Sew Along Update - Week 2

Welcome to Week 2! Let's begin with an introduction from Dee.

Does “March” sound like an order to you, too?  The month is named after the Roman god of war.  The first two months of a new year are full of resolve.  Then that “new car smell” of a fresh start seeps out into the snow and ice, ice and rain, rain and wind, darkness, a cozy quilt, and a nap.

But as the preset timers on my pretend candles remind me, the sun is setting later every day. The light is coming back, and a bit of warmth, and a jolt of motivation.  Let’s March!

Grab some virtual flowers artfully draw on delicious fabric, and let’s get to gardening in textiles.

 

How did you all do with your fabric decisions this week? Did you "march" straight away to your sewing room and begin searching? Was it fun plowing through your stash? Or maybe you used these "marching orders" as an excuse to shop for new stuff? Maybe a little of both? However you decide, if you are stitching along with us, I hope you are enjoying the process of fabric selection. 

I am sharing a few very varied (very varied?) options with you today. Both Sharon and Dee have gathered their choices and sent pictures. First, we will study Sharon's dreamy collection.

Most of her fabrics are from the second release of Paris Flea Market, a line by 3 Sisters/Moda from several years ago. The polka dot on the side is an older, complimenting fabric from another company. Won't this just be an absolute dream as it comes together?

Dee has chosen a livelier grouping of prints for her sew along quilt. As a quilter of mostly baby quilts in recent years, her stash options were limited, so she did some online shopping to enhance her existing fabrics.

A vivacious, colorful quilt awaits Dee as she begins working with these luscious fabrics, for sure. You may recognize some Rifle Paper Company prints among her options, as well as some Riley Blake, Art Gallery, and Michael Miller.

I am thrilled to share that Frienzie Pam says she is going to join in on the sew along fun. (Side note: Do you know Frienzies? We are 8 friends who taught together at CHS; the friendships have continued into our retirements and we try to meet monthly.) Pam sent a picture of fabric taken from a stash she inherited from her husband's aunt. She says she will "play it by ear" as far as how big she will make her quilt.

These are going to make such a difference in how her quilt will look. The rich, darker, deeper hues of the colors are sure to be dramatic.

In the official first post about the sew along (click here to read it) I mentioned that one option might be to do a patriotic version. It just so happens that I have a rather healthy stash of such fabrics that came to me from my grandmother. I think I will make this version, as I do not have a truly patriotic quilt in my closet.

All this variety! Seeing the quilts come together will certainly be an eye-opening visual lesson in how fabrics can change a pattern's looks. This is an area of quilt-making that fascinates me still after decades of quilting.

I have another tidbit to share with reference to that first post. I explain that the inspiration for our quilt came from Helen Philipps, blogger, quilter, and crafter. Here is the picture that initially caught my eye. I reached out to Helen to let her know of our sew along, and to be sure we weren't infringing on any pattern rights.

from Helen Philipps' Instagram

 

I have heard from Helen! She assures me that she has not made a pattern, and goes on to encourage us to tag her on IG so that she can follow our progress. How sweet! She says "Happy sewing to you and your friends...such a great way to get through lockdown and to enjoy any other time too!"

WHAT TO DO AFTER FABRIC SELECTION

The next step after fabric selection is to begin cutting. I have to assume if you are following a quilting blog, you are a quilter, and therefore, you know the basics of cutting strips and squares. And you probably know about strip-piecing, too. I strip-pieced my Spring Dreams quilt, as I used just one background, which made it super simple. If you are using multiple backgrounds, then it becomes a bit more complicated, but still doable. You probably just want to be sure that the varied prints and backgrounds look as randomly placed as possible.

Above are three strip sets for strip-piecing 9-patch blocks. I used 18" lengths of prints on my WOF neutral strips. After sewing and pressing several strips such as these, I sub-cut them into 2.5-inch units, shown below.

If you are going with a very scrappy look, then you might prefer to make your 9-patches with individual 2.5-inch squares, instead of the units from strip piecing.

All the blocks for my scrappier version of Spring Dream were made by sewing individual squares together to make the 9-patches. Not as efficient, but the process does not take that much more time. I find that I take more time deciding fabric placement than I should, and it really does not matter tremendously much. Just be sure to do 4 darks and 5 lights. 

And that is enough to digest for this coming week. I hope you are not feeling overwhelmed. This sew along is meant to be as stress-free as possible. NO PRESSURE! Enjoy the process. Take your time. No prizes for fast finishes.

If you are participating, please feel free to post a comment here or hook up with me over on Instagram. The more the merrier.

Happy Quilting, Friends!