QUILTsocial Week - 2 1/2" squares challenge

To start my blog posts at QUILTsocial, I decided to do what most quilters do at the beginning of a new year - try and use what I have! That led to a fun challenge of incorporating all of the squares in a mini charm pack - 42, 2 1/2" squares - into some projects.

Let's see how I did!

First up is this easy to piece tablerunner - no triangles!

The PFAFF performance icon and the 2 1/2" square challenge

With no unit construction this runner goes together fast! I used the Patchwork program on the performance icon to make it even easier. 

The Patchwork Program makes quick work of chain piecing

Then it was on to quilting it and again I relied on the built in stippling stitches on the performance icon to help me get a fast finish. I love the wavy quilting and it's a perfect whimsy touch to what could otherwise be stoic rows of squares.

See how easy quilting can be with the PFAFF performance icon

It's a bit modern looking for me and definitely not my usual bright colors, but guess what? I'm using it on my bedroom dresser and really like looking at it. It's just the right shades of spring with the grey that make me feel calm and lift my spirits at the same time.

With more squares to use up I added a challenge within my challenge :) I decided to make a mug rug in this year's Pantone colors of the year. Some built in decorative stitches livened up the squares. And I used my favorite - floating stitches!

Floating stitches turn a nine-patch block into a pretty mug rug

Last but not least, I made a mini word of the year quilt. And used up all of the squares!

Easily edit font and decorative stitches for a mini word-of-the-year quilt

Needless to say I enjoyed this challenge. Now to decide on the next one!

Any ideas? What would you like to see my try this year and share with you? Leave a comment - I'd love to know!

With Joy,

Sarah V.

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Dazzle Quilt Along Week 1

 I'm sew glad you're here!

This is Week 1 for the Quilt along featuring the Dazzle Quilt pattern.

Paper pattern available through QuiltWoman.com.

These posts will always be available so start when you're ready!

You can find a link to all of the posts in one spot - right here.

Let's get started!

Read the Pattern

This week is all about cutting your fabrics. I like to read through the quilt pattern and look at all the photos/diagrams before cutting. Why? Well, sometimes a photo tells you things you need to see to understand. 

I look and think about 

what is creating the design elements that I like

and 

how I can make that happen with my fabrics?

Sometimes it's the fabric that makes the quilt!

When looking at the Dazzle quilt it's hard to see where one block ends and another begins. Part of the look of the quilt is a result of the fabrics chosen; there are essentially two background fabrics and there needs to be high contrast between them. In addition, the more contrast the better between all of the fabrics to keep the 'dazzle' strong! 

I chose bold colors for this quilt and added one white background. The bird print below will be in the center of each block. I don't recommed prints with obvious, small scale repeats because with the cutting and piecing it will be hard to maintain directionality.

I chose this bird print below because it is multi directional - the birds are different sizes and fly in different directions with no obvious repeat to my eye. The dark background of this print will contrast nicely with the rest of my bold fabrics - and a bit of the pink and a shade of the blue are also in it - I had to use it!

That's not to say a low volume contrast won't also create a quilt that dazzles.

Here's a mockup I did using Good Vibes fabric and the baby size Dazzle quilt. Here I used two light volume fabrics for the background fabrics. The rest are still bolder, but the feel is less vibrant and the overall look more restful to the eye. Notice here how important the center fabric is to moving the eye around the quilt - here the shooflys are more dominant in the design.

Week 1 To Dos

~Cut fabrics for the quilt top

You might want to wash and/or iron them first. I used to be a wash-everything-as-it-comes-into-my-sewing-room kind of quilter, but that was years ago! Now I iron before cutting and feel no anxiety about colorfastness or shrinkage. I use the best cotton fabrics I can afford.

Use the cutting instructions in the pattern to cut the pieces for the entire quilt top. This will make the rest of the sew along all about sewing! I even cut the binding strips and have them ready to sew together.

The Dazzle quilt pattern has a fabric selection sheet;

 clip a small piece of each fabric and glue it to this page. 

I refer back to this page often as I sew - it's worth the time and fabric!

~Keep the cut fabrics organized

For this quilt it's pretty easy to keep the pieces organized. You can put your cut pieces in a container until next week if you're like me and making other things too!

~Share!

Join me in my facebook group where you can share photos of your fabrics.  Or simply leave a comment on this post telling me you're sewing along :)

Enjoy cutting this week!

Sarah V.

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Newsletter subscribers have access to a free weekly tracker for this Quilt Along :)

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Dazzle Quilt Along

 The first Sew Joy Quilt Along for 2021 is the Dazzle Quilt!

You can read more about the pattern if you'd like in this post - Dazzle Quilt.

Purchase the pattern in my online shop - Dazzle quilt - or at QuiltWoman.

This quilt along is planned for weekly sewing and will last 3 months.

Here's how I've chunked the constructing of the quilt:

Week 1 - Fabrics & cutting

Week 2 - Flying Geese

Week 3 - HSTs with Fabric A

Week 4 - HSTs with Fabric B

Week 5 - Corner Squares

Week 6 - Corner A/C units

Week 7 - Corner B/C units

Week 8 - Geese & Squares

Week 9 - Block Ds

Week 10 - Block Es

Week 11 - Quilt Top

Week 12 - Finish Quilt

Week 13 - Dazzle!

Newsletter subscribers have access to a free printable weekly tracker for this quilt along. 

Sign up here!

Join my facebook group where you can share photos and chat with other quilters. I might even do some live posts there this time! 

Sew Joy Creations facebook group

I created a free Sew Along Checklist for Quilters - use it to get ready for this, or any other, sew along!

Sew Joy Sew Along Checklist for Quilters

You can also find me sharing progress photos over on instagram. #dazzleqal

With Joy,

Sarah V.

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2020 Monthly Color Challenge quilt top

 It's the end of the 2020 Monthly Color Challenge and I have a quilt top!

This month's color was red and, due to the size of my fabric pieces, I reversed my dark and light reds.

The linkup at Jen's blog is still open this weekend to give you a chance to win one of the amazing prizes she gathered for this quilt along.

Jen has also supplied a setting for the blocks which is fantastic! Go see! Challenge Layout

I used stash for my fabrics and didn't have enough of most to make a go of her setting so I decided to try out my Summer Sampler setting pattern instead.

It made for a really big quilt! I like how picking the neutral colors for the setting makes the colors pop but also ties them together.

You can find the Summer Sampler Setting pattern in my online shop.

Happy to have a quilt top finish already in 2021!

Jen is doing it all again this year with a theme of veggies to inspire her color choices. January's block is already available so you can start today :)

With Joy,

Sarah V.

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Finishes in 2020

 It's been hard this year to keep track of time and accomplishments. I'm so grateful that I had this time off to look back on what I finished this year. 

I started the year with a mini quilt for my word of the year. Who knew how much I would need to believe this year!

I kept the rainbow theme going in February with this fun pincushion! It was one of my featured projects for my posts on QUILTsocial. You can find all the links in this blog post:

Rainbow pincushion and lucky thread catcher

I made and finished this Oh My Stars quilt in February and March. It was my guild's fun day project. This quilt has stayed in my house and is currently on my daughter's bed.

My daughter came home for a bit earlier in the year. We made a quilt together! This rainbow quilt lives with her and definitely was a highlight of my quiltmaking this year. You can read more about it and see that it has another quilt as it's backing - from 2015!

Time to create again with the PFAFF performance icon which led to this fun modern quilt. I played with the radiating stitches and used a story to help me quilt it. You can find the links and see closeups of these happy stitches in this post.

Modern Baby Quilt

At some point I also finally quilted my Bunny Lady quilt. This was a 10 year old UFO - I know I have more from 10 years ago that still need finished but this post is about finishes so we won't go there ;)

I tried free-motion quilting this year, thanks to the features on the PFAFF performance icon. This heart cushion cover was a fun challenge for me. 

Cushions are a quick finish! This one was fun too - a free block and one of my new patterns combined for a summer project. 

Quiltblockmania - Sleeping Under the Stars

In August I hosted my first Sew Joy Sew Along and finished another quilt.

The Dropping In quilt is a quick project and a great pattern for bold fabrics. 

You can still follow the sew along posts to make your own this year.

Teaching full time during a pandemic left little mental time or energy for quilting for the last few months of the year. I did still have a few more projects for QUILTsocial and this bedrunner was one of them. I'm not sure if there hadn't been a pandemic that I would have reached into my saved fabrics and made this project.

Vintage Holiday Quilted Bedrunner

I now have 4 of these placemats finished. I wanted to update the photos for this free pattern and now I have a set of placemats to use between Christmas and New Years!

9s a Charm Placemat Pattern

I finished up my QUILTsocial posts this year - with another pincushion! Can you really have too many LOL! I guess I'll have to put my thinking cap back on for next year's projects. 

Pincushion and Matching Threadcatcher

Looking forward to another year of creating in 2021!

With Joy,

Sarah V

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