QUILT-A-LONG THIRD MONTH – MAY 2022
May 2022 - Month Three – Wishing. . .and Hoping. . .and Planning. . and Cutting. . .
Hello QALers! I have seen so many awesome quilt blocks from so many participants! Keep those pics coming. If you’re a Quilter-Come-Lately, it’s not too late to join. See the previous posts to catch up.
This month, you should have eight 12.5 inch “made fabric” blocks. Now is when things get . . . . interesting. . . We are going to do a lot of planning and a little bit of (hopefully not too painful) cutting.
1. First things first. . . . We are cut to take a deep breath and CUT our 12.5 inch blocks in half diagonally. All of them. Don’t panic and don’t streeeetch your blocks as you cut them to keep from distorting them since you may have parts on the bias. If you’re concerned you can “stay stitch” the full block before cutting as follows: a) draw a diagonal line across the quilt block; b) stitch a very scant ¼ inch away from the line on either side before cutting – this will keep your block from stretching when you cut it; c) now that your block is stabilized, you can cut along your diagonal line. Again, this is only in extreme cases. A way to check is to attempt to stretch your block diagonally by pulling from opposite corners.
Now you know you want to lay it out. . . I know I did! (squeee! So exciting!)
2. Cut your background fabric pieces. I used a low volume neutral but you can use any low volume color that coordinates with your fabrics. You will need eight 13.0 inch square blocks. Two of those blocks will be cut in half to make the triangles. Note that they are a little bigger than your made fabric blocks because they will be trimmed down after the petals are sewn on.
3. Now is the time. . . to lay out your blocks (including your background fabrics). Again, don’t worry because your background pieces are bigger. This will be handled next month. Take pics as you go along so that you know which blocks will go together on the inside and which ones will be used for the “arms” of your whirligig.
4. Finally. . . now that you have your layout finalized, it’s time to pick out which fabrics you will use as the “blades” of your whirligig.
As you can see, I picked out complementary “busy” fabrics that coordinate with the “arms” of my blocks. This is where laying your blocks out will help. You will need eight coordinating pieces measuring about 5 x 12.5 inches each. As you lay out your selections, place them by the arms to make sure they look appropriate. This is where your camera comes in handy. Don’t be afraid to audition different fabrics. I put some pics of my audition process at the end of this post.
5. Any questions? Concerns? Hurrahs? Pics of your awesome work? Please let me know! Post on our SFMQG Facebook page or send me a message on FB or by email. Happy planning and cutting and get ready for next month because we cut. . . .freehand!!! (gulp! You got this!)
Don’t forget to post your quilt blocks to our Facebook Group and your Instagram page with the hashtag #sfmqgqal2022
Patti