Welcome to Week 5 of the Happy Block Swap Quilt Along brought to you by the National Quilters Circle! This week we received the LAST BLOCK!!! I can’t believe how fast this quilt along is going!
This week everyone will make only ONE block! If you are making this as a swap make 1 of your assigned blocks. If you are making this solo use Quilter 1’s instructions.
Make sure to join the NQC Block Challenge Quilt along group! In the group you will get weekly reminders of the NEW blocks. You will be able to see everyone fabric combos. And you will can view the LIVE weekly check in videos! All the information you need for the quilt along will be listed in the Announcement section of this group!
I had drawn this pattern out in the beginning of Summer, but with the kids being home and all the Summer activities, I didn’t get a chance to actually make the quilt until the kids when back to school.
I was scrolling through Stash Fabrics Sale section (not sponsored, just love their deals) and found the gorgeous Freshly Picked fabric and I had to have it. I had been wanting to use this fabric collection for a long time, and now I finally had the perfect pattern for it. They didn’t have the whole line, so I grabed a couple prints from Fabric.com (not sponsored)
I used 1/4 yard cuts from my quilt, but you can also used Fat Quarters are scraps that are large enough!
If I have to piece the backing on a quilt, I will usually go for a solid fabric or a sheet. But this gorgeous fabric was calling to be on the back!
I went with quick and easy straight line quilting for this one. And I bound it in a beautiful blue fabric from the Freshly picked line.
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Welcome to Week 8, the LAST week of our Frame It Quilt Along! I have enjoying making this quilt with you all!
You can find the Digital and Paper Pattern (USA and Canada) in my shop 15% OFF thru April 9th!! If you are located outside the USA or Canada you can find the pattern in my Etsy Shop!!
Now that you have all your blocks done, we need to turn those blocks into a quilt!
Things you will need:
Backing Fabric (at least 6 inches wider and longer than your quilt top) Quilt Batting (at least 6 inches wider and longer than your quilt top) Basting Spray or Basting Pins
Binding Fabric These are helpful but not necessary: Hera Marker to mark out your quilting lines
Walking Foot (Helps pull your quilt from both the top and the bottom)
Finishing our Quilts!
Quilt Sandwich: First you will need to make your Quilt Sandwich. You will need to cut and sew your backing fabric to make it fit under your quilt correctly. Make sure it is at least 3 inches wider than your quilt top on all sides (quilt top size + 6 inches). Trim your selvage edge off after joining your pieces.
Make your quilt sandwich by first laying down your quilt backing, wrong side facing up. Tape down to a hard surface, making fabric taut. Next lay your batting on top. Smooth out with your hands, do not stretch. Then lay your quilt top right side up, smooth out with your hands.
Basting Your Quilt:
Spray baste: My favorite way to baste my quilt is by using Spray Baste! It makes basting so much easier. If you have allergies, this is probably not a good option for you.
Find a place where you can lay out your quilt. Make sure to tape the backing fabric taut to the floor (or large table).
Here’s great spray baste tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew: Spray Baste Tutorial
Pin basting: You can use safety pin about 3 to 4 inches apart (about the width of your hand). I like to use the large curved basting pins. This takes a little longer than the spray basting, but is a great option.
Quilting your Quilt:
This step is totally up to you!
With my quilt I chose to quilt from top to bottom ‘organic’ straight lights approximately 1 inch apart. I used my walking foot with the guide set to 1 inch. I like to use my seams as a guide to help keep my lines straight.
Hand Tie your Quilt: Some prefer to tie there quilt.
Here’s a tutorial on how to do this on BluePrint.
Hand Quilt: Here’s a wonderful video tutorial by Suzy Quilts all about How to Hand Quilt.
Machine Quilt using your Walking Foot:
Emily Dennis from Quilty Love has a great tutorial on how to Zig zag quilt your quilt with a Walking foot. Click here I love this method of quilting, it give your quilt great texture.
Free Motion Quilting:
Free motion quilting can give you great texture and if you aren’t great at quilting straight lines, this would be great for you. Suzy Williams from Suzy Quilts has a great Free Motion Quilting Tutorial. Click here.
Binding Your Quilt:
Binding is the fabric strip that goes on the edge of your quilt. It covers all of the unfinished edges and rounds out your quilt.
You will want to make sure to square up your quilt before you attach the binding. Cut off the extra batting around the edges and make sure your sides are straight and corners are squared.
Most quilters will cut 2 /12 inch by width of fabric strips and then sew them together at the ends at a diagonal. Then press the strip in half, so that you are wrapping 2 layers of fabric around all of your edges.
You can machine sew the binding to the front of your quilt and wrap it around to the back and hand stitch it down. Or some prefer sewing the binding to the back of the quilt, wrapping it around to the front and machine stitching it down.
One of my favorite binding tutorials is by Suzy Williams of Suzy Quilts. Go check it out!
I’m so excited to see everyone finished quilts!
JOIN ME for a LIVE Video tomorrow (April 3, 2019) at 10:15 am PDT (West Coast USA). I will be going over these finishing steps and seeing if anyone has questions! If you can’t join me LIVE, the video will be saved to the Facebook Group, it will be available on Instagram for 24 hours and I will upload it to my YouTube channel.
Join the Quilt Along by posting your progress photo’s on Instagram with the hashtag #FrameItQAL
OR Join the Facebook Quilt Along Group and post your progress photo there!!
We are now on Week 6 of the Frame It Quilt Along! This week we will be making 4 more quilt blocks! The quilt along is following the Throw size quilt, so if you are making a different size, make extra blocks this week!
These blocks go together super quick, so it’s not too late to join in!
JOIN ME for a LIVE Video today (March 19, 2019) at 10:00 am PDT (West Coast USA). I will be jumping on to check to see if anyone has questions! If you can’t join me LIVE, the video will be saved to the Facebook Group, it will be available on Instagram for 24 hours and I will upload it to my YouTube channel.
Join the Quilt Along by posting your progress photo’s on Instagram with the hashtag #FrameItQAL
OR Join the Facebook Quilt Along Group and post your progress photo there!!
Yay! It’s week 5 of the Frame It Quilt Along! This week we will be finishing 4 of our blocks (If you are making the Throw size, adjust according to what size you are making).
Make sure to square up your block after each step.
Check the beginning and end of your seam, make sure they are a consistent scant 1/4 inch seam all the way across.
Finger press your seams open, then press with your iron.
JOIN ME for a LIVE Video today (March 12, 2019) at 10:00 am PDT (West Coast USA). I will be going over how to finish our quilt blocks. I will also be answering any questions you have! If you can’t join me LIVE, the video will be saved to the Facebook Group, it will be available on Instagram for 24 hours and I will upload it to my YouTube channel.
Join the Quilt Along by posting your progress photo’s on Instagram with the hashtag #FrameItQAL
OR Join the Facebook Quilt Along Group and post your progress photo there!!
I asked in my Quilt Along Group which pattern everyone would like to make next as a quilt along and the majority voted for my Frame It Quilt Pattern. I love the modern look of this pattern!
What you will get: Both versions will come with the Main pattern and 2 supplementals. One supplemental will give you directions how to make the square in square blocks with Half Square Triangles. The second will give you directions how to make the square in square block with the Stitch and Flip method.
The main pattern uses triangles cut on the bias. So I thought I’d give these two other options for those that are worried about sewing triangles.
I found that if you are gentle with your fabric and sew slowly, you shouldn’t have a problem with sewing the triangles on the bias. For extra help you can starch your fabric before cutting.
Quilt Size: Throw – 56 x 74 inches (12 blocks)
I will be making the Throw size, but you can choose which ever size you would like and adjust how many blocks you will finish in weeks 5 – 7. These sizes are also in the pattern: Baby (4 blocks), Twin (20 blocks), Queen (30 blocks) and King (36 blocks)
Quilt Along Schedule:
Feb. 12 – Week 1-2: Get Pattern and pick out fabrics
Feb. 26 – Week 3: Cut our pieces
Mar. 5 – Week 4: Make center units (Square in Square Block) (Step 1 – 4)
Mar. 12 – Week 5: Finish 4 Blocks
Mar. 19 – Week 6: Finish 4 Blocks
Mar. 26 – Week 7: Finish 4 Blocks
Apr. 2 – Week 8: Add sashing and Finish Quilt
Each week I will have a LIVE video to go over that weeks step and answer any questions you have! You will be able to view my LIVE videos in my Facebook Quilt Along Group: Happy Cloud Creations Quilt Alongs OR my Instagram.
After the video is done, I will upload it to my YouTube page for easy access!
Since I have received a lot of requests for the Fabric Requirements early, you can download them now! Make sure to decided which way you would like to make the blocks. The main pattern, half square triangle and stitch and flip versions all have slightly different fabric requirements.
If you like to pre-wash your fabric or if you are worried about miss cutting, but a little extra!
After I drew out this pattern I thought it would be perfect for my Brother. You can make it manly or make it more girly with floral prints. The design reminded me of Ice crystals so that’s where I came up with the name Crystal Wave. I like how the pattern echo’s out and has sharp repeating lines.
This is a 20 inch block quilt, so it goes together super quilt. It’s great for the adventurous beginner to intermediate quilter. This quilt uses my favorite 4 at 1 time no waste flying geese method. So cutting your pieces and sewing a precise 1/4 scant seem is necessary.
I thought Kona Cotton Solids would be great for this quilt. Storm (Dark), Cadet (Medium), Prairie Sky (Light) and Silver (background). It kind of give the quilt an ombre look.
Sometimes a quilt needs a little more than straight line quilting from top to bottom. With this quilt I decided to echo the pattern with 1/4 inch straight line and then about an inch from that. I used my walking foot with it’s guide.
I love how a quilt can look so different in different fabrics. Here are some of the quilts my awesome quilt testers made:
You can also find these downloads in my CRAFTSY SHOP.
Since some of you don’t care for the 4 at 1 time flying geese method, I’ve made a PDF that goes over what size pieces you will need to cut to make your flying geese with the 1 at a time method or by using half square triangles. This week we will be making the 3 1/2 x 6 1/2 inch flying geese.
Tips for making 4 at 1 time flying geese: * Go slow when sewing for accurate seams
*Use an accurate scant 1/4 inch seam * Make sure to read ALL the instructions and look at the diagrams closely * Finger press your seams open before using your iron * Press seams without steam if possible (Dry iron) * When Pressing, press down with out motion. Moving your iron around a lot can distort your flying geese
Join me at 10am PDT (West Coast USA) in the FACEBOOK GROUP or on INSTAGRAM today for a LIVE Video to go over how to make this block. I will go over how to make the flying geese and answer any questions you have.
Cloudy Day Quilt Sampler Quilt Along Schedule: September 19th – Download Fabric Requirements and Blank Coloring Sheet
October 2nd – Block 1
October 9th – Block 2
October 16th – Block 3
October 23rd – Block 4
October 30th – Block 5
November 6th – Block 6
November 13th – Block 7
November 20th – Block 8
November 27th – Block 9
December 4th – Finishing Instructions
Share your progress:
On Instagram use the hashtag: #cloudydayqal On Facebook you can join the quilt along group: JOIN THE GROUP
Happy Quilting!
Andrea
My fabric’s for Block 1! I usually use yardage for my quilts. I have a bunch of Fat Quarters, so I thought try something different and go scrappy!
Wow! It’s already the last week of our Aloha Ripple Quilt Along! It has gone by so fast. Last week we put our quilt tops together, this week we will Baste, Quilt and Bind our quilts.
Basting Your Quilt: Spray baste: My favorite way to baste my quilt is by using Spray Baste! It makes basting so much easier. If you have allergies, this is probably not a good option for you.
Find a place where you can lay out your quilt. Make sure to tape the backing fabric taut to the floor (or large table).
Here’s great spray baste tutorial by Cluck Cluck Sew: Spray Baste Tutorial
Pin basting: You can use safety pin about 3 to 4 inches apart (about the width of your hand). I like to use the large curved basting pins. This takes a little longer than the spray basting, but is a great option.
Quilting your Quilt:
This step is totally up to you! I like to straight line quilt my quilt with my walking foot on my domestic machine. With my floral Aloha Ripple Quilt I quilted from the center out following the seams, so there was only about a 1/4 of the quilt in my sewing machine throat at a time.
Hand Tie your Quilt: Some prefer to tie there quilt.
Here’s a tutorial on how to do this on Craftsy.
Machine Quilt using your Walking Foot:
Emily Dennis from Quilty Love has a great tutorial on how to Zig zag quilt your quilt with a Walking foot. Click here I love this method of quilting, it give your quilt great texture.
Free Motion Quilting:
Free motion quilting can give you great texture and if you aren’t great at quilting straight lines, this would be great for you. Suzy Williams from Suzy Quilts has a great Free Motion Quilting Tutorial. Click here.
Binding Your Quilt: Binding is the fabric strip that goes on the edge of your quilt. It covers all of the unfinished edges and rounds out your quilt.
You will want to make sure to square up your quilt before you attach the binding. Cut off the extra batting around the edges and make sure your sides are straight.
One of my favorite binding tutorials is by Suzy Williams of Suzy Quilts. Go check it out!
Since I was using stash fabrics for my Baby size Aloha Ripple Quilt, I decided to go with a scrappy binding. I didn’t have enough of one color, so I used all the colors!
Join me LIVE!! If you have any questions, make sure to join me for my LIVE VIDEO. Today (Tuesday March 13th) at 10:15 am PST (West Coast USA) I will be filming a LIVE video in the Facebook Group to go over tips and answer any questions.
Make sure to share a photo of this weeks step on social media with the hashtag #AlohaRippleQAL or join the Facebook Group and post your photos!!
You can follow me on Instagram here: Instagram.com/HappyCloudCreations
You guys! All our blocks are done and it’s time to assemble our Quilt Tops! Yay! Cloud is even excited about it!! (See above, he loves to help!) If you are just finding this quilt along now, you can get the free pattern here!
If you had consistent seams and you pieces were cut accurately, everything will line up correctly.
Make sure to lay out your blocks in the correct order.
You will then match up (nest) the seams with the block next to each other. This is why we pressed our seams in specific ways. Now they will match up and interlock nicely.
I like to pin a lot! Pin next to each interlocking seam and then in between.
I like to work in rows. Sew the top three blocks together, the middle three blocks together and the bottom three blocks together so they form 3 rows. Then you nest your seams in the three rows, pin in place and sew them together! Wah Lah! I love how fast this quilt goes together.
Join me LIVE!! If you have any questions, make sure to join me for my LIVE VIDEO. Today (Tuesday March 6th) at 10:15 am PST (West Coast USA) I will be filming a LIVE video in the Facebook Group to go over tips and answer any questions.
Make sure to share a photo of this weeks step on social media with the hashtag #AlohaRippleQAL or join the Facebook Group and post your photos!!
You can follow me on Instagram here: Instagram.com/HappyCloudCreations
