Woohoo! I finished ALL of my quilts on my 2021 Finish Those UFQs list! I hope you were able to make some progress on you list, and I hope you are motivated to continue working on those unfinished quilts.
You can download the FREE Quilt Project tracker here:
My Goal was to finish my throw size Colorful Tiles Quilt and I did it! This was my last quilt on my unfinished quilts list. I started it in 2017! I can’t believe I finished all of them….well this doesn’t count the stack of pot holders, half made coffee cozies and pillow covers. But that’s a whole different list.
I decided to make a scrappy binding for this quilt with the left over scraps. Thankfully I had enough to bind this quilt. I love the look of a scrappy binding!
FUTURE GOALS
My goal going forward is to finish a quilt after I finish the top! I got my backing fabric in the mail for my baby size Butterflies and Blooms Quilt (in my shop July 13th). So I’m hoping to baste, quilt and bind that before I start making the throw size Butterflies and Booms quilt.
List all of your unfinished quilts on the project tracker
post your weekly progress in the Facebook Group or on Instagram with the hashtag #FinishThoseUFQs2021
Since my list is done, I’ll be working on my new Butterflies and Blooms quilts. But you can feel free to keep posting your finishes in my quilt along group.
I’m hoping to have the next quilt along start in September or early October!
JOIN ME for the LAST weekly LIVE Check in chat in the Facebook Quilt Along group, today (June 29th) at 7 PM PDT.
Welcome to Week 5 of the Finish Those UFQs 2021! I hope you are getting things checked off your list! Sometimes it’s hard to finish older project, when new projects are so much fun. I am really wanting to cut into some new fabric for a new design I have been drawing. But I really want to get another quilt checked off my list first.
You can download the FREE Quilt Project tracker here:
I had the goal to was to finish the binding on my Joyful Meadows Quilt, which I did! Yay!
My second goal was to baste and quilt my Starlight Mountains Quilt. I basted it and have gotten 2/3rds of the quilting done.
We spent most of the weekend painting doors, trim, walls and the ceiling in our hallway. So I didn’t have any time to sew. But I’m happy with the progress I made! I marked out the rest of my lines with my hera marker this morning!
THIS WEEKS GOAL
I am hoping to finish the quilting on the above Starlight Mountains Quilt, attach the binding and maybe finish sewing the binding on.
HOW TO JOIN
Print the project tracker
List all of your unfinished quilts on the project tracker
post your weekly progress in the Facebook Group or on Instagram with the hashtag #FinishThoseUFQs2021
We are starting the 3rd week of the Finish Those UFQs 2021 challenge! Did you make any progress on your list? It’s not too late to download the FREE quilt project tracker and get working on some older quilts!
LAST WEEK My goal was to work on my baby size Plaid’N Perky Quilt! I’m so excited to check to some boxes off my listed. I finished the binding on this one last night! So I still need to get a full photo of it outside sometime today. On my last LIVE video in the Facebook Quilt Along group, you all helped me pick the navy colored binding. I love how it turned out!
This quilt was made using fabric from the Wander collection by Joel Dewberry for FreeSpirit Fabrics.
THIS WEEKS GOAL
My goal this week is to get the backing ready, baste and quilt this baby size Joyful Meadows Quilt. I made this top during the Joyful Meadows Quilt along earlier this year. I plan on echoing the design with the quilting. So this will take more time than the quilting on my Plaid’N Perky quilt.
HOW TO JOIN
Print the project tracker
List all of your unfinished quilts on the project tracker
post your weekly progress in the Facebook Group or on Instagram with the hashtag #FinishThoseUFQs2021
JOIN ME for the LIVE Check in Chat over in my Happy Cloud Creations Quilt Along Group at 7 PM PDT on Tuesday May 4th. I’ll add the video to this blog after it’s been filmed.
Finish Those UFQs 2021 Challenge schedule: April 27th – Week 1 – Write out your list May 4th – Week 2 May 11th – Week 3 May 18th – Week 4 May 25th – Week 5 June 1st – Week 6 June 8th – Week 7 June 15th – Week 8 June 22nd – Week 9 June 29th – Week 10
I have been thinking about what I should work on next. I just finished releasing my Plaid’N Perky Quilt Pattern. I had thought about doing another quilt along in the group, but my kids are staying home and doing remote learning for the rest of this school year. I decided I don’t think I will have the time or energy to host a quilt along.
I really want to be productive this Spring and Summer. So I thought to motivate me and motivate you, we could do an early ‘Finish those UFQs’ Spring Summer edition! I usually do one of these in November. But I thought it may be fun to do it early this year.
I’m sure I’m not the only one needing to work on some older projects! So, download the FREE Project tracker and join in the fun of finishing some quilts! If you still have your project tracker from the last Finish Those UFQs, you can keep working on that. Or you can download this new one that now has a spot for ‘Backing Ready’.
List all of your unfinished quilts on the project tracker
post your weekly progress in the Facebook Group or on Instagram with the hashtag #FinishThoseUFQs2021
Each week I’ll share a blog post and jump on a LIVE video in the group to share my progress with you and chat!
I’m excited to see how much progress we can make!! Happy Quilting! Andrea
Finish Those UFQs 2021 Challenge schedule: April 27th – Week 1 – Write out your list May 4th – Week 2 May 11th – Week 3 May 18th – Week 4 May 25th – Week 5 June 1st – Week 6 June 8th – Week 7 June 15th – Week 8 June 22nd – Week 9 June 29th – Week 10
Here is my list so for now, from oldest to newest! I’m still debating which one I will work on first.
Stepping Stone Quilt – I made 4 of the baby size quilts and plan on sewing them together. This was supposed to be a family snuggle quilt for the couch. So I put Cloud fabric and Snow fabric in it. It also needs to be basted, quilted and bound
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Welcome to the last week of the Joyful Meadows Quilt Along! I can’t believe this quilt along is already finishing up. It has been so much fun quilting with you all! Thank you all for joining in the fun!
LIVE VIDEO
Join me tomorrow, Feb. 24th at 9 am PST (West Coast USA) for a LIVE video in my Facebook Group to go over Week 7 – Putting our quilt top together, Basting, Quilting and Binding our quilts!
You can watch this in my Facebook Group! If you can’t make it LIVE, that’s ok! I will save it to the Facebook group and upload it to my YouTube channel!
GRAB THE PATTERN! This quilt pattern will be 10% OFF thru the end of the quilt along (March 2nd)
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.
There are so many different types of batting. I really love the Warm Company products! I have been using the Warm and Plush a lot lately because it is a little thicker than the Warm and Natural and the Warm and White cotton battings.
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. I’ve tried several different types of spray baste. Some are better than others. I love the Sulky temporary spray, it is low odor and doesn’t give you much overspray at all. But you need to make sure you will be quilting it in the next few days because the spray disappears in 2-5 days. 505 Temporary adhesive spray has come highly recommended by several quilters to me. I ran out and didn’t have any for this project. It has great stickiness without being overly sticky. I love that it does not get all over the place like some other sprays I have used. I will definitely be using this spray again. 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 Emily Dennis of Quilty Love. Spray Baste Tutorial Morgan Kelly has a great table top spray basting tutorial on her Instagram. Table Top Spray Baste Tutorial
Pin basting: You can use large curved 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!
For my original quilt I used my foot and outlined the design lining my walking foot up with the seams of the design. Since I made the baby size and my batting says I need to be at least 6 inches apart, I didn’t need to mark any lines out. I just used the seams, which made it really quick and easy.
Hand Tie your Quilt: Some prefer to tie there quilt. Suzy Quilts has an cool way of tying quilts. Check out her Tutorial!
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! Make sure to post them in the Quilt Along Group on on Instagram with the Hashtag #JoyfulMeadowsQAL
Wow! I can’t believe we are making our last block this week! This quilt along sure when fast. I have been loving seeing everyone quilt blocks. I also love seeing everyone kind comments on everyone’s photos in the quilt along group. What a wonderful bunch of quilters.
This week we only need to make 1 of Block 3! This will give people time to catch up if they haven’t finished last weeks blocks yet.
I had originally designed this quilt will all the same sized blocks, but that had cut off the points on this flower/star and placed them into the side blocks. So in an effort to have less seams and a complete center block, I decided to make this center block larger than the rest. I’m so happy I did. I think this block repeated in a quilt would look super awesome and I may have to try it!
LIVE VIDEO: JOIN ME tomorrow Feb. 17th at 9 am PST for a LIVE video in my Facebook Quilt Along Group to go over making this block! And I will answer any questions you have.
Welcome to Week 5 of the Joyful Meadows Quilt Along! We are moving along to our 2nd Block! The week we will be making 4 of Block 2. This block is a little more involved and may take a little longer than last weeks block. But that’s ok, because we only have to make 1 block next week. So you can finish your block 2’s up next week if needed.
I am loving seeing everyone blocks over in the Facebook Quilt Along group! Make sure to post your photos to share in the fun!
LIVE VIDEO: JOIN ME tomorrow Feb. 10th at 9 am PST for a LIVE video in my Facebook Quilt Along Group to go over making this block! And I will answer any questions you have.
Welcome to Week 4 of the Joyful Meadows Quilt Along! It’s Block making time! Yay! This week we will make 4 of Block 1.
When I make a quilt I like to make all the harder units in the beginning to get them out of the way. Since all of our flying geese are already done, these blocks will go together quickly!
Having a correct 1/4 inch seam will be very helpful this week. If your seam allowance is too big or too small your pieces won’t match up correctly, and then your blocks won’t end up the correct sizes.
You can test your seam allowance by: Sewing (3) 2 1/2 x 4 inch strips together. Press the seams, to the side or open (what you usually do). The center strip should measure 2 inches wide exactly. If it doesn’t, you can move your needle accordingly.
LIVE VIDEO: JOIN ME tomorrow Feb. 3rd at 9 am PST for a LIVE video in my Facebook Quilt Along Group to go over making this block! And I will answer any questions you have.
Good Morning! It’s Week 3 of the Joyful Meadows Quilt Along! Last week we started our flying geese. If you didn’t finish them, that’s OK! This week we will only be making Half Square Triangles, and we are only making 4 combos. So you will have plenty of time left over to finish up those flying geese from last week!
I love the half square triangle unit! I love that you can make so many different designs using just this one unit. It’s a really easy unit for beginners to try too.
When I make my half square triangles, I like making them slightly larger than needed and then trimmed to size. So when making them this week, make sure to see what size you need to trim them too. Making sure you keep the diagonal seam centered in each corner.
You will be setting these half square triangles aside for Week 6 Block 3 of this quilt along.
Welcome to the second week of the Joyful Meadows Quilt Along! This week we will make our flying geese. This pattern has a lot of flying geese, so if you don’t get them all done this week, that’s ok! Next week we will be making a tiny bit of half square triangles, so you will have time to finish up those flying geese.
This pattern has directions to make the flying geese two different ways: 1. 4 at 1 time method – made slightly larger and trimmed to size 2. 1 at 1 time method
I love using the 4 at 1 time no waste method to make my flying geese. With some of my previous patterns and quilt alongs, some people LOVE this method and others Hate it! So I had some suggestions to make the flying geese slightly larger than needed, so they could be trimmed to size. I love this option because it gives you more wiggle room with sewing these together. In the end you can get a more precise flying geese.
I added the 1 at 1 time method to the pattern because this is a tried and true method for accurate flying geese. These do take a little longer and waste a little be more fabric than the 4 at 1 time flying geese method. But You can get great results using this method.
JOIN ME – tomorrow, Wednesday at 9 am PST (west coast USA) in the Facebook Quilt Along Group for a LIVE video. I will be going over how to make these two methods of flying geese. And I will be answering any questions you have.
Are you making this quilt in 2 colors? I am using my floral for A-G and white for H so, I am using the 4 at 1 time method and I will need: 8 – A-G/H combos (Floral will be the big square with 4 small white squares) making a total of 32 flying geese 14 – H/A-G combos (White will be the big square with 4 small floral squares) making a total of 56 flying geese
QUILT ALONGSCHEDULE Quilt Along Overview (with tester photos) Jan 12, 2021 – WEEK 1 – Cut all the pieces Jan 19, 2021 – WEEK 2 – Make ALL the Flying Geese and trim Jan 26, 2021 – WEEK 3 – Make the Half Square Triangles, finish Flying Geese from last week Feb 2, 2021 – WEEK 4 – Make 4 of Block 1 Feb 8, 2021 – WEEK 5 – Make 4 of Block 2 Feb 15, 2021 – WEEK 6 – Make 1 of Block 3 Feb 22, 2021 – WEEK 7 – Finish our quilt – Finish Quilt top, Baste, Quilt and Bind!
