Sampler Sew-Along

Back in December my sweet quilt group friends, The Frankfort Girls, entered into a little sew-along with as few rules as possible. There are seven of us, so for seven straight months, we took turns assigning a block to be made for a sampler.

Blocks from the first 6 months.

Blocks for the 7th month.

We made the blocks in fabrics that suited our individual tastes, and I believe most of us made two of each block for a total of 14 blocks. I chose to do a 2-color quilt which limited me with a couple of the blocks; my solution for any problematic block was to select a different block to do. The one that was most problematic was Card Trick, which does not work with two fabrics/colors at all. Here's an example of Card Trick done in 30s prints. It really needs to have 4 prints so that the 'cards' show up.

Okay. Now that we have arrived at July, our blocks are all done (theoretically), and we are free to go about making our quilts however we like. Today's post will detail how I plan to proceed with mine.

I have become a big fan lately of the setting block that I refer to as Stepping Stone. I made a sample over the weekend, and I think this will work well with my blocks.

All my blocks surround my one setting block.

Now to decide how to work with 14 sampler blocks and 14 setting blocks. It would make such an awkward size, so a couple more blocks are needed. I plan to add one more Ohio Star for a total of 15 sampler blocks. Then I will make 15 stepping stones which will give me the option of a quilt five blocks wide and six blocks long. My blocks finish at 9 inches, so the size without borders will be 45"x54" - a decent lap quilt. Add some borders and it will be nice to drape across a chair or the back of the couch.

Border decisions will have to be made when I see how much fabric I am left with after making all the setting blocks.

Today I am sewing at Terry's with these very same Frankfort Girls. I hope to make great progress on my setting blocks and that one additional Ohio Star. I am motivated to finish this top.

Happy Quilting, Friends!