Irish Chain Twist Quilt-A-Long - Schedule, Fabric Requirements, and Prizes!!!

And We Are Ready!!  The Irish Chain Twist Quilt-A-Long officially starts today!!!  Today's post is going over everything you need to know to Quilt-A-Long.   There will be a post each Thursday from February 5th until March 26 with weekly assignments and then there will be a Parade and Grand Prizes on April 13th.  So . . . onto a little rundown on how it's going to work!!

THE HOW TO

The Irish Chain Twist Quilt-A-Long is my own quilt design and the quilt-a-long will lead right up to the release of my new book, Irish Chain Quilts: Contemporary Twists on a Classic Design  The quilt-a-long will include  multiple sizes all based on a 3 different 10" blocks.  Each block has been broken down into 2 week assembly assignments.  So there will be lots of time to do whatever size fits your schedule.  There will be a total of 8 weeks for  quilt construction  and then an additional 2 1/2 weeks to get it basted, quilted, and bound.  The schedule will be as follows:

Schedule, Fabric Requirements, and Prizes - Jan 29th
 Cutting - Feb 5th
Improvisational Piecing Units - Feb 12th
Improvisational Piecing Block - Feb 19th
 Twists on Tradition Units - Feb 26th
Modern Patchwork Block - Mar 5th
Appliqued Chains Block - Assembling - Mar 12th
Appliqued Chains Block - Stitching - Mar 19
Piecing Top and Grand Prize Linky - Mar 26th
Parade and Grand Prizes - April 23rd

So count on checking back each Thursday to see what the next week's assignment will be.  You will want to try to keep up weekly as there will be prizes along the way!!   Be sure to take a picture of your finished weekly assignment so that you can link it up for the weekly prizes :)  Oh, and if you are new to quilting, no worries, this will be super beginner friendly! I will go through each step in great detail in the Thursday posts.

CHOOSING A PROJECT SIZE

So to start, you need to make some choices.  What size project do you want to make??  In the past we have had lots of block size options but because of the type of blocks we are making this time all of the blocks, regardless of what size quilt you want to make will be 10".  So now it's time to decide.   The chart will give you the finish size and how many of each block you will need to make for that quilt.  And the images below the chart show the layout of that particular project ;)    So . . .  What size quilt do you want to make??

Alright, have you chosen a size project.  Great, let's see what fabrics you are going to need.


THE FABRIC REQUIREMENTS

The Layout

Before I get to how much fabric you will need . . . First you need to decide what type of layout you would like to do.   You have 3 Options and I will provide Fabric Requirements for each ;)   You can choose between a 4 Fabric Layout, a Multi-4 Fabric Layout, or a Scrappy Fabric Layout.  


The 4 Fabric Layout uses 1 fabric for each of the blocks in the quilt and a background fabric.  So an X block fabric, a Square block fabric, and a Petal block fabric.  Of course you can choose any 4 color fabrics you like, but I am just going to show it in the colors from before to give you an idea of the layout ;)

The Multi-4 Color Layout will have the same look as the 4 Fabric Layout only it will use more fabrics for a little punch.   For this layout you will need to choose fabrics that read essentially the same color.  5 prints for the X block, 3 prints for the Square block, and 2 prints for the Petal block.  Here is a mock-up of this layout.

And finally, the Scrappy Fabric Layout.  This is of course is Scrappy!!!  Throw everything to the wind and just have fun mixing it up :)  Here is a mock-up of this layout, and of course, you can change the colors but i just wanted to keep the same look rolling ;)

So . . . Have you Decided on a Layout???  Let's get to those Fabric Requirements then.

Print Fabric Requirements

Use the chart below to determine the amount of print fabrics you will need for your project.  The X represents the X Improvisational block that is Navy in the 4 Fabric Layout picture above.   The Square represents the Square Patchwork block that is Peach in the 4 Fabric Layout picture above.  And the Petal represents the Petal Applique block that is Red in the 4 Fabric Layout picture above.

Background Fabric Requirement
  See the chart below for the amount of background fabric you will need for your particular size project. Note - The quilt kits do not include background, so regardless of what you get for your print fabrics, everyone will need to purchase background fabric as well ;)   Now, I know this is a lot of background fabric for some of those bigger quilts.  Dig into your solids stash and see what you have built up.  If you find you don't have enough, I just might have seen that JoAnn's has a 50% off coupon that is good until Jan 31st, and they do stock Kona Solids.   And if you aren't near by one, you can always go online here and pick your color, your yardage and then use the coupon code TJAT031 to get your 50% off.  Hopefully that will help with all that background :)

You will also need binding fabric and backing fabric for when you are ready to finish up your quilt :)  (Because we area all about finishes, no wip's here :)

Binding and Backing Requirement
Refer to the two charts below for the requirements you will need for binding and backing for your particular project :)  You can always do scrappy bindings and backings as well, just another option ;)

THE IRISH CHAIN TWIST QUILT-A-LONG KITS

I have asked my wonderful friend and sponsor Julie from the Intrepid Thread, to put together some custom bundles together for Irish Chain Twist Quilt-A-Long.  And as always, she came up with some stunning options for you.   The Kits are made for the Picnic or Queen quilt sizes.   I went ahead and put each bundle into the quilt layout so you could get an idea of how they will look in the quilt. 

 And as before, These bundles are at a special Quilt-A-Long discount price!!  Thanks so much Julie!!!  Please note, these kits do not include the background fabric, so be sure to see the above requirements and notations under Background Fabric Requirements for that ;)  

These first three Kits are the Multi-4 Color Layout Kits, but they would work just great for the scrappy layouts as well if you wanted to go that way :)

Sunshine On My Garden Quilt Kit

        

        

Spring In Your Step Quilt Kit  

        

       

  

Peach Tea Quilt Kit

       

        

And these last 2 Kits are the Scrappy Layout Kits.

Patriot Betsy Ross Quilt Kit        

         

        

Lights In The Dark Quilt Kit

        

        

Aren't these just fabulous. Julie has impeccable taste in fabric!! Good Luck choosing a favorite!! It was a super hard choice for me, but in the end I decided I am going with the Sunshine in My Garden and will be making a queen size.  I am so excited!   I showed all of the kits but the Low Volume one (which I love) with a white background,  But don't be afraid to do something other than white, Look how adding a background color changes up these kits ;)  Stunning!!!!

Peach Tea with Grey

Patriot Betsy Ross with Navy

If you are thinking about a color background that I haven't shown and would like to know what it will look like with your kit just email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com and I can send you a sketch no problem ;)

THE PRIZES

I am so very excited about the Prizes for this Quilt-A-Long!!  I don't know about you, but I know that I am highly more motivated to keep up and finish when there are prizes at stake ;)  So how about this for a little motivation.

All those that finish their quilt top will be eligible for the 4 Grand Prizes.  The Grand Prize's are sponsored by The Intrepid Thread and Fat Quarter Shop and huge Thank You goes out to Julie and Kimberly for their generosity in these prizes.  Wan't to know what they are???

The first 2 winners will each receive a $100.00 Gift Certificates to Fat Quarter Shop and the next 2 winners will receive a  $75.00 Gift Certificate to The Intrepid Thread !!!     Talk about some fun Shopping Sprees!!!  And if that whopping amount of fabric goodness isn't motivation, then I don't know what is!!

      

But . . . Sometimes it is hard to keep motivated when the end is so far away.  So for that . . . We have a little Weekly Motivation.  Each week you will be able to link up (You don't have to have a blog to link up, you can link to a any social media image :) your completed assignment for a chance to win the weekly prize.    These Weekly Prizes will be sponsored by several of my Sponsors and will be so fun!!!

                

                   

So ya, there is a lot of wonderful fabric to be won!!!  So keep up and sew on!!!

THE BUTTONS, FLICKR, AND HASHTAG

 Now down to the last of the nitty gritty.  First, If you are Quilting-A-Long and have a blog, It would be wonderful if you added the button to your blog :)   It really helps to spread the word and  the more that Quilt-A-Long the better!!!  If you have already added the button, thank you!!!

<a border="0" href="http://www.happyquiltingmelissa.com/p/quilt-longs.html" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBubuz-6DW9JQwMddtssW1dBUkpXQPaP8UMrYdzIS-_Zjm23-5XgLzOiZEO39g3ZKLQJaXpw3eOwgYNDVZvGWSEI-Qc8T-SenvyxcifIfJ_vS6MAEU-PDKPld31ml3SvYTQH15K2fxvPiN/s1600/Button.JPG"/></a>

Second, I would love it if you joined the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Flickr group.  You can post your fabric here, your progress, ask questions, ect.   And it is a super fun place to get to chat along with everyone participating :)

And if you are posting your progress on your social media, be sure and use the Hashtag #irishchaintwistqal   Then we can all easily find and see each others work on facebook, twitter, and instagram as well ;)

LET'S GET GOING!!

So that just about wraps it up!!! You have 1 week to round up  your fabric.  If you are ordering it and it is going to take a little longer than a week to arrive, no worries.  You have a whole week to cut it as well, so that gives you a bit of a time cushion ;)     Watch for that cutting assignment on February 5th.

Now I know that was a lot for one post, so if you have any questions at all regarding the Quilt-A-Long please do not hesitate to email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com or comment below.  I don't want anyone to not participate because they are confused by my rambling :)  And one last thing, please feel free to make your quilt your own.  If you want a different layout, great!  Want to add a border, perfect!!  What ever you envision, you make it yours, all finished quilt tops will be eligible for prizes :)

Now . . .  Let's get Quilting-A-Long!!!

Star Surround Quilt-A-Long - Schedule, Fabric Requirements, and Prizes!!!!

**Note - If you are Looking for the Rustic Rooster Giveaway you can find it here :)

It's here!!  The Star Surround Quilt-A-Long officially starts today!!!  Today's post is going over everything you need to know to Quilt-A-Long.   There will be a post each Monday from now until August 26th with weekly assignments and then there will be a Parade and Grand Prizes on September 16th.  So . . . onto a little rundown on how it's going to work!!

THE HOW TO

The Star Surround Quilt-A-Long is my own quilt design and I hope you enjoy putting it together.  The quilt-a-long will include 5 different sizes for the star surround block giving you mutliple layout options.  I have come up with two different fabric layouts, Same Layout or Scrappy Layout and have provided fabric requirements for 1 x 1 block layouts, 2 x 2 block layouts, 3 x 3 block layouts, and 4 x 4 block layouts.  This quilt will not be made by making one block at a time but rather a more assembly line process.  Once the units are done, then the blocks will be created.   I broke down the construction of the quilt into 6 weeks and then added an additional 2 weeks to get it basted, quilted, and bound.  The schedule will be as follows

July 15th - Intro, Fabric Requirements, and Prize Announcement

July 22 - Cutting

July 29 - Half Square Triangles

Aug 5 - Flying Geese

Aug 12 - Building Block Centers

Aug 19 - Building Block Surround

Aug 26 - Piecing Top and Grand Prize Linky

Sept 16 - Star Surround Parade and Grand Prize Winners

So count on checking back each Monday to see what the next week's assignment will be.  You will want to try to keep up weekly as there will be prizes along the way!!   Be sure to take a picture of your finished weekly assignment so that you can link it up for the weekly prizes :)  Oh, and if you are new to quilting, no worries, this will be super beginner friendly! I will go through each step in great detail in the Monday posts.

CHOOSING A SIZE BLOCK AND BLOCK LAYOUT

So to start, you need to make some choices.  What size project do you want to make and with what size blocks. Check out this chart below to help you decide what size project you want to make and with how many blocks in it.  A 1 x 1 layout is 1 block, a 2 x 2 layout is 4 blocks, a 3 x 3 layout is 9 blocks (Kits provided for this layout) , and a 4 x 4 layout is 16 blocks.

Alright, have you chosen a size project.  Great, let's see what fabrics you are going to need.

THE FABRIC REQUIREMENTS

Same or Scrappy Layout
As mentioned earlier, I will be providing cutting directions for 2 different fabric layouts.  They are Same or Scrappy.  Same layout uses 4 fabrics only, 2 star fabrics, 1 surround fabric, and a background fabric.  Scrappy layouts uses the number of block fabrics having each fabric in 2 stars and 1 surround.  Here's an image to give you a better idea of what I mean :)

                                          Same Layout                                           Scrappy Layout

  

Same Fabric Requirement
So, if you choose to do the same fabric layout with 4 different fabrics, you will need the following amounts of fabrics.  A and B refer to the Star fabrics in the center and Sur refers to the surround unit around the star.

Scrappy Fabric Requirement
If you choose to do the scrappy fabric layout you will need the total number of fabrics as there are blocks in your quilt.  The size of each fabric depends on the size of your project.

Background Fabric Requirement
Regardless of what type of layout you choose, (same or scrappy)  you will need the same amount of background fabric.  To see the amount of background fabric needed for your particular size project see the chart below.  ( I will be showing everything with a white background fabric, but you don't have to use white, feel free to choose any color you like for the background, but I would recommend a solid.)

Binding and Backing Requirement
Refer to the two charts below for the requirements you will need for binding and backing for your particular project :)

THE STAR SURROUND QUILT-A-LONG KITS

I have asked 2 of my wonderful sponsors, Christa from Christa Quilts and Julie from the Intrepid Thread, to put together some custom bundles together for Star Surround Quilt-A-Long kits.  And as always, they came up with some stunning options for you.   The Kits are made for the 3 x 3 layout and can be found in all 3 sizes (baby, picnic, and queen) in that layout.

Same Layout Kits

The kits for the Same Layout were made by Christa from Christa Quilts and are all in solids, for those of you that want a bit more modern flair to your quilt.  The kits are as follows and all three sizes of the 3 x 3 layout  can be found here at Christa Quilts.  I went ahead and put each bundle into the quilt layout so you could get an idea of how they will look in the quilt.  These bundles are at a special Quilt-A-Long discount price, but  Christa has more discounts for you.  Use the coupon code HQM10 at your checkout and receive and extra 10% off your order.  This means you can get an extra 10% off your already low priced bundle as well as getting 10% off  any other quilting supplies you might need.   Score!!  This code will be valid during the entire duration of the Quilt-A-Long.  Thanks Christa for this extra perk :)

Classic Tuxedo - Uses Kona Lipstick (#1194), Iron (#408), Black (#1010), White (#1387)

Dandelion Grey - Uses Kona Canary (#26), Ash (#1007), Charcoal (#1071), White (#1387)

Modern Patriotic - Uses Kona Rich Red (#1551), Robin Egg (#1514), Iron (#408), Snow (#1339)

All three are just stunning solid combinations and certainly have modern flair.  Thanks again Christa!!!

Scrappy Layout Kits

The kits for the Scrappy Layout were made by Julie from  the Intrepid Thread and are a beautiful arrangement of prints.  Julie has a wonderful eye for color!!  The kits are as follows and all three sizes of the 3 x 3 layout can be found here at The Intrepid Thread.  Julie even gives you the option of choosing your background color :)    I went ahead and put each bundle into the quilt layout so you could get an idea of how they will look in the quilt.   And as before, These bundles are at a special Quilt-A-Long discount price, but  Julie didn't stop there. Use the coupon code Happy10 at your checkout and receive and extra 10% off your order.  Yup, that's additional discounts on your purchase that you can use on your binding and backing as well as your already low priced kit, Yippee Skippee!!!    Thanks Julie!!

California Vintage  

  

 Cherry Chocolate Cheese Cake

  

Sea Breeze

     

Sodalite and Citrine 

  

Put An Umbrella In It

  

Aren't these just fabulous. Julie has impeccable taste in fabric!! Good Luck choosing a favorite!! It was a super hard choice for me, but in the end I decided I am going with Sea Breeze.  I am so excited!

THE PRIZES

I am so very excited about the Prizes for this Quilt-A-Long!!  I don't know about you, but I know that I am highly more motivated to keep up and finish when there are prizes at stake ;)  So how about this for a little motivation.

All those that finish their quilt top will be eligible for the Grand Prize.  The Grand Prize's are sponsored by The Intrepid Thread and Fat Quarter Shop and huge Thank You goes out to Julie and Kimberly for their generosity in these prizes.  Wan't to know what they are???

A $75.00 Gift Certificate that you can spend as you like!!  There will be 4 lucky Grand Prize winners, 2  winners will receive a Gift Certificate to The Intrepid Thread and 2 winners will receive a Gift Certificate to Fat Quarter Shop.  Talk about some fun Shopping Sprees!!!  And if that whopping amount of fabric goodness isn't motivation, then I don't know what is!!

    

But . . . Sometimes it is hard to keep motivated when the end is so far away.  So for that . . . We have a little Weekly Motivation.  Each week you will be able to link up (You don't have to have a blog to link up, you can link to a flickr picture :) your completed assignment for a chance to win the weekly prize.    These Weekly Prizes will be sponsored by several of my Sponsors and will be so fun!!!

 

So ya,  there is lots of wonderful fabric to be won!!!  So keep up and sew on!!!

THE BUTTONS AND FLICKR

 Now down to the last of the nitty gritty.  First, If you are Quilting-A-Long and have a blog, It would be wonderful if you added the button to your blog :)   It really helps to spread the word and  the more that Quilt-A-Long the better!!!  If you have already added the button, thank you!!!

 

  <a border="0" href="http://happyquiltingmelissa.blogspot.com/p/quilt-longs.html" target="_blank"><img src=" https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-xN8H3ElAekYVkuJmxii0a7nlr2dQhHXgmthyphenhyphenKKvrBDpwPPq7OXylub0l4JON1gtW5QwQiK6Aghn7GfFtJBGZhFywS8gLporlp6OdceQiNZu7woJ0Sm3HGuBo5T0dM90or932nDP9YCQ/s1600/Button.jpg"/></a>

Second, I would love it if you joined the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Flickr group.  You can post your fabric here, your progress, ask questions, ect.   And it is a super fun place to get to chat along with everyone participating :)  

LET'S GET GOING!!

So that just about wraps it up!!!  This week's assignment, round up your fabric.  Next Monday you will be getting your cutting assignments.  (And you will have a whole week to cut your fabric so if you don't have it by next Monday, it's okay, you still have some time :)

Now I know that was a lot for one post, so if you have any questions at all regarding the Quilt-A-Long please do not hesitate to email me at happyquiltingmelissa@gmail.com.  I don't want anyone to not participate because they are confused by my rambling :)  And one last thing, please feel free to make your quilt your own.  If you want a different layout, great!  Want to add a border, perfect!!  What ever you envision, you make it, all will be eligible for prizes :)  Now . . .  Let's get Quilting-A-Long!!!

Linking up to Quilt Story :)