We are thrilled you are here! This will be a fun 5 weeks, and hopefully at the end, you will have a beautiful quilt to keep you or a loved one snuggly and warm! We will have lots of tutorials, hints and tips to help you through each step of the quilt with plenty of time to sew the blocks. And by using the hashtag #gatewayqal2021 on your socials, we can connect with quilters from around the world who are all working on the quilt at the same time!
If you joined us for the Tinsel Tree QAL, the format will be similar. We’ll have video tutorials to show you close-up how to use the Everyday Curve Templates and for piecing the blocks. We’ll get together weekly on Instagram and Facebook with live sessions, and of course the fun giveaways!
Each Monday morning, everything you need to know for the week will be posted here on the blog, so be sure to bookmark it.
Week 0 –
Getting Started
A few things before we begin!
There are 130+ quilters joining in, so let’s introduce ourselves! Using the hashtag #gatewayqal2021, post about yourself on your social media. Post a picture of yourself, your sewing space, your pet, or maybe your most recent quilt and tell us a little bit about yourself and where you live. (This might just win you a prize, see below!)
Get your fabric! We won’t start cutting until next week, so now is the time to prewash, starch, and iron your fat quarters if you plan on doing this. This is totally optional and depends on your personal beliefs! Or maybe it’s time to make a decision and get some fabric.
Curious about the inspiration for Gateway? Read it’s origin story here.
Purchase the pattern and templates if you haven’t already. We usually get orders out within 24 hours. Links are right here:
Gateway Pattern
Everyday Curve Template Set
Plan Your Quilt
This week is all about organizing and getting ready to cut the blocks.
Tools
Gateway is part of our Everyday Curve line of patterns, meaning you need the Everyday Curve Template Set to make it. The good news is we have developed 9 patterns that use the templates so you can use them over and over. Plus we are planning more patterns for next year!
In Week 1, we will show you how to cut the blocks using the templates. They make cutting so accurate and fast!
Pick Your Size
You can make Gateway in 3 sizes – baby, throw or full/queen. If you want to go rogue and do a different size, remember that 1 fat quarter makes 2 sets of arches and 2 sets of backgrounds, so you need half the number of fat quarters for the number of blocks you want to make. (If you want 100 blocks, you need 50 fat quarters.)
Note: We found a minor error in the fabric requirements. If you are making the baby size you’ll need 15 fat quarters, not the 8-10 that it says. We’re not sure how that mistake got in there, but we are sure sorry if this has caused any inconvenience for you.
Fabric
There are many options for fabrics. Since it really is at the foremost a fabric showcase quilt pattern, go ahead and use your favorite fat quarter bundle you’ve been hoarding! If it looks good in the stack, it will look good in the quilt! Staight 1/4 yard cuts work just as well as fat quarter, just so you know!
Something to think about if you don’t have enough fat quarters is to sprinkle in coordinating solids to make it stretch. The cover quilt for the Gateway pattern is made of equal parts prints and coordinating solids. This makes the quilt less busy and a little more controlled. If you want your quilt super-scrappy, then all prints is for you. Anything goes!
We have collected a variety of mock-ups for inspiration. Use the QR code on the pattern or click here to see those. While you’re there admiring all those mock-ups, be sure to click on the Coloring Page link for a downloadable coloring sheet you can print. This allows you to play with color and value before you cut into your fabric.
Bonus Quilt
When we start cutting out the quilt next week, you’ll notice that there will be a large amount of leftovers – a byproduct of how the arches and backgrounds are cut. So rather than stashing them or throwing those away, we developed the Happy Scrappy baby quilt you can make using those leftovers. We’ll cut the squares needed to make it as we cut the Gateway blocks, then you can sew them together leader and ender style while we’re making Gateway. In addition to the scraps, you’ll need 2/3 yard of a coordinating neutral. (If you don’t know what leaders and enders are, we’ll talk about that in the next couple of weeks.)
Note: If you’re making the baby Gateway quilt, you’ll need to add in more scraps to make the Happy Scrappy baby quilt. If making the full/queen size, you can make a larger baby quilt.
Our QAL Progress
We are each making a throw-size Gateway along with you! We’ll be posting our progress on social media and here each week.
Below are our fabric pulls. Trisch is using Golden Hour by Alexia Marcelle Abegg for Ruby Star Society and RSS coordinates and Jenifer is using Malibu by Heather Ross for Windham Fabrics with Ruby and Bee coordinating solids.
Trisch plans on using a lot of prints with a few coordinating near solids sprinkled in. Jenifer is going to do equal parts prints and solids, just like the original Gateway quilt.
We are ready to start cutting!
Prizes!
We have gathered some fun prizes we’ll be giving away each week. Look for the prompt in each Monday’s email to see what you need to do to enter. Each Wednesday we’ll have live Q&A sessions and announce the winner then.
There’s not a lot of time between the announcement and the drawing, so be sure to take lots of process photos as you’re making your quilt. You never know what we’ll want you to post!
Prizes are 5 fabulous fabric bundles from Windham Fabrics. The prizes are for US residents only. If you are outside the US, your prize will be a PDF version of one of our patterns – your choice!
Week 0 Giveaway
For the first giveaway, post a photo of yourself or your favorite quilt on Facebook or Instagram. Tell us where you live and how long you’ve been quilting, and anything else you want to share! Use the hashtag #gatewayqal2021 so we can all see!
The first drawing will be Wednesday, January 6. We’ll draw random winners during the Facebook live session at 10 a.m. central time (15:00 UTC). One lucky quilter will win the fat quarter bundle. Winners will be notified via email or DM on instagram or facebook.
Weekly Live Q&A
Each week we will 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 Wednesday!