Across or Around??

Thank you for all of the sweet comments on the ABC . . . Read With Me quilt plan I posted on Friday ;)  I am really excited to see how this quilt will come together ;)  I was hoping to work on some more of the ABC blocks this weekend but with a wrestling tournament and a piano festival, that just didn't happen ;)

I did however get a lovely email from a reader saying how much they loved the design and suggested that making the alphabet go all the way around the quilt might be easier to "read".  I love both ideas and was having a hard time deciding.  So I am asking your opinion.  Which is easier for you to "read"??

The first design with the ABC's being read ACROSS the quilt or the second design with the ABC's being read AROUND the quilt??

Thanks for your help :)  Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

The Plan - ABC . . . Read With Me

I am so, so, so,  excited for this new project.  It isn't very often that I can share a project from start to finish.  So did any of your follow along with the awesome Spell It With Fabric Blog Hop last month??  I loved seeing all of those wonderful alphabet blocks and I totally wanted to make some!  And it just so happens, that last week I had added "Make A Quilt for Kami's Preschool" to my to do list.  What could be more perfect than an ABC quilt for a preschool!!

So I was chatting about this ABC idea with Barbara (it is so nice to always have a sounding board for all my ideas) and she mentioned how cute it would be to add a portion of my Read With Me quilt  in the center and have the ABC blocks be the border.   Amazing Idea!!!!!   So off to the EQ7 drawing board to make the math of the 2 quilts play nice.  The center is pretty much the exact same as my Read With Me quilt except that it uses 3 rows instead of 4 and 6" sashing instead of 5" sashing.  It will measure 60" x 60".  And the ABC blocks follow the Moda designs except for adding a 1 1/2" unfinished border so the letters finish at 10" x 12" instead of 8" x 10".   So with those few little changes ABC . . .Read With Me was ready.

As soon as I had the design figured out it was off to the sewing room.  I was so excited to start making letters.  I am using my Spell it with Fabric book for the design of the letters.  You can also download the letter patterns from each of the stops on the hop :)  The only difference is that I am adding a 1" finished border to the four sides of the blocks as all my letters are white and I don't want them to blend together :)

I had time to make A and B.  Aren't they just so cute!!!   And they are so much fun to make!!!  Seriously, I am already dreaming up more projects with them they are so fun!!!

And a total side note, I am so excited to have a project that isn't all chain stitching and assembly line piecing.  Not that I don't like this, but it will be fun to have a change of pace, to work on one little block at a time and see it come together.   I have until the end of May so I am planning on spreading this project out a bit and really enjoying the process :)  Although, with that said,  these blocks are so fun I wouldn't put it past me to crank them all out in a few days because I just can't stop.  Time will tell ;)

Have a Happy Quilting Weekend ;)

Linking up to Sarah's and Fort Worth Fabric Studio

On My Feet Again

Thank you so much for the well wishes on getting better.  It has been a rough two days, being sick is no fn.  But I think I have turned the corner and am ready to get back on my feet again.   I am hoping, after some general tidying (when mom is sick, the house shows it :) to spend some time focusing on that lovely bundle of Hubba Hubba I showed the other day.

I have a rough sketch of what I want to do with it, and yes, I do mean rough.  First off, I need to do some math to get all of the measurements to work and then . . .  hopefully, I can get to some cutting before the end of the day.

With any luck, I will be sharing a full plan and maybe even a start tomorrow ;)

Star Light Star Bright Quilt-A-Long - Building Block Corners

**  NOTE  - This post is part of a series of posts for the Star Light Star Bright Quilt-A-Long.  If you would like to join (and have a chance to win one of 4 of the $75.00 Gift Certificate grand prizes sponsored by The Intrepid Thread and Fat Quarter Shop ) you can find a list of the post links here :)  Here is the schedule

Jan 15 - Intro, Fabric Requirements, and Prizes Announcement

Jan 29 - Cutting

 Feb 5 - Flying Geese

Feb12 - Half Square Triangles

Feb 19 - Building Block Centers

Feb 26 - Building Block Sides

Mar 5 - Building Block Corners

Mar 12 - Piecing Top and Grand Prize Linky

April 2- Star Light Star Bright Parade and Grand Prize Winners

Before we get to this weeks assignment, we need to pick a winner for the Star Centers Assignment.  It is so fun to get to see these blocks starting to take shape!!!  The winner who will receive 4 charm packs of their choice from Green Fairy Quilts is . . 

#37 - madebymyself!!!! - Congrats :)

  

Alright, a new month and a new assignment.  (which is a little late being posted, sorry, that Nyquil didn't want to wear off :)  So, lets get to it!!!   If you are just finding this QAL, it's never to late to join in the fun :)  You don't have to sign up or anything, just start following along with the weekly assignments ;)

THIS WEEKS ASSIGNMENT - BUILDING THE BLOCK CORNERS

Yippee, I am so excited.  This week marks the completion all of the units for the block.  You will get to see your blocks really coming together!

Alright, to start grab what is left of your  HST's pile for your first (or only) block.  You should have 8 HST's now.  For today's assignment you will need all 8 HST's that are left.  To that you will be adding some of your remaining squares.  Those are the ones that are the same size as your HST's :)  Add 4 background squares and 2 of each of your 2 Star fabric squares.  So if you look at your HST's, the Star Fabrics for each block will be the two prints that are different in the two sets of HST's :)

You will be making 4 corners per block, 2 corners of each of the 2 Star prints.  So for each corner you will need to layout 2 HST' of the same Star Print, 1 matching Star Print square, and one background square as shown below.    You can sew these together in rows, or columns, but I prefer rows so that is that is how I will be showing it, but if you like doing it a different way go right ahead :)

Quick Note before we start sewing - Just like the units before this one,  each time I sew a seam I lay my pieces back out into the layout above.  And like before as well,   I highly recommend chain piecing your 4 corners, and to that end you can also assembly line piece all 4 corners for all of your blocks as well.  Like always, just remember to layout the pieces on top of one another so that you are only ever looking at one corner unit on top, and it has layers of corners beneath it.  And always clip your threads and stack your pieces back up in the same order.

Okay, lets get to sewing.  Place the right hand  pieces onto the left hand pieces with right sides together and aligning raw edges.  Pin if you are worried about the pieces slipping.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the edges.

Clip your threads and then press the seams towards the squares and away from the HST's . This will allow you to nest them in the next step.

So you now have 2 rows that will look something like this ;)

Now we are going to sew those rows together.  Place the top row onto the bottom row with right sides together.  Align the center seams and pin them in place.  Sew a 1/4" seam along the pinned edge.

Press the seam open to avoid bulk.

And your Corner is complete!!   If you are doing multiple blocks and were assembly line piecing, enjoy all your corner units.

If you were doing one side at a time, just repeat the process so you have a total of 4 Corner Units, 2 per each Star Print fabric, per however many blocks you have in your project :)

And that's it!!    And now you can enter to win the weekly prize :)

The Weekly Prize is sponsored by Happy Quilting as it is the last week before the Great Big Grand Prize Linky!!!    It is getting so close to seeing these all come together, I am so excited!!!

This weeks prize is 3 Happy Quilting Patterns.  The winner can choose their  favorites :)

 

    

So what do you have to do for a chance to win these patterns?  Simple . . . Just link up your Block Corners :)  You can link to a blog post or a flickr picture, or whatever.  Just make sure to link up by next Wednesday morning as I will be announcing a winner in next weeks post :)

If you don't get your Corners done by next week you can still link it up :) (just not in time for the prize :) The linky will remain open until the end of the Quilt-A-Long.  So if your out of town, or just had a busy week, no worries!!!  Just link up when you can :)

And don't forget to add your Block Corners to the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Flickr group!!!  I can't wait to see them all :)  Yippee Skippee!!!

So let's get sewing!!  Oh, and if you have questions, don't hesitate to email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.  Have a Happy Quilting Day!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Going Back to Bed

Well I tried to fight it.  I tried to tell myself all day yesterday that I wasn't getting sick.  Sadly, it didn't work. So instead of going down to my sewing room to play with these lovelies (British Invasion by Riley Blake and Hubba Hubba by Me and My Sister for Moda)  that will be showing up in upcoming projects I think I will just go back to bed.

Here is hoping it is just a 24 hour thing :)  It better be, because I need to be up bright and early for the next installment in the Star Light Star Bright Quilt-A-Long.  See ya then :)