when working scrappy.
What fabric is going to be the prom queen?
What fabric has a bit of the clash factor?
Squint at the blocks and see what fabric choices worked and some not so much.
Don’t dare rip anything out if you don’t like it, just learn from it.
I recently was on a photo shoot where some of my quilts were being photographed. Through the lens of the camera I saw things that were like, Oh Wow! that probably was not the best fabric placement choice. This is where I get the saying, not all the fabrics can be the prom queen and only my over critical eye of my own work would have ever even noticed.
We are taking a break for the Thanksgiving Holidays and will be back to talk a little about sashing, corner squares, pieced backs, quilting and binding.
Enjoy your family, friends and health and I am praying for moving closer to some degree of normal. (fingers crossed)
Use the hashtag #OhScrapChristmasQAL so I can follow along.
SIDE NOTE! The global supply chain has been tough this past year and has created an overall upheaval in deliveries. This is tough especially for the independent quilt retailers. Be sure and support your favorite quilt or specialty retailers during this holiday season. If you don’t have a quilter on your shopping list, then buy yourself a quilty present, wrap it, put it under the tree, act surprised when you open it and thank “whoever” bought it for you because they knew just what you wanted. (ask me how I know?)
Break for Thanksgiving
-Wednesday, Dec. 1st – Sashing
-Wednesday Dec. 8th – Assemble Quilt top
Side Bars- That is kind of a funny name for the pieces we are going to be working on this week, but I had to name them something.
These little side pieces are interval in making the design happen. Thought I would share a little history about this quilt design and my inspiration for this color option.
The geometric pattern of this quilt–commonly known as Burgoyne Surrenders or Burgoyne Surrounded–is said to refer to one of the most pivotal events in the American Revolution. In 1777, the British failed in their attempt to take control of the strategic Hudson River, and in the end British General Burgoyne with nearly six thousand of his men were surrounded by American troops and forced to surrender near Albany, New York. Burgoyne’s army is represented by the squares at the center of the blocks, encircled by the American troops. This design design could have also been inspired by the simple, grid-like patterns seen in handwoven linens and woolen coverlets of the first half of the nineteenth century.
When my book, Oh Scrap launched there were several quilt alongs using this design, but I fell in love with Haley Anderson of @happinessinthemaking Christmas version of 2019. I knew I needed to make it just like that! Does that happen to you?
Katrina Thennis you are the winner of my book, SCRAP SCHOOL.
Next week we will start assembling blocks together. Several of you are already doing this and it is so great to see your progress. Be sure and use #ohscrapchristmasqal when you share your blocks so I can follow along.
Each post will go live at 6:00 pm central.
-Wednesday, Nov. 10th – Assemble Blocks
Break for Thanksgiving
-Wednesday, Dec. 1st – Sashing
-Wednesday Dec. 8th – Assemble Quilt top
I sew any chance I get. I quite often get up early so I can sew a little before work or stay up late to work on any project I am obsessed by. To be able to work on items in short little burst of time, I have a few processes to help keep me on task. Today I am going to share how I pieced the center section of the block together. The is somewhat a mindless, therapeutic method that lets me stop and start without loosing my place.
I shared with you that the main focus fabrics for this quilt were from Hustle and BustIe by Basic Grey and that I also added some of Christmas Morning by Lella Boutique. The fabrics above are from Christmas Morning and Red Barn Christmas by Sweetwater. Those of you that follow me often know that I am obsessed by dots. Everything I make has some dot fabric in it. I would buy an entire bolt of the red and green dot shown above. It is just that good!
I stack all my pieces on one design board and chain sew working vertically down each section. This helps me keep all my pieces in order. (shown above is just 1 layer, normally I would have layers for all the blocks needed for my quilt.)
Shown above – all my center 9 patches chain pieced and ready to join into blocks.
I do not clip the threads so this keeps the sections in order and eliminates pinning. it is hard to see in the picture but there is a few stitches from chain sewing that hold these sections together. As I sew, I flip the seam allowance towards the dark and they nest together beautifully. If you like to press your seams open, not cutting the threads can be problematic. You will need to trim the threads once you have sewn the pieces together to press open. I press my seams to the dark side so don’t have to worry about that. (remember mindless, therapeutic sewing!)
Here you can see how one side of the block is sewn together and the other side is just “hanging on by a thread” waiting to be joined.
Last week I shared how I make some of my own design boards, so if you missed that post, click here.
Leave a comment and check back here next Wednesday to see who is the winner of their own copy of Scrap School. Also giving away a copy on my instagram so , visit @modalissa for another chance to win.
Join me back here, Wednesday Nov. 3rd to make side bar section of the block. We are almost done with the sections!
How did you do on your four patches? Did you get them all done? I know it is a crazy time of year to try and tackle one more project, right? Just do what you can each week.
What is a 9-Patch? 9 squares joined together to make one block or section of a block.
For this quilt, we will be making
2 different sizes
and
styles of 9- patches.
This week is a simple basic 9-patch where all the squares are the same size. Next week will be a combination of different sizes.
If you have time and want to keep sewing, go ahead and put together your 4-patches and 9- patches into units as shown in the picture. You will need 4 per block.
I don’t have any tips on making the 9-patches but wanted to share the design boards that I use all the time. (shown above)
These design boards come ready-made in variety of sizes but I use a ton of these so I make my own from left over batting. They aren’t as pretty but they work just the same.
Shown above a variety of boards I use. The black one is the back side of one of my boards. The 2 with trim are ones I have bought.
Foam core board is available at most craft/art stores in assorted sizes. I also use the boards that are sold for science experiments which is easily assessable at many stores. Cut the foam board to your desired size and using spray adhesive, coat the batting and board following directions on the label. I wait to trim the batting to size until after I have glued it to the board. Flip over the board with batting on the bottom and using a rotary cutter you can trim the batting to the exact size of the board. 14″ is a good size for me. It fits nicely in the sewing space I have and works well with any 12″ block.
These come in so handy to stack up pieces to sew together.I don’t use a board for each block but instead use one board and stack the sections to chain sew. Plus I can put them away quickly without disrupting the pieces if I need to work on something else or the grandkids want to sew.
I can’t wait to see your progress.
Be sure and share using #ohscrapchristmasqal.
See you next week- Wednesday October 27- Center Blocks
-Modalissa
Each post will go live at 6:00 pm central.
-Wednesday Nov. 3rd – Side bars
-Wednesday, Nov. 10th – Assemble Blocks
Break for Thanksgiving
-Wednesday, Dec. 1st – Sashing
-Wednesday Dec. 8th – Assemble Quilt top
