July

July is here and this month’s blocks are ready and waiting for you. You have until the the 10th to pick them up. This block is  a great test of how much your skills have improved if you compare your construction of this block with January’s block.

Here is the demonstration video.

Batik participants be careful with the placement of your fabrics. The light green is your background and the dark green is your frame. Don’t pair the dark green with your accent green pieces. Keep referring back to the finished block image so you don’t get the pieces turned around.

Kaffe participants, have some fun with the stripes before you sew your rows together. Try aligning them and mixing them up. Go with the orientation you like the best.

The demo video steps through the assembly instructions and then offers some good tips on how to trouble shoot half square triangle unit issues.

Don’t forget to pick your blocks up before the 10th or you will have to pay a late fee. Have fun playing!

Y Not? BOM March

We are now on the third block! This is a really fun mosaic block. Blocks are now available in the store for pickup. You have until the 10th to pick them up for free! Don’t forget to bring in February’s block to show that you have it done.

There are several demonstration videos below. The first is on how to measure and sew a scant quarter of an inch seam. A scant quarter of an inch is a seam one thread width shy of being a quarter of an inch. The thread in a scant quarter of an inch should line up next to the quarter inch mark on your ruler when your fabric is flush with the edge of the ruler.The second video steps you through the block construction and has helpful pointers on how to match up your pieces.

This mosaic block would look great repeated through out a quilt. It has hidden pinwheels that appear when you put multiples next to each other. If you like this block and having your pieces die cut for you, contact us at wishuponaquilt@bellsouth.net or give us a call at 919-782-6363 and we can help you put your own custom quilt kit together. We’d be happy to calculate the fabric needed to produce the number of blocks you want and help you select fabric. There is a small cutting fee.

Feel free to contact us if you have questions or need help.

Happy Sewing!

February

This month’s block is a 16-patch with no y-seams. Everything is a straight seam in this block. However, you do need to pay attention to seam consistency to insure you get a 12 1/2 inch block in the end. Don’t forget to come in to Wish Upon A Quilt to pick up your block before February 10th to receive your next kit. How are you coming along with your blocks?

Jeanne made a good point. I did gloss over what I meant by fanning out the seam because I covered it in last year’s videos. However that does you no good if you didn’t participate in last year’s program. You can see a more detailed explanation in the demo video for 2009′s January BOM, towards the end of the four minute movie. Here is the link for last year’s post.

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?

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.

April's Batik BOM

April's Kaffe BOM

Wow! April has snuck up on me! I knew it was coming but it’s weird how months that start in the middle of a week throw me off. Don’t let it throw you off! Be sure to bring in March’s finished BOM so you can get April’s kit. You’ll want to pick your kits up before April 10th.

It’s been brought to our attention on how helpful it would be to have both color ways pictured in the directions. We are working on it. We weren’t able to get both pictures in the directions for April but they will be in May’s and future directions. We agree it was getting confusing with the Kaffe’s (those  fabrics are just so unruly! ) For now you’ll just have to reference the pictures on the blog to double check fabric placement. Thanks for the feedback. It does help us improve the program.

The demonstration video is here. April BOM Demonstration