Wish Upon a Quilt Blog

You need to get a Zip Clip Gun to help you with your next binding task. Nancy tells us all about it in the following video.

Great demos by knowledgeable staff! Nancy will demonstrate how to make perfect prairie points with the Prairie Pointer tool, in spite of being a bit camera shy. Be sure to ask about it when you dash to Wish Upon a Quilt.

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.

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.

I’m very excited about the new Sew Sweet Shoppe Scrap program that Cathy has published. This is a brand new scrap program that was introduced at the fall Quilt Market. I love scrap quilts. Scrap quilts just sort of found me. I couldn’t afford to buy all the fabric I wanted but I was usually happy with just a fat quarter of it, especially if I didn’t have a specific project in mind for it.  So a typical scenario at the quilt shop would be I went to buy fabric for a  specific project and I’d fall in love with a new fabric that didn’t fit that project at all. So I’d grab a fat quarter and sneak it home. It was the fat quarters sitting off to the side that would inspire the next projects. (And encourage me to finish the one that was in progress.) The thing was that when I started planning the next project I’d realize that a fat quarter wouldn’t do.   I needed more. Sound familiar? I became a fan of scrap quilts because they allowed me to use the fabrics I loved with out the agony or worry over how much to get. I don’t have to worry if I’ll have enough for a project because I can just use it as an excuse to go get more lovely fabric.  And there are so many lovely fabrics calling to me – scrap quilts are definitely the solution.

But it’s not just the need to use up fat quarter and half yard cuts that make scrap quilts appealing. I often get to reuse fabrics left over from other projects like my brother’s wedding quilt, a friends baby quilt, a baby quilt for my own children, a purse, or tote project. Those scraps have sweet memories and are still a joy to handle and use.  Scrap quilts can also be a journal of sorts of all the quilts I’ve made and given away.

Scrap quilts often have a deep richness of pattern and design because it’s the piecers use of value and color that is noticed not the fabric designers art. All of those pretty pieces of fabric come together to make a beautiful new whole. Whenever I find myself thinking a piece of fabric is too pretty to cut I just remind myself the joy it will bring me when I find it again in my scrap bin.

I also have a sweet tooth and love bakeries and baking. The sweet shop theme of the program just tickles me pink. (Which happens to be the colorway of the first quilt.)  The first session of the Sew Sweet Shoppe is Thursday, Feb 12 at 6pm. The second session will be Saturday, Feb. 14 at 8:30am. Both sessions will be the same. There will be a $15 charge to reserve a slot, and you will receive a free quilt pattern, a demonstration of the how to construct the quilt presented, a yummy treat and recipe to take home! I will also give tips on how to adjust the pattern to accommodate jelly roll strips, charm squares, and/or layer cakes.

If you would like to exchange scraps please bring precut strips of 3 1/2 inch width or 2 1/2 inch width, 5 inch charm squares, or fat quarters. We will trade like for like. Looking forward to seeing you on the 12th! What will your scrap quilt look like?

Wendy Darby – your friendly block of the month coordinator with a brief demonstration of January’s block.

Local participants, don’t forget to return with your blocks between the 1st and 10th of February to pick up the next block. Feel free to post any questions you might have here.