**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!!!
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 :)
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