Hello Everyday Quilters!
Welcome to Week 2 of the Wander Quilt Along! How did last week go? Are you piecing selvages or using a striped print? Or are you piecing stripes? That’s the beauty of this quilt – there are endless possibilities!
This week we have a whole lot of cutting to do!
Before We Start Cutting…
Congratulations to Denise @denisealmost for winning the Week 1 mystery bundle. (As soon as we know what it is we’ll post it on IG!) 🙂 And thank you to everyone who posted using the hashtag #wanderqal2021! It’s a great way to feel a part of the community of quilters who are making the Wander quilt together!
Weekly Live Q&A
Don’t forget to tune in Wednesdays for the live Q&A Sessions on 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, this is the place! 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’ll see you Wednesday!
Let’s get started with Week 2!
Cutting Hexies
This week we’ll cut all the hexies to make the quilt. Because they are so big, this goes fast! We’ll also cut the pieced selvages (or strips) into hexies, so the entire quilt will be ready to piece next week.
You can cut your hexies with any regular quilting ruler you have on hand – as long as it has a 60-degree line. They can also be cut with a specialty ruler, like a 12″ 60-degree triangle ruler. It makes it so accurate and so easy to cut the hexies. But with either tool, you’ll get perfect hexies!
If you have yardage for your hexies, follow the instructions in the pattern and refer to this week’s video. If you are using scraps or fat quarters, see Jenifer’s Progress below for pictures and more thoughts on that.
Selvage or Pieced Stripe Hexies. Cutting the pieced selvages into hexies is simple. Just use one of your cut hexies as a template and place over your selvages. Then cut around the edges using your rotary cutter and ruler. Be sure to use a different hexie as a template for each selvage hexie so you don’t trim off too much from one hexie template.
Print Hexies. If you are using a print for the striped hexies, be aware if your stripe runs down the bolt or across the bolt. The cutting instructions in the pattern will work for across the bolt stripes (from selvage to selvage). If your print is down the bolt, as shown below, then you’ll cut your strips lengthwise instead of crosswise. Then cut the hexies according to the pattern.
Cut all your hexies this week and arrange them as you think looks best. Next week, we’ll be ready to sew those inset seams!
Week 2 Video
For more on cutting , click on the video below or here. We talk about piecing, including lots of tips and hints for cutting 60-degree hexies from yardage. We had some technical difficulties with the video, so the section about cutting from scraps isn’t there. If you’re cutting from scraps, see Jenifer’s quilt progress below for more about that.Â
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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 scraps and fat quarters of Tula Pink True Colors for my quilt.
I chose to make mine is bigger than the pattern suggests, so I cut 12 extra full hexies and 3 extra vertical hexies. In this configuration, I need 2 quarter hexies – 1 in the top left and 1 on the bottom left corner. The right side is made of full vertical hexies only.
This will give me a 57″ x 76″ throw quilt, which is a good size for snuggling on the couch!
When using scraps, make sure they are a minimum of 12″ square. You can get 1 full hexie from that. From a fat quarter, you can get 1-2 full and 1-2 vertical or 1-2 full and 1-2 half hexies. I wanted a lot of variety, so I only did one each from my fat quarters. Keep in mind if you do use fat quarters, there will be a lot of it left over for another project, which is okay by me!
Above shows one way to cut scraps. The easiest way to see if you have enough fabric is to cut one of each configuration first and lay them on top of your scrap. This is a partial FQ. You can easily get 1 whole and 1 vertical. You might be able to get a quarter hexie too if you’re careful. So now that I determined there’s enough, I then cut the strip to the width given in the pattern, fold in half and cut the hexie and vertical hexie. Continue on like this until you have enough for the entire quilt.
Trisch’s Quilt
I’ve been busy cutting out all of my hexies and arranging them and rearranging them. Then I walk into my studio and tweak them again! I am using a stripe-ish print instead of selvages – so that was fast. I decided to make two side hexagons from that print as well so the path goes off the quilt.
I am doing a little fussy cutting for the ROYGBIV fabric – the fabric that has the rainbow stripe and paint drips on one side. All I really cared about was the drips being the same distance on the hexagon. So I just pressed the fabric and folded it so I had 4 layers and cut them all at the same time. In general, I like to keep all of my hexagons on the straight of grain – but these prints and the stripes will all be flip-flopped and the grain lines will be going every-which-way.
This is where things currently stand, until the next time I walk over to my design wall!
How to Enter Week 2 Giveaway
This week we’re giving away fabric bundle from Windham Fabrics. Remember, the bundles are for US residents. If you are outside the US, you’ll get a free pdf download from our pattern catalog.
To enter this week’s drawing, post a picture of your cut hexies – even if you just cut one! Use the hashtag #wanderqal2021 so we can all see your progress!
The drawing will be Wednesday, April 14. 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.Â
Have a great week and make something beautiful!