Quiltalong - 2022

[AudiobookLover]

Let’s keep the quiltalong going! Welcome to our cozy space for all things quilt related! This is a place for quilters of all skill levels to gather! Whether you like to quilt blankets, art quilts, bags, or whatever, this is the place for you.

Besides sharing your quilting journey, we will have fun prompts, challenges, and Blocks of the Month, with a chance to win prizes by participating! Prizes will range from Amazon/Etsy gift card to a quilting supply. The more tickets you earn, the better your chance of winning the quarterly challenge prize! These will be offered by AudiobookLover and Lynx2Lancer.

Prompts: Each month there will be an inspirational prompt. When you complete a prompt, you will be given a ticket into our quarterly prize drawing.

Challenges: Every quarter (every 3 months) we will host a challenge. You can enter one item of each size (small, medium, or large) to earn tickets for the challenge. You can participate in the challenges even if you do not complete final quilting yourself, but your quilt top is complete. You can enter a quilt top/pieced mini quilt as a challenge entry even if you have not finished the project. If you want to wait and count it as a larger (time wise) challenge, that works too.

Personal Finish: Why be limited by the prompts and challenges? Any finish deserves to be celebrated. Each quarter, you can enter one item of each size (small, medium, or large) to earn tickets.

Project Sizes
Small: Something that takes you less than 10 hours to sew and quilt. (1 ticket)
Medium: Something that takes you 10-20 hours to sew and quilt. (2 tickets)
Large: Something that takes you 20 or more hours to sew and quilt. (3 tickets)

Group Nominated Block of the Month: Each month we will have a quilt block nominated by a group member that you can make with your own fabric choices. The goal is that if you complete one block each month, by December you will have enough to make a nice sized quilt top to show off to the group. You get 2 tickets per month to our prize drawing, for completing a BOM during the month it is hosted and 1 ticket per monthly block completed outside of the month it is hosted (ie. if you complete the March block during the month of March, you get 2 tickets. If you complete the March block during a different month, you get 1 ticket).

How to Post an Entry: To enter a Prompt, Challenge, Personal Finish, or BOM project for a ticket entry, please use the appropriate header below, at the start of your post:
-I your name , offer your item for month’s prompt
-I your name offer your item for my small/medium/large (pick one) challenge entry.
-I your name offer your item for my small/medium/large (pick one) personal finish.
-I your name submit this as my (current month only) BOM entry.

Helpful Notions/Tools
Helpful Links

[AudiobookLover]

Quarter 1 Challenge
(January 1 - March 31)
New year, new skill:
Challenge your skills and try a new technique/style (paper piecing, collage, art quilt). If there’s something new you’ve been wanting to try, now’s the time!

January Prompt
Be inspired by the beauty around you:
Colors, patterns, textures - beauty can be found in the most unexpected places. Quilt something based on what you see in your surroundings. Whether it’s a quilt based on a tile pattern on the floor of your favorite restaurant or a placemat inspired by the colors of last night’s sunset, let the inspiration guide your project. Please share both a picture of your inspiration (if able) as well as what you were inspired to create.

[AudiobookLover]

BLOCK OF THE MONTH (BOM)
January:

Nine Patch Star Block
Mock-ups of alternate color/fabric placement

February:

Woven Heart Block

[AudiobookLover]

Welcome quilters to the 2022 Quiltalong! Things have remained mostly the same as the 2021 Quiltalong with the notable exception that you can now submit up to 3 “Personal Finishes” for raffle tickets each quarter. For more info, please take a look at the very first post in the Quiltalong.

We will continue to have monthly prompts, quarterly challenges, and the Block of the Month. Which leads us to this month’s block. I would like to nominate a Nine Patch Star block. It looks like a nice and easy enough block that is perfect for starting off the BOM (I had previously chosen a different block, but the more I looked into it, the more challenging it seemed, which wasn’t a bad thing, but I think it’s sometimes easier to dip a toe rather than dive straight in).

We need eleven more blocks for our BOM, so please feel free to share a block that you would like to add. I’m looking forward to seeing what we come up with!

[Immaculata]

Yay! Thanks for hosting the Quiltalong again this year. I actually have a finish that I will share with you guys later today. I actually finished my Christmas table runner on December 31 but didn’t get around to posting it.
This year I plan to:

• do more BOMs
• Finish handquilting my hexagon EPP quilt (from the swaps in the old place)
• Work on the projects that come with the quilting course from my LQS that I’m participating in
• Make (another) denim quilt from old jeans for Mr Imma that he has promised to assist with
• Make a quilt for me! Using a honey bun I bought last year and some ideas that have been in my head for a while.
• Finish a baby quilt that I should have finished a while ago…

Oh and by the way, I’m also going back to law school, renovate our home and work fulltime. So 0% chance I’ll get to finish all of those things, but who cares. After the renovation our home will have one bedroom, a crafting studio and a music studio for Mr Imma. Both our studios will have a bed in the corner for occasional visitors, but our house will mainly serve us and not people who visit here a few times a year.

For my room I’m thinking of a bed like the Ikea Hemnes or something in that style. When not used by visitors it will be a comfortable place for reading, stitching and relaxing and the quilt I’m making for me will go there. Mr. Imma’s quilt will go on the bed in his new studio.

[Edel]

@Immaculata you have a busy year planned! But it sounds great.

I’ve a couple of quilts planned. One is for my lovely cousin who lost her husband two months ago. I’m going to make her a quilt from his old shirts.

And there are another couple, friends of ours, who are turning 30, so I’m thinking they might like a quilt as a birthday present.

[Lynx2Lancer (Laura)]

Thanks for setting this up and taking the reins for 2022!

[MistressJennie (Jennie)]

I have a couple things in the planning stages, but I’m honestly not sure how far I’ll get with little Godzilla on the way. My mom decided I might be ‘bored’ while waiting for her to arrive in April, and so sent me two boxes of pre-cut fabrics. An assortment of charm packs, jelly rolls, fat quarters, and a few 1 yard chunks, mostly in kid prints and solids. Some of which match, and some of which don’t. To be honest, I’m overwhelmed by how much is there, since I try to keep my quilting fabric stash small. Also, none of it is stuff I would have picked on my own.

I had already been searching for an interesting baby quilt pattern, and good fabrics to use for the little one. Since I’ve been waiting and trying for so long to have her, I want the quilt I make her to be really special. But with this pile of pre-cuts staring at me in my studio, and to try to ease some of my own anxiety about it, I started a Rail Fence quilt with one of the jelly rolls. I figured it could either be a spare quilt that lives in the car or with her stroller for when we’re out and about, or it could go to Quilts for Kids, a charity that takes quilts for seriously ill children in hospitals, who are not allowed to have things like stuffed animals with them. I picked on of the jelly rolls of zoo animal prints, and just started sewing. Sadly, I hate how it looks right now. There isn’t enough contrast in the fabrics, so it just kind of looks like a mono-chromatic mess.

But I did see an add for a quilt kit in Annie’s catalog that gave me an idea for how to alter the boring rail fence blocks into something more fun. I think I’m going to take some bubblegum pink and some bright lime green, and add triangle corners to the blocks, so that when they come together in the traditional basket-weave style layout, they’ll make secondary diamond patterns at the corners. This is the design that I got the idea from. They only put corners on one point on the blocks, but I’m going to try all 4 corners, kind of like making snow ball blocks.

EXCLUSIVELY ANNIE'S QUILT DESIGNS: Bow Ties in Motion Quilt Pattern

Meanwhile, here are the quilt patterns I’m considering for baby Godzilla…

This Little Star Shower, which is a smaller baby-sized version of the same pattern she has a larger one of.

LITTLE STAR SHOWER Quilt Pattern Digital PDF WALL/LAP Quilt 38 x 44 1/2

Thinking of making it with this honey bun of Kona brights:

Kona Cotton - Bright Palette Skinny Strips

Alternate quit idea is this one called Faceted by the same designer.

FACETED Digital PDF Quilt Pattern by Robin Pickens / Fat Quarter Friendly / 75

It is much bigger than a baby quilt, but I considered making all the blocks, then only using a portion of them to make the quilt, and using the rest for a matching pillow or tote bag or something.

[Camelama (Formerly Lilyleaper, now Camelama (old cster name). Real name: Susan)]

Oh that star shower quilt!! I LOVE IT.

[marionberries (Carol - formerly cmarion3)]

Welcome 2022!

I nominate this one for Feb

Woven Heart Quilt Block Pattern in 3 Sizes: 6", 9", and 12"

And my first plan for 2022 is to finish two lap quilts for our porch made from last year’s BOM and extras.

And then who knows?

[Immaculata]

You’re right about the finished blocks. I like the fabrics individually but together it doesn’t work. I’m not sure if I can picture your new idea in my head, but you have a good eye for this so I’m sure the new plan will work out.

I think it’s a great idea to maybe send one or more to Quilts for Kids, but you should absolutely prioritize your own special quilt. That’s the most important one. I’ve heard to many stories of crafty ladies who never finished the special items they wanted to make for their own babies. I do think donating quilts to charity is a good way to use fabrics that you may not love for yourself, but that will still result in beatiful quilts that will go to children who are going through a tough time, and it’s a really beautiful idea to share the gifts you got for your baby with those kids in need.

[MistressJennie (Jennie)]

It’s a snow day here in TN, and for once, it’s actually snowing on a snow day. I’ve spent most of my time this week taking down, organizing, and putting away Christmas decorations, and working on emptying the guest room closet, which had become random household storage over the 6 years we lived here. (The guest room will become the nursery, and we want to work on it this month.) This led to me also tearing apart our bedroom closet and reorganizing that, so the clothes that had been in ‘overflow’ into the guest room closet could be added into ours. This resulted in 3 bags of clothing for Goodwill, and a rather tired Jennie.

So, I decided to give myself a snow day today too! I already did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen, and even set up a batch of bison chili in the crockpot, so dinner is already done. DH is working from home, rather than driving into the office, and the pup is snuggled safely in her bed napping. I’ve told myself there are no other chores that must be done today, so I can spend all day playing in my studio, and hopefully do something with those zoo animal blocks. Here’s to giving yourself permission to be creative and have fun!

[MistressJennie (Jennie)]

P.S. @marionberries, I love that block pattern! @Abbeeroad made one for me in the Quilt Block Swap last year.

[marionberries (Carol - formerly cmarion3)]

1. Would adding a dark narrow, solid color sashing between blocks and as a frame help.
2. Or cut the blocks into quarters (rip in half and then cut each 1/2 in half) and rearrange.
3. All the vertical blocks are facing the same way and all the horizontal are facing the same way, Flip half of them 180 degrees and see what happens.
4. Cut them diagonally (mix up which diagonal) and then mix them up and sew back together.

[AudiobookLover]

Holy Moly, @Immaculata ! It sounds like you’re going to pack a lot into 2022! I’m curious to see what kind of pattern you come up with to use your honey bun. I had a mini honeybun that I wasn’t sure what to do with last year, so I just sewed the strips together and made 2 drawer liners. It was a simple project, but it felt so good to actually get it out of stash and turn it into something useful!

@edel, I’m looking forward to seeing the quilts you come up with. You and @mistressjennie always astonish me with how quickly your projects go from just started to fully complete. I feel like I would still be trying to figure out what pattern to use in the amount of time it takes you to finish a quilt. One of my goals for this year is to stop dragging my feet and to just get things done (lol, that’s actually pretty much my current life goal ).

@mistressjennie, that was very thoughtful of your mom to make sure you have enough material to not be bored, but unfortunate that none of it is your style. I love the idea of using up the fabric to make quilts for children in the hospital, but agree with @Immaculata that little Godzilla’s quilt should be prioritized. I like the idea you have of adding color to the corners of the rail fence quilt. I think that will work well to break up the design and make it more pleasing!

How do you plan on decorating the nursery? Do you have a certain color palette in mind?

BTW - you absolutely deserve a snow day, I hope you’re enjoying your creative time!

[AudiobookLover]

Thank you for the quilt block nomination! It has been added to the BOM!

[Edel]

@MistressJennie I love that falling stars quilt. It’s so beautiful.

Firstly I give you permission to donate all (or most) that fabric to someone who might love it. Right now you’re doing the most important job in the world, growing a new person, you don’t need an obligation to work with things you don’t love, in addition.

But if you are going to use them, you could perhaps create contrast by outlining blocks (or sets of 4 blocks) with a black, or other really strong colour. It would add a strong over all design.

[MistressJennie (Jennie)]

All awesome ideas guys! Thank you! But I had already started on my snowball corner idea. Here’s what it’s going to look like. With pink and lime diamonds at each corner.

[Edel]

That’s really nice. The pink really pops

[marionberries (Carol - formerly cmarion3)]

Nice solution, the pink and line are yummy, makes the greens pop.