Hello Everyday Quilters!
Are you ready to start your Wander quilt? After doing a few quilt alongs now, we’ve determined that you all want to JUMP RIGHT IN and start creating on Week 1, so that’s what we’re doing for the Wander QAL! So this week it’s all about the striped blocks – whether you use selvages, pieced stripes, or a stripe print!
But first a bit of housekeeping.
Getting Started
There are quilters from all over the world joining in this QAL, so let’s get to know each other. In addition to the US, we welcome quilters from the UK, Germany, Norway, Spain, Canada, and Australia! Use the hashtag #wanderqal2021 to post about yourself on your social media. Show us your beautiful face, your sewing space, or a favorite quilt you’ve made. If you’re a beginner, tell us that too! You’ll find your fellow QALongers are all very welcoming and willing to share their knowledge with you!
If you haven’t yet, get your fabric! Now is the time to make your final decisions! And if you’re a prewasher and starcher, do that now. This is totally optional and depends on your personal beliefs!
And of course, purchase the Wander pattern if you haven’t already. You can get either the paper pattern or the PDF download. We usually ship orders within 24 hours so you will get it quickly! Click here to purchase Wander.
You can use the regular tools you use to make your quilts with. One luxury item is a 12″ 60-degree triangle ruler, it’s totally optional but it makes the cutting so much faster. If you have one already, by all means, get it out and use it!
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!
Let’s get started with Week 1!
The Striped Hexies
The striped hexies run across the quilt at the top and are also used for accents at the bottom. These make the quilt just a little more interesting to look at and fun to piece! There are several ways you can do these blocks.
1. Selvages. If you’re a selvage saver, then this is a fabulous way to use them! It doesn’t matter how wide you’ve cut them, any width will work as long as you have about 1/4″ beyond the selvage. Dig them out and pull out the ones you think work best with your hexie fabric. As a general rule, you’ll need about 10-12 per hexie. If you don’t feel your selvages show enough color or you just want to make them stretch, you can cut solid or print fabric strips to mix in with the selvages.
2. Piece the stripes. If you’re not a selvage saver but want to maintain that feel in your quilt, then you can cut strips of prints and solids and piece them to mimic the look of selvages. You’ll want a big variety of strips anywhere from 1-1/4″ to 1-1/2″ wide and from 7″-13″ long. Once they are cut, piece them in the same way as the selvages.
3. Use a striped print. Got no time to piece narrow strips? Then use a striped print or a print that reads as a stripe! There are no limits to this option – whatever looks good to you works!
One thing to keep in mind is the difference between down the bolt stripe or across the bolt stripe. Down the bolt runs the length of the fabric and across the bolt the stripe runs selvage-to-selvage. If you use down the bolt stripe, get a yard of fabric. If you use across the bolt, you need 1-1/4 yard.
We talk more about how to pick a striped print this video. This was sent out to everyone last week, but in case you missed it, click the link to view.
Next Week
Next week, we’ll cut the hexies, including the striped hexies. We’ll show you a couple of ways to do it – with or without a specialty ruler.
Week 1 Video
For more on selvages, stripes, and striped prints, click on the video below. We talk about piecing, including lots of tips and hints. While you’re on YouTube watching, make sure to hit subscribe to get announcements when our videos go live.
Our QAL Progress
We are making the Wander quilt along with you! Each week we’ll chronicle our progress and tell you things we’ve learned along the way.
Jenifer’s Quilt
I’m using Tula Pink True Colors for my quilt. I cut selvages from this plus lots of other colorful fabrics I’ve used recently. I’m not too concerned if my selvage colors “go with” the rest of the fabrics or not. I want them to stand out a little bit from the main hexies in the quilt.
I’m only doing the top 6 blocks with selvages, so I determined I need about 50 selvages – about 8 per hexi, with 2-3 plain strips. Of course your amount will vary because it depends on how wide or narrow your selvages/strips are. Plus I cut some plain fabric in three colorways to insert here and there.
In the video, we talk more in depth about how to piece the selvages. In addition, I found it helpful to mark off the size of the hexie with painters tape on my cutting mat (the size is in the pattern). I also used a blue marking pen to draw a line down the center of each selvage so I could keep them all centered as I pieced them together. (Sure hope it comes out! 🙂 )
I’d love to see your process for how you piece your selvages/strips! Use the hashtag to show me!
Trisch’s Quilt
I’m making Wander using Carrie Bloomston’s Color Theory collection with some crossweaves from Windham’s Aritisan Cotton collection. Instead of piecing the striped hexies, I’m going with the feel of a stripe using the Paper Swatch fabric from Carrie Bloomston’s Color Theory collection. I’m using the ROYGBIV (the large stripe with the paint drips) for the accent blocks. Once I get the entire quilt laid out, I’ll decide if the stripiness is strong enough, if not I’ll just add in some colorful stripes.
I’m looking forward to seeing what everyone else is doing for their striped blocks!
How to Enter Week 1 Giveaway
This week we’re giving away a fabric bundle. This is for US residents. If you are outside the US, you’ll get a free pdf download from our pattern catalog.
To enter post how you’re doing your stripe – with selvages, strips, or a striped print. Or maybe you’re not doing a stripe at all! Tell us all about it! Don’t forget to use the hashtag #wanderqal2021 so we can all ooh and aah over your fabric!
The drawing will be Wednesday, April 7. We’ll draw a random winner during the Instagram Live session at 7 p.m. central. Winners will be notified by email or direct message.
Have a great week sewing and we’ll see you on the hashtag!