I am officially done cutting the squares for my quilt. I expected to be farther ahead by now, but that's OK. The sewing machine has been making an appearance at the kitchen table during school time so I WILL get done on time. Really, I will! :)
First off, what is a quilt-a-long?
Well, my version is a once a week tutorial posted here on my blog, complete with pictures and lots of instruction. This will take place over a period of 6 weeks, starting on Monday, January 25th. The breakdown of posts will look something like this:
week one: choosing and preparing your fabrics
week two: cutting the pieces for the quilt (all squares and rectangles)
week three: sewing your quilt top together
week four: assembling your "quilt sandwich"
week five: machine quilting
week six: binding your quilt
As you can see, there is plenty of time in each week to do each lesson, especially if you set aside 15-30 minutes each day (maybe a bit more if you are a beginner, and for the machine quilting week) for working on your project. If you get behind, the posts will be here on my blog for you to look at whenever you need them.
Who can play along? Anyone! If you have been looking for some motivation to learn to quilt or to make your 100th quilt, it would be fun to have you along for the ride. I will starting a FLICKR group for posting progress pictures and discussion, so this could be a fun way to get to know some bloggers. Just like an old-fashioned quilting-bee.
Here is the quilt pattern we will be making (the finished size is approximately 62" X 50"--a lap quilt):
I do have some fabric yardage amounts, but not all of them. That is why I am remaking the quilt, so I can get all the specs right. Here is what I have for now:
For the printed rectangular pieces (on the quilt-top): 1/3 yard each of 10 different fabrics (a total of 3-1/3 yards)
For the white/neutral squares (on the quilt-top): 2 yards of a solid (I am using an unbleached muslin)
Keep in mind that you don't need to buy your fabrics until the week one, but if you like to be early (or if you just like to shop for fabric) you can start now.
If you are nervous about choosing your fabrics, all I can say it get what you like. Don't worry about being artistic or whether someone else will like your quilt. Trust your instincts and buy what you like.
I do need some suggestions from you!
I can not think of a good name for this quilt-a-long. Here are some things to consider in a name: We could call it a quilting-bee. The quilt resembles squares and rectangles, and also bricks. This is mid-winter and we will end right before spring starts. That's as far as I have gotten.
If you have a name for this project to share, please do. I would love some help on this!
