Time to Quilt-along!

Fellow Quilters,

Guess what time it is?  It’s the Time to Quilt quilt-along organized by my favorite fabric company!  Northcott, Banyan Batiks and FIGO Fabrics have put together a fun, no-threads-attached quilt-along to help carry us through the next 24 days of self-isolation.  The event starts today and runs through to May 1, with weekly prizes every Friday just for posting your best blocks on the Northcott or Banyan Facebook page, or the FIGO Instagram page.  Find the link to the daily pattern on the Facebook/Instagram pages each day. I’ll be using Northcott, Banyan and FIGO fabrics for my blocks and you can use whatever fabrics you want – they don’t even need to be from Northcott/Banyan/FIGO.  Now, if you happen to like the fabrics in my blocks I’d be happy to point you in the direction of a quilt shop that purchased them (most shops are offering mail order or drive-by shopping so we can all stay safe and healthy).  I’ll also be sharing links to the social media sites of some of my colleagues who are participating as well, so you can see what their blocks look like.  We’re all using different fabrics and these quilts are going to look mah-velous!!  Christina at FIGO is using Lucky Charms and ColorWorks, fellow Banyan designer Daphne Greig of Patchworks Studio is using her Tapa Cloth collection, Banyan creative director Karen is using various pinks and blacks from Banyan Essentials, Susanne is using Banyan teal Essentials for 1 quilt and Northcott tan & black Basics for another quilt, and Hania is doing Canvas multi-colors.

Vino fabric palette

So, let me explain a bit about MY version of the Time to Quilt quilt-along.  I deliberated over which fabrics to use – should I use Northcott, Banyan or FIGO? I am a Banyan designer so I should of course use my Vino fabrics, however the prototype quilt (Susanne’s teal Essentials version) is made with Banyan fabrics.

Banyan Essentials version

My fellow modern quilt guild members expect me to use FIGO (of course!) and I didn’t want to disappoint, however Christina is using Lucky Charms.  Perhaps, then, I should use Northcott, though Susanne and Hania are working on Northcott Basics versions.  While scouring the shelves of the Northcott sample room my eyes fell upon a stack of luscious, gorgeous, delicious Shimmer samples.

Shimmer fabric palette

Without any self-control I reached out and coveted them.  Okay, I admit it – I fondled them, actually.  It became apparent that I would do 3 versions of the Time to Quilt quilt-along.

FIGO Midsommar fabric palette

I quickly snapped up some scraps of FIGO’s Midsommar with coordinating Lucky Charms and got to work on my plans.

Vino block 1

The size of the block in the daily pattern link is 9” finished (9½” edge-to-edge).  The quilt-along has 24 different blocks and each block is made twice – there is a positive and negative for each, so you cut the exact same pieces from each of 2 fabrics to get 2 positive/negative blocks.

After 24 days, we’ll have (48) 9” blocks, enough to do a 54” x 72” quilt, or 69” x 89” with 1” sashing and 5” borders.  To do this 9” version you’ll need (48) ⅛yd pieces or (24) fat ¼’s plus fabric for sashing and border.  I think this size would look great with the Vino ice wine collection and I selected 12 different fabrics, ¼ – ½yd of each plus some extra cream border/sashing fabric to use in the blocks as well.

Now, not content to leave well enough alone, I thought “Wouldn’t it be more interesting to do a different size block for each of the 3 versions I’m doing?”  If you’ve made any of my patterns, you know I usually include 2-3 size options in each pattern (I like to add value to the pattern).  I got out my calculator, opened up my Electric Quilt file for the quilt-along, and played.  Each block is a variation of a 9-patch so in the 9” block each “patch” is 3”.  What if I increased the “patch” to 4”?  By super-sizing the block to 12” and increasing the sashing to 1¼” with a 7¾” border I can make a 93¾” x 118½” quilt.  Nice, with nice big blocks!  The Shimmer samples would work perfectly for this size, combined with solid black ColorWorks.  It will be stunning.  For this size option I am using 2 fat¼’s or ½yd of 24 shades from the Shimmer collection, perhaps adding some black in the blocks since the shipping samples are only 14” x width-of-fabric.

What other size options would work?  If I reduced my “patch” to 1½” my block would be 4½” for a 27” x 36” quilt, or 32½” x 41½” with a 2¾” border and no sashing.  This would make a darling wall quilt or baby quilt.  Would this work for the fresh happy Midsommar collection?

Midsommar make-it-mini quilt

The small pieces would definitely challenge my pedal-to-the-metal sewing style, however I’m willing to give it a go.  For this size option I have roughly a fat⅛ of 24 fabrics, though some of my fabrics are truly scraps so I will substitute my gray Lucky Charms border fabric in some of the blocks and place those blocks around the perimeter of the quilt before adding the border.  I love this quilt!

I have revised the Northcott/Banyan/FIGO instructions to include the super-size 12” block and the make-it-mini 4½” block and you can find them here.  Today’s block is easy – 8 half-square triangle units and one square. 

Sew 1/4″ each side of the line

We sew these the easy way, by placing 2 squares right sides together drawing a line from corner to corner and stitching ¼” away from each side of the line, then cutting along the line to make 2 half-square-triangle units.  I find it is faster and easier to feed these squares under the sewing foot than when I cut the squares into triangles first, then pair up the triangles, especially when I chain-piece them.

Today’s tip:  After cutting my 2 fabrics into strips, I paired up a #1 and #2 strip and placed the strips right sides together to cross-cut them into squares.  This saves a step!

Stack strips right sides together then cut squares

Chained pairs

Cut along line

Your blocks will be done before you know it 😊.  And just like that I have 2 each of my first block done.

Block 1 done!

I’ll see you back here tomorrow for Block #2.

Cheers,

Patti