Wish Upon a Quilt Blog

It’s here! Spinning Galaxies is the name of our 2009 Block of the Month quilt. We hope you love it as much as we do. We are offering several  color options for the setting. The options have been picked by the staff and look great with all of the blocks.

Here are several instructional videos to help you get started on your quilts.

02-quarter-square-demo

Check your mat with your ruler to make sure the lines are accurate before using it to cut the extra wide widths. If it is not accurate you can double up rulers to cut the wider width strips.

03-half-square-triangle

04-square-border-demo

05-intertwined-star-demo

We will be holding demonstrations in the store to help you get started on your settings. The first will be on Wednesday, December 16 at 6:45pm. We will be holding more sessions in January if December does not meet your schedule, or stop by the store where we can help you. If you are not local, feel free to send us an email at wishuponaquilt@bellsouth.net for assistance.

November BOM -Two Patch Quilt

We are fast coming up on the season of Thanksgiving, pumpkins, and turkey (yum.). The November BOM kits are ready so be sure to come in and pick them up before the 10th. (You might want to think about completing some of your Christmas shopping and filling out your wish lists too while you’re in. )

Here is this month’s instructional video.

 NovemberBOM_instructional_video

Happy Quilting!

October BOM

Ooo I am enjoying the cooler weather in the evenings. I love sweater (and quilt) weather. There is nothing like cuddling under a favorite blanket witha cup of tea or a good book – maybe even both!

This month’s kit has some refreshing squares in it. A nice break after all the triangles in the last two kits.

Here is this month’s instruction video.

OctoberBOM_instruction_video

Don’t forget to give us your feedback on the BOM program by leaving us a comment on the post below! We really want to hear from you and appreciate your comments.

Kits are available from today till the 10th so hurry in. There’s a late fee if you wait till after the 10th.

Happy sewing!

We are about to enter the last quarter of this year’s Block of the month program and we are designing and planning next years’s program.

In December we will be offering several sets of instructions that will tell you how to finish your blocks into a large quilt, table topper, and/or table runner. We love options and verstility and we like providing it for you too.

The Batik and Kaffe versions seemed very popular so we are planning to continue to offer both. We do have several questions for you and would love your feed back as we are planning next year’s program.

1) Did you like the level of complexity in this year’s program? Were the blocks challenging enough? Or would you prefer simpler blocks?

2) Did you enjoy the pre-cut pieces?

3) Were the blog instruction videos helpful?

4) What color combinations would you like to see?

5) How can we improve the program for you?

6) If you did not participate, would you like to participate next year?

I just suffered from two block disasters and thought our readers might like to learn how to handle a few block disasters. My first disaster happened when I was pressing one of my BOM blocks. I reached for the starch and sprayed. Then realized I was holding quilt basting spray instead of spray starch. The right side of my block was now all tacky with adhesive! – OK the best way to avoid this disaster is to just keep the basting spray far away from your pressing station. I did not want that adhesive on my block while I was pressing the top later. So I had to wash it out. I took the block to my sink and gently hand washed it in a mild soap and lukewarm water until I could feel the tacky of the adhesive was mostly gone. Then I laid the dripping block on a plush towel and blotted it between two layers of the towel and left it to air dry. It’s important not to wring the block or it will distort it.

Small inkspot, partially removed.

The large inkspot started to spread when i put the stain remover on it.

Disasters usually happen in multiples. My second disaster was discovered minutes later. I had a block from the BOM riding around in my purse for a month. (Bad idea from the beginning.) I took it to my pressing station to press and realized I had a small spot on it. I thought it was chocolate at first but realized it was a leaky ink pen stain because I saw another much larger ink stain on another piece of the block. Ugh! I took the block to my laundry room and hit it with my Shout Advanced stain remover. I rubbed the stain remover into the spot and realized it was spreading the ink. So I grabbed a Shout Color Catcher and used that to work at the stain. If you aren’t familiar with Shout Color Catcher’s, they are a laundry sheet you put in your washer while washing colors. They are supposed to chemically attract dyes and prevent bleeding. I usually throw one in with my fabrics when I prewash, just to be safe. I figured if it is supposed to chemically catch dyes it should trap the ink. It did a great job.

Color Catcher with the ink pulled out of the block.

The stains were gone or faded enough not to notice by the time I rinsed the stain remover out. I then rinsed the block in cold water to make sure the remover was completely gone and laid it out on the towel with the other block to dry. When the blocks are mostly dry you can press and measure to make sure their was no shrinking or distortion. if they seem to be a bit smaller or distorted you can lightly mist and “block” the block by pinning it to your ironing board in the desired shape and size, then let air dry. The material is stretchier when wet so it is easier to tease and encourage into the proper shape when damp. When it dries it will hold the blocked shape. (Blocking is often done when finishing a smocked panel or garment so smocking sites or books should have detailed instructions on how to “block” a piece.)

So what block disasters have you encountered and how did you recover?

The 3.5 inch half square triangle die for the accucutter is figuratively smoking after cutting all of the triangles for September’s kits. Isn’t it wonderful to have accurately cut pieces? Just imagine how much this block could be thrown off size wise if the cutting was off! Be sure to measure all of your 3.5 inch half square traingle units before assembling the rows; it’s no fun having to take them apart after the fact.

Here is this month’s video demonstration.

 Sept_BOM_demo

Don’t forget to pick your kits up before the 10th. Have fun sewing!

Batik and Kaffe BOM blocks for August.

The August block of the month kits are ready. You can pick them up at Wish Upon A Quilt between August 1 and August 10. Can you believe that we are 3/4 of the way through with this year’s blocks! We hope you are having as much fun as we are. We’ve been working on the final setting of some of the samples and we can barely keep our excitement contained. We plan to offer setting kits in both colorways, so stay tuned!

This month’s block is really fun because you have some design leeway. You can place the block components exactly as the block pictured (Dutch Puzzle pattern) or you can go for a more traditional pinwheel. We encourage you to have fun and play with the block pieces before you sew the final seams.

Here’s the video demonstration. Please feel free to call or email me if you have questions.

Aug_BOM_Demo

Please be careful to check your work at every step. A threads width off on all the blocks can cause you to loose a 1/2 inch all around the block! (I’m speaking from experience.) The seam allowances are a scant quarter of an inch. Check them regularly, especially if you’ve gotten used to sewing “generous quarter inch seams” for you other sewing projects. The thread line should be within the quarter inch mark on your ruler, not on it. The flying geese components measure 6.5 inches by 3.5 inches and the point should be a scant quarter inch from the edge. The block quadrants should measure 6.5 inches square. The block measures 12.5 inches square, unfinished.

Using a fine thread like Alex Anderson’s Masterpiece thread can help improve your seam accuracy as well.

It’s time to bring June’s finished blocks in to collect July’s sizzlin hot, sparkly pinwheel block. The perfect block for July! You have until the 10th to collect your kits. After the 10th there will be a small late fee.

Please feel free to call or email if you have questions.

Here’s the video demonstration for this month.julybom-demo

This month’s block is almost as breezy as a summer day. The colors are fun too. You must come in between June 1 and June 10th with last month’s block to collect this month’s kit. If you can’t get in before the 10th there will be a fee for collecting the kit late. There has been some confusion over this policy because of summer schedules. We would like to remind you that our BOM policy is one of the most liberal in the area because we offer ten days to collect your kit. Even if you have to pay the fee, it’s still a great deal. Cathy’s getting some great new finds in too so you’re going to want to run in now anyway …the place looks gorgeous!

Here is the demonstration video to help you along.

June BOM demo

Don’t forget to return with June’s block finished in between July 1 and 10th to get July’s block. If you can not get into the shop by July 10th then there will be a small fee for that kit.