Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway and used the hashtag #gatewayqal2021 and congratulations Congratulations to @quiltingkitty_qkShe won this Cora bundle by @tessiefaydesign for Windham Fabrics! And to @quiltyjune who won the Golden Hour layer cake from Ruby Star Society. And another notable winner – @cortniquilts won the over-achiever award for having all her blocks done. She gets a PDF pattern of her choice from our catalog.
We’ll be doing both FB Live and IG Live again Wednesday, so be sure to join us and bring your questions! We’ll be happy to answer anything you need clarification on. We want this to be fun for you while you’re creating your quilt.
Here we go Week Four!
This week we’ll be finishing the top.
Trimming. If you think you need to trim your blocks, now is the time. The blocks should measure 8-1/2″ x 8″ at this point, but yours might be a bit taller due to cutting or sewing variances. If you want yours exactly 8″ tall, go ahead and trim.
If you measure a sampling of blocks and they all are the same, then there’s no need to trim.
For the width of the blocks, be very careful if you need to trim – you don’t want to cut into the 1/4″ seam allowance at the bottom of the arches.
Arranging the blocks is really personal preference. You’ve been working with your fabric for a while now so you probably have an idea of how you want to arrange it.
If it’s scrappy, you might want to spread the colors and values evenly throughout the top. If your fabric is more controlled then you’ll have different considerations. If you’re unsure, experiment with several ideas before deciding. Something unexpected might come up that you didn’t originally think of!
Once you have a layout you like, snap a picture of it before you start sewing. That way you’ll have a record of it in case you get lost as you sew.
Sewing. When sewing the blocks together, the only part of the block you have to worry about aligning is the bottom of the arches. That is the only side that has to align with something – in this case, it’s another arch base.
When joining the blocks arch-to-arch, the important part to align are the seam allowances on each side. If you pressed one side of the shoulders (background) toward the arch and the other side toward the background, then your blocks will nest together. If you pressed them both toward the arch, align at those points and pin before sewing.
You’ll do this whether you sew the top together in rows or columns. (Either way is ok – pick one way and stick with it.)
As you are building your top, decide which way you are going to press and do it that way throughout the whole top.
Once your top is done is a good time to cut and prepare your binding, backing and batting.
Next Week
Week Five is all about quilting your top.
Week Four Video
This week we have a picture montage of Jenifer’s quilt coming together so you can see her process. Click here to see the video.
Our QAL Progress
Jenifer’s Version: I finally got the blocks all sewn, and you can see how I’m arranging them in the video. I don’t worry too much about placement, but for super scrappy quilts like this, I do try to spread out values and colors across the top. Other than that, I let things fall where they may. This week I hope to get the top done!
Fabric: Malibu by Heather Ross and Ruby + Bee Solids from Windham Fabrics.
Trisch’s Version: I finished stitching all of my blocks, well I might be one short because I have one background piece on my ironing board but I can’t find it’s match! I might have to do an all out search for it soon! My quilt is going to be 11 rows by 11 columns. My design wall isn’t very large so I’m going to do the layout in sections. I divided my blocks backed on the color of the arch (details are in the video). Then I took about 1/4 of each stack and combined them to start my layout. I filled my design wall and I’ll stitch that much together into columns and add as I can manage design wall space!
Fabric: Golden Hour by Alexia Marcelle Abegg of Ruby Star Society.
How to Enter the Week Four Giveaway
For the Week Four giveaway, show us your progress, no matter how far along you are. Make sure you say Week Four somewhere in your post – they’re getting harder to spot because you all are posting so much! Fun problem to have!
And don’t forget to use the hashtag #Gatewayqal2021 so we can all see!
The drawing will be Wednesday, February 3. We’ll draw a random winner during the Instagram Live session at 7 p.m. central. Two lucky quilters will win fabric bundles. Winners will be notified by email or direct message.
Weekly Live Q&A
Each week we host a live Q&A Session on both Facebook (10 a.m. CST/15:00 UTC) and Instagram (7 p.m. CST/Midnight UTC) if you need just a little more help or clarification on anything at all – or maybe you just want to spend some time with like-minded quilters. You can submit questions ahead of time here or post them during the live session.
It is important that you follow us on FB and/or IG to see these events. If you haven’t done so, here are the links:
Everyday Stitches Facebook
Everyday Stitches Instagram
We hope to see you then!