Quilt Along Post 4: Top Assembly

We are on the home stretch!

Things to remember:

• Seam allowances are 1/4" unless stated otherwise
• Press all seams as you go along
• Have fun!

You should have 80 blocks ready for assembly but before we head to the machine, we need to decide on block placement.

Using your design wall or floor, lay your blocks out in a 10 by 8 setting.

Step 1: Once you are happy with your layout, begin by piecing your first 8 blocks together - this is row 1.

Step 2: Repeat step 1 until all blocks are pieced. You will have 10 rows with 8 blocks in each row.

Step 3:  Press the rows in alternating directions. For example: row 1 will be pressed to the right, row 2 to the left, row 3 to the right and so on.

Step 4: The rows can now be pieced in sequential order. Attach row 1 to 2, 2 to 3 etc

Step 5: Press these seams to one side or open - whichever you prefer.

My quilt top is pictured below, we would love to see your version. Make sure you upload your photos to the Fat Quarterly flickr group.

Come join us on Twitter again tonight Monday, 20th September. Same deal as last time - use the hashtag #fatq, make sure your account is set to public, and we will hopefully chat with you.

European Berlin – 23:00
UK time 22:00
Australia / Melbourne – 07:00 (next day)
US Eastern – 17:00
US Central -16:00
US Pacific – 14:00

See you next week for tips on backing, binding and quilting!

Did you know?

That you can also find us on Facebook and Twitter? We update and tweet daily, keep an eye out for information on sales and special offers from our sponsors!

www.facebook.com/fatquarterly
twitter.com/fatquarterly

If you are pushed for time, you can see our updates via our widget...just there on our sidebar. For really up to the minute information though, it is probably best to add us as a friend or follow us.

Another thing: all quiltalongers – are you signed up on twitter yet?

If not quick go and get yourself an account it is so easy. Just go to www.twitter.com and follow the instructions for registration.

We’ll wait while you do it.

OK, ready now? Great. Next visit our twitter accounts and add us as a followers.

www.twitter.com/fatquarterly

www.twitter.com/quiltdad

www.twitter.com/imagingermonkey

www.twitter.com/hanies1

www.twitter.com/oneflewover80

www.twitter.com/flossyblossy

Great. Now you are all set up to join in the fun.

On Monday 13th September we are going to hold a meet and greet for all Fat Quarterly Quiltalongers.

European Berlin – 23:00

UK time 22:00

Australia / Melbourne – 07:00 (next day)

US Eastern – 17:00

US Central -16:00

US Pacific – 14:00

Come introduce yourself, let us know what fabric you are using, where your blog is and get to know your other quiltalongers.

How it works:

To talk to each other we will use hashtags. Whenever you tweet simply add #fatq to your tweet.

To read each other’s tweets you will need to search for the #fatq hashtag.

On the right hand side of your Twitter home page there is a white search box. Enter #fatq to find all tweets containing the #fatq hashtag.

You will need to keep refreshing the search to keep up with the conversation.

It is a good idea to follow the other quiltalongers as soon as you find them. Then you can go on chatting with each other outside our meet and greet and it will make it easier for you to follow the conversation during the meet and greet.

All clear? Probably as clear as mud! The best way to understand is probably to just get stuck in.

So it’s a date right? We’ll see you there!

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Edited - we will use #fatq as the hash tag as #fq is already being used and it might be too confusing!

Thats Sew Shawna has we use www.tweetchat.com

If you have a twitter account you can sign into the tweet chat room and it makes it much easier to follow the conversation. Just enter #fatq and you can automatically see all tweets with that tag. It will also put the tag in your tweet for you.

Quilt Along: Post 2 - Cutting Instructions

Do you have your fabric ready? Are you eager to get going? We hope so but if not head back to our first post to find out how much fabric you will need.

To recap, we need 80 blocks for the 44" x 55" quilt.

If you are making your quilt with 20 fat quarters, each fat quarter will yield 4 blocks. It is important to note that you will use roughly 10"-11" of each fat, this will leave you with some fabric left over.

And if you are using a jelly roll, one will do the job.

Each block is comprised of 1 x 2.5" center square (pictured in grey), 2 x 2.5" outside squares (pictured in green) and 2 x 2.5 by 6.5" rectangles (pictured in green) which make up the top and bottom of the block.

These measurements INCLUDE seam allowances.

Let's get started!

• Ensure all your fabric has been pressed, get your mat and ruler out and have your rotary blade at the ready.

Cutting instructions if you are using fat quarters are:

•  From the 55cm or 3/4 yard piece of fabric (which will be the center square of every block) cut as many 2.5" strips as the fabric will allow and then cut these strips into 2.5" squares. You will need a total of 80 center squares. 

• Each fat quarter will give you the borders for 4 blocks.

• Lay one (feel free to cut more than one at a time, by placing them evenly on top of each other) fat quarter on your cutting mat, with the longest side of the fat quarter running vertically. Smooth fabric so that it is nice and flat.

• With your ruler, cut 4 x 2.5" strips. Remove the excess fabric being careful not to disturb your strips.

• Turn your cutting mat so the vertical strips are now horizontal.

• With your ruler, cut 2 x 6.5" strips and then cut 2 x 2.5" strips.

• You should now have 8 x 2.5" squares and 8 x 2.5" by 6.5" rectangles.

Cutting instructions if you are using a jelly roll are:

each strip will yield 2 blocks. (You will need to use 40 strips for the basic size and 78 for the larger size)

Sub-cut each strip into the following strips -

• 6 x 2.5 inch squares
• 4 x 6.5 inch strips

And that's it.

Simple, right?

Please email us at fatquarterly@googlemail.com if you have any questions. See you in a week for piecing.

Robert Kaufman giveaway!

We have to send out BIG THANKS to the fine folks at Robert Kaufman fabrics. When they heard about our quilt along, they offered to give away 3 of their fantastic fabric roll-ups to our readers for their quilt along projects. Were you wanting to join along but didn't know what fabrics to use? Needing an extra nudge to get started? Well, now you have no more excuses!

The fabric line is "Groove" by Caleb Gray (which is drool-worthy and we absolutely LOVE), and you can see all of the prints from the line here.

Want to be one of our 3 lucky winners? Simply leave a comment on this post and tell us who your final quilt along quilt will be for. Will you be gifting it to a loved one, or keeping it all for yourself? And what fabrics will you be using (if you don't win the groovy "Groove", that is)?

Of course, we'd love it if you spread the word about our giveaway (blogs, Twitter, Facebook ... you know the drill).

We'll be selecting our winners next Wednesday, September 8th. Good luck, and happy quilting!

quilt along with us?

We've been thinking it would be fun to hang out together and make a quilt. Airfares, real life, money and the like has scuppered our plans to have everyone in one room...but we could do it together virtually, couldn't we? A quilt along! The very first Fat Quarterly quilt along.

Would you like to join in? I bet you won't even need to go shopping for supplies.

We're going to be making a quilt using the block in the picture above. One block, 80 times over for a quilt that finishes up at 44 x 55 inches. Perfect for a Christmas present for a little one, or baby shower gift, or just for snuggling under on the sofa.

Want the stats?...here we go;

You will need either 1 jelly roll

OR

20 different FQs (you won't use all the fabric in the FQs, but 20 gives you a nice variety of colour/pattern) plus a 55cm cut or 3/4 of a yard cut.

*****Edit - if you want to make the bigger size 30 FQs should be plenty*******

(If you'd prefer a larger quilt, use 2 jelly rolls and end up with a quilt that measures 66 x 72 inches - you will need to make 132 blocks for the bigger size)

Here's the schedule for those of you that like to plan ahead...

Monday September 6th - cutting instructions (both jelly roll and FQ cutting instructions)

Monday September 13th - piecing

Monday September 20th - quilt top assembly

Monday September 27th - wrap up

We'll be posting progress in the Fat Quarterly flickr group and also here on the blog.

Why don't you join us and grab the button?

We hope you do!!!!

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Just in case you don't have a jelly roll or 20 fat quarters lying around (or just need a good reason to buy new fabric), the wonderful Anna Luna at Crafty Girls Workshop is offering you, our readers, 10% your entire order at her shop.

Use the discount code FQ10 when you place an order.

Crafty Girls Workshop happily accepts international orders and if you order now you should receive in time for the September 6th kick off.