Announcing the QuiltBitz Quilt Along

Anna's Stars Quilt Along

Happy January 2nd, 2020 everyone!  I hope that you haven’t broken your New Year’s resolutions just yet and that your year will be healthy, happy, exciting, hopeful and upbeat for the next 363 days.

I’m here to help you with the happy, upbeat and exciting part - at least for the first six weeks.  QuiltBitz has been planning a quilt along to ease us all into the New Year.  The little quilt we will be making is a mere 35”x35” and is named Anna’s Stars.  The quilt blocks finish at 6”x6” and then will be set on point with sashing and cornerstones.  I know there are a lot of quilt alongs going on right now and I hope that you decide to join me.  This little cutie will NOT take a lot of your time so you would be able to sneak it in with some of the other projects and quilt alongs if you wanted to.  If you only have a little chunk of time every week or just want to sharpen your skills on a little project - this quilt along  is for you!

So let’s get started with some of the details.

DATES:

January 18th to February 22nd, 2020

WHAT EXACTLY IS A QUILT ALONG:

A quilt along is where anyone who wants to participate in the weekly instruction works virtually along side other quilters doing the same pattern.  Of course you could get a group of friends together at your house (or theirs!) every week and work on the quilt at the same time - that sounds like so much fun too!  My Quilty friends live a little too far away for me to do that so doing this virtually, with all my on-line friends, will be amazing.  We can all help each other, ask and answer questions, show off our accomplishments and progress and make new friends as we go.  So whether you are an at-home group of friends or a on-line group of friends … we are all friends and ready to get quilting!

This quilt along will take place on the QuiltBitz blog where the weekly instructions will be posted. I encourage you to also participate on Instagram using the hashtag #quiltbitzquiltalong.  By using this hashtag on your instagram posts we can all keep up with each others progress.  As an Instagram newbie I can relate to having many accounts out there in the techie world …. sometimes there are just too many things going on to keep on top of everything.  If you would prefer to receive the weekly instructions by email, NO PROBLEM!  Just send me an email and I will make sure that you receive the instructions.

THE ANNA’S STARS QUILT

A little history about the making of Anna’s Stars … this little quilt is named after my mother-in-law who passed away in April 2019 just as I was beginning to machine quilt this little gem.  It seemed appropriate that the quilt be named in Anna's memory.

Reproduction fabrics from the Farmhouse Living fabric line designed by Jeanne Horton (Windham Fabrics) were used in this quilt but any combination of reproduction prints, or scraps, or other color combinations, would also be wonderful.

That is the fun part about a quilt along - everyone does something different, whether it is the placement of prints or the use of color, everyone ends up with a unique project of their own and I’m excited to see all the variations!

WHO THIS QUILT ALONG IS FOR

I would recommend this quilt along for those that understand the basics of quilting making.  You will also be comfortable with using the rotary cutter, rulers and mat and have an understanding of how to sew an accurate seam allowance.  I will touch on these topics in the first week and you will be able to practice and perfect your comfort level with each week of the quilt along.

If you are a beginner, and take your time and pay close attention to your seam allowances, and are maybe just a little bit comfortable with using the odd pin, you should be ok.

This little quilt will test your patience for lining up your seams if you are a perfectionist.  I’m not, and never will be, a perfectionist or a Pinner, so if you were to zoom into my original quilt you will find plenty of seams that don’t line up - but you might see a few that do … those are my little happy places!

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

The Anna’s Stars quilt starts with accurate cutting and using a “scant” 1/4” seam allowance for the block construction as well as maintaining a consistent seam allowance for the sashing and borders.  There will be lots of opportunity to practice these skills while making this quilt, BUT, it is a small quilt so you shouldn’t be overwhelmed or get bored practicing these techniques.

We will be taking the construction of this quilt and breaking it into weekly tasks so every skill level will have sufficient time to complete each task.  This quilt uses an on-point layout which might be new for some quilters, but really quite easy and it makes for a very nice finish.  The border also uses something a bit different (optional) - a little inserted flange strip between the first and second border.  So easy and fun to do!

MATERIALS NEEDED

The Anna’s Stars Quilt Pattern is required and can be purchased at the link below (reduced price for the Quilt Along!):

PDF

Choosing fabrics is the fun part!  Making a scrappy reproduction quilt is so forgiving as it doesn’t seem to matter how many prints you co-mingle into the blocks the quilt always seems to shine.  The following are the fabric requirements for the quilt and some options for fabrics.

Fat eighths are approximately 9” x 22”

1 fat eighth each of eleven assorted prints for HST blocks

1½ yards background fabric for blocks, sashing, side and corner triangles

First Border: 6” x *WOF
Second Border/Flange Border: 3” x *WOF
Outer Third Border: 10” x *WOF 

Binding: ½ yard

1 yard of fabric for backing

37” x 37” batting

Bundles of 11 fat eighths are available for this project under the Anna’s Stars Quilt Along tab.  Some of the prints in the bundles will be different from the original quilt as a few of the prints have sold out.  If any substitutions are required from what is shown I will notify you.

OR,

and this is the fun part …. YOU CAN CHOOSE YOUR OWN!

If you would like to put your own bundle of prints together I will cut fat eighths for you from the prints shown under the Anna’s Stars Quilt Along tab and send your special package along to you.  Send me an email or give a phone call with a list of your choices.  No guarantees that it will arrive for the start of the Quilt Along, but I will do my best to get it into the system as quickly as possible.

If this is the option that you choose, please order as soon as possible.  Don’t forget border and background fabrics if you need them as well!

Of course scraps from your own stash would also work just fine and this is entirely up to you what colors you want to use for your little quilt.

The original background has sold out.  I have included some suggested backgrounds under the Anna’s Stars Quilt Along tab as well.

OPTIONAL TOOLS

An extra tool you might find helpful is the Quilters Select 6”x6” ruler.  Really, this ruler works!   It’s not cheap but it makes your cutting and trimming so much more accurate.  The lines on the ruler are thin and it makes it so much easier to line everything up accurately. I am totally not a gadget quilter and I really like to keep things simple in my work area, but I do love this ruler.  I’ve put all my other rulers into a drawer and the 6”x6”, the 6”x 12”, and just recently the 6”x24” of the Quilter’s Select rulers have claimed rights to my work area.

TIMELINE

Week One (January 18):

Get your materials together:

Fabrics

Pattern

Week Two (January 25):

BLOCK UNITS

Week Three (February 1):

MORE BLOCK UNITS

Week Four (February 8):

CONSTRUCTING THE BLOCKS

Week Five (February 15):

SASHING & CORNERSTONES

SIDE & CORNER TRIANGLES

Week Six (February 22):

Sew your quilt top together!!!

LOCATION

This quilt along will take place primarily on the QuiltBitz Blog. Instructions will be posted on the dates noted above as well as any clarifications, questions and answers as they happen.   Updates and reminders will be posted to Instagram, so be sure follow and post your progress using
#QUILTBITZQUILTALONG to participate!   We can all encourage one another by searching this hashtag.

Also, be sure to sign up on the QuiltBitz Blog so that you receive notification of updates as they happen or let me know if you prefer to be notified by email.  If you have any questions please let me know!

Remember to invite your friends to join us as well!

'til next time!

QB