Star Lake QAL: Intro

Oops, I did it again! I signed up for The Blanket Statement's Star Lake Quilt Along! This one goes from April 18 to May 29.

Erin is amazing sending out the weekly emails containing great tips and tricks for new and novice quilters. I was impressed with the time and care that she takes putting these together.

She also has a Facebook Group you can join where you can post your progress as well as any questions you may have about the process, pattern, or any other thing that has you stumped.

If you've ever thought about quilting or doing a Quilt Along, I encourage you to sign up for this one. The only cost is the fabric and the pattern. She recommends the pdf pattern to ensure that you have it in time. I also like the pdf because then you can write on it and mark it up and it's no problem to just print another clean copy for another time.

There are fabric bundles you can also purchase for the quilt here. More info about the QAL on Erin's blog here.

Sign up here!

If you participate, let me know! I'd love to follow you on Instagram and enjoy the journey with you.

Table Runner - Vintage Fabric

My husband’s uncle passed away almost exactly a year ago and while my mother-in-law was packing up his house, she found some fabric that belonged to her mother. She gave it to me to do something with so I decided to make a table runner for her as a gift.

I was wracking my brain on how to make it all incorporate together without looking too nightmare-ish.

This was the first layout I had figured. I planned to add black squares where the blue is and put a couple black strips in too to break it up.

I didn’t love it but figured it was the only way to make it work.

THEN…

I pulled it out on a visit this weekend and my sister said it was too busy (this I already knew). Then I played around with it a bit, removing everything but the larger floral squares. I came up with this.

Then I thought I’d use the strips for the binding but my sister suggested using the strips for a backing!! 💡

   

   

   

   

I'm not quite done yet but all I have to do is sandwich together with batting, quilt it, and bind it. I hope to give it to her on Mother's Day!

Home Street QAL: Week 5 - Sewing Rows Together & Adding Borders

Last Week: Sew Rows Together

I’m a bit behind but I did get my rows sewn together in time for the quilt along timeline.

The rows came together well except for a few odd lengths in blocks but I was able to make it work without too much difficulty. It’s so nice when the corners line up perfectly!

I haven’t gotten the borders on yet - my sewing space isn’t too large so I need to maybe bring it up from my basement to work on it.

Here are the “finished” photos…

   

   

   

Don't mind my mess lol. It's the only floor space that's large enough to display the ginormous quilt top.

Home Street QAL: Week 4 - Sew Rows

Last Week: Trim HST

After I trimmed the HST, it was easy to get started on sewing the rows! I was so excited, I couldn't quit until I was done the rows.

  

  

Next Week: Sew Rows Together & Add Borders

Home Street QAL: Week 3 - Trimming HST

Last Week: Sewing HST

Okay so I'm a little behind on my blog posts but I've been posting my progress on Instagram.

This week was trimming the HST and it wasn't very exciting because it's so much cutting (ha ha) but it was so nice to press open the seams and have them all look uniform.

Next Week: Sew Rows

Home Street QAL: Week 2 - Sew HST

Last Week: Cut HST

If you don't know what HST means, it's an acronym for Half-Square Triangle (picture a square with a line from one corner to the opposite creating two right angle triangles).

These are what the quilt is made up of (this and a few full-colour squares). These were fun. I haven't had a project that comes along with the motivation to get it done so quickly except for a few random Christmas quilts I've done in the past.

Erin at The Blanket Statement includes labels in her pattern so that everything is easy to keep track of. Both the pattern and Quilt Along instructions are easy to follow with a lot of tips for making things work smoothly.

Before I started anything, I changed out my needle for a new one, cleaned out my machine (yuck!), and made sure everything was working properly.

I lined up my squares and used my 1/2 inch ruler to mark the middle and a quarter-inch on each side which would be my sewing lines.

A friend of mine gave me this template years ago that helps line up your squares. I used it for a bit and then just used my drawn on lines. Both worked great.

Here's the finished batch of half-square triangles.

Next Week: Trimming HST!

Home Street QAL: Week 1 - Cut Fabric

Last Week: Intro

I got started on my cutting later in the week because of work. I decided to make the Bed-Sized quilt so it's a larger size of cuts and fabric.

I did finish and post to Instagram in time. I posted on Friday! I'm hoping I can keep up with staying on track for all the weeks.

Instead of surprising him, I submitted a few options to J for him to choose his layout. He picked a different one than I had initially chosen so I had to change up my computer mockup.

Here are how my pieces ended up...

 

 

Next week: Making Half-Square Triangles!

Home Street QAL: Intro

 I've picked my colours. I've been meaning to make my husband a quilt for years - his only stipulation is that it has to cover him from head to toe.

I'm going to use these solid colours.

I entered the colours into the pattern and the finished top should end up looking something like this...

I'm sure he'll just be happy to receive a quilt, no matter what it looks like. I'm excited to see how it'll turn out.

QAL Week 1 (January 10) : Cutting Fabric

QAL Week 2 (January 17) : Make HSTs (Half-Square Triangles)

QAL Week 3 (January 21) : Trim HSTs

QAL Week 4 (January 28) : Sew Rows

QAL Week 5 (February 7) : Assemble Quilt Top

After that comes the hard part of figuring out what kind of backing to use and getting the batting and backing ready. I'm thinking maybe fireside since it's nice and soft which will make it a quilt you want to cozy up with on the couch (#goals!).

Then the quilting part... I love straight line quilting and that's what all my quilts have had. I have quilted every quilt I've done. A lot of people pay someone to quilt them for them but we don't have as many options where I am (and I'm cheap ha ha).

And finally, the binding. I might want to do something fun or edgy, using the scraps to sew together into strips for the binding... I'm not quite sure yet. I want to play around with some ideas but I've got time for that.

Next Week: Cutting HST

New Year, New Goals!

 So it's now 2022, I haven't posted in a LONG TIME!

I'm working to try to focus less on having all the chores done and more on enjoying the things I like doing - family, quilting, sewing, my jewellery business, and other things besides laundry, dusting, sweeping, etc. Of course I'm going to do those things but I'm not interested in them running the show.

I've joined a quilt along from The Blanket Statement. See the link here: https://theblanketstatement.ca/blogs/the-blanket-statement/home-street-qal. I'm excited to get back into things.

I really enjoy quilting and I haven't done much for a long time. I have a closet full of fabric but haven't touched in far too long.

I'll post my QAL progress on Instagram and on here too. Wish my luck!

Happy New Year!