Welcome everybody to our first online Quilt-A-Long!

2020 is the 30th anniversary of the Mid-Western Branch and we had big plans for a trip away to Kerry and  branch meetings with guest speakers from Cork to Belfast, but seeing as those plans are not possible to realise at this time, we thought we would try something different. 

Quilters are adaptable making use of what we have on hand and we hope you will dig into your stash, pull out your scraps and join us over the summer months making along with us a quilt, based on a 12 x 12 Star surround block.   

The schedule for this QAL is:

Step 1: Introduction, Design and colouring  01/06/20

Step 2: Fabric Preparation and cutting fabric for 4 blocks 15/06/20

Step 3: Half Square Triangles 29/06/20

Step 4: Flying Geese 13/07/20

Step 5: Piecing the block corner sections 27/07/20

Step 6: Piecing the middle sections 10/08/20

Step 7: Assembling the block and quilt top 24/08/20

Step 8: Backing, Binding and Quilting ideas 07/09/20

We have two versions of the block that we will be providing detailed instructions for and we encourage you to change it up, adapt it, colour it in and have fun with it. When I was playing with this design I came up with 6 different versions so don't feel like you have to stick rigidly to the pattern if you prefer to be a maverick and are comfortable working away from a pattern.  If you like following a pattern and want all the math's done for you, we have you covered.

Block 1 is a traditional version of the design with Half Square Triangles, Flying Geese and squares.  When repeated you get a secondary pattern.  We will give the pattern for a 24" block layout with borders finishing up approximately 60". 

If you want a bigger quilt you can make the block bigger or add more blocks. 

Block 2 is an easier block with less elements that gives a traditional block with a more modern quilting look.When repeated it looks like this:

The quilt using block 2 finishes at approximately 55".

Here are blank blocks for you to colour in yourself and some thoughts on choosing colours:

Block 1 uses 5 colours and a colour scheme could be Light, Medium and Dark and 2 neutrals.  Neutrals in quilting aren't just white or cream.  Colours that can work as neutrals could be white, grey, cream, brown, navy, pale blue, olive green, dark green, black, or low volume tone on tone prints.   

Examples of other colourings for inspiration are:

Block 2 uses 4 colours and a colour scheme could be a Light, Medium, Dark and one neutral or any selection of 3 colours plus background fabric that you really like.

Examples of other colourings for inspiration are:

If you are stuck for colours then try looking at the Design Seeds website.  They take a photo and pull colours from it that really work well together and can be a great source of colour inspiration.

Fabric requirements: 

As we are working from our stash and using fat quarters, yardage, layer cakes and charm packs to pull colours from and depending on how you colour your block, it is difficult to give an exact yardage.

The 24" block size is based on a 12 x 12 grid with each square measuring 2",  so you will need scraps of 2 1/2" or more for squares and 3" and above to make the half square triangles.

For the colours, you will need up to 1 yard of fabric for four blocks, for each colour

2-3 yards of background fabric is needed,  including an inner border depending on which block you choose to make. 

If you are adding an outer border, you will need a yard of fabric for the outer border.

Our next post will be on the 15th for our next step in our QAL: preparing and cutting your fabric. 

I will give options on how to best to cut your fabric depending on using pre-cuts or yardage. 

Any comments or questions please mail Midwestpatchwork@gmail.com

Stay safe and happy sewing!

©Ruth Bourke

Mid-Western Branch