Skipper Quilt Along: Week 4 + Giveaway

Good morning friends!

It's week 4 of the Skipper Quilt Along and I've got a fun giveaway for you this week!

My friends at IronEZ reached out to me the other day to see if they could donate one of their Ironing Board Spray Bottle Holders to one of my followers and I knew it was something I wanted to give to my Quilt Along friends!  I've had one for about a year now and love it!

The holder clips onto your ironing board so your spray bottles won't fall off while ironing (#quilterproblems, am I right?!)  The IronEZ comes with a fantastic spray bottle but it can also hold Best Press or a regular starch bottle, whatever you prefer to use!  I also love the fact that the holder twists so you don't even have to remove the IronEZ to put your ironing board in storage. 

  

To enter to win an IronEZ, just post a picture of all your Skipper blocks on Instagram using the hashtag #skipperqal.  I want to see your progress and your fabrics!  Post this picture by Sunday, March 31st at noon and I will announce the winner here on the blog and on Instagram the following Monday morning.  This is a great week to get caught up if you're behind.

So the plan for this week is:

Baby: make 4 blocks.

Throw: make 8 blocks.

Twin: make 16 blocks.

Queen: make 28 blocks.

(The only thing different than last week is the Queen size!  

Is anyone making that size?)

Here are all my blocks thus far:

I'm having fun seeing these blocks come together and I am especially loving seeing your posts on Instagram!  Thank you for sharing friends!  

Happy quilting!

Prairie Sisters Farmhouse Fabric Tour

Good morning friends!  Today it's my turn to share some fun projects I made for the 

Prairie Sisters Farmhouse Fabric Tour!

Prairie Sisters is a new fabric line by Poppie Cotton and is available in stores now.

I love the soft colors, the variety of prints and the farmhouse feel of this line!

It was nice working with a softer palette than I'm used to.  

I find that I'm craving the softer, calmer colors these days!

I decided to try out this pattern that I've had my eye on for quite some time!

It's called Tilted Spools by Cyndi Walker.  It can be found in Pretty Patchwork Quilts by Cyndi Walker or The Big Book of One-Block Quilts by The Patchwork Place.

I used a small assortment of low-volume fabrics for the background (to give it a scrappy feel) and chose one of my all-time favorite all over quilting designs - the classic orange peel.

This quilt measures 48 1/2" x 64 1/2" finished.

During the cutting process of Tilted Spools, I realized that I made a mistake and cut a bunch of 4 1/2" squares at the wrong size!  Do you ever do that?  Well, luckily I had enough fabric left over to cut the correct size squares.  So I set the 4 1/2" squares aside and decided I would just make another quilt out of those!

I made a simple patchwork quilt, slightly smaller, that coordinates with the first!  It measures 

39 1/2" x 47 1/2" finished.  Cathy Barney quilted this one as well, except this time with loops and flowers.

I really love how both of the quilts turned out.  Prairie Sisters has a scrappy feel because of the florals, gingham, geometric prints, farm animals and a few pops of colors.  And I am a "scrappy girl" through and through so I am a big fan!  It was a joy to work with these new, unique fabrics.  

These quilts are listed for sale in my Etsy Shop.  

You can buy just one or both to coordinate with each other.

Click HERE to check them out.

Be sure to visit the Prairie Sisters Farmhouse Fabric Tour Homepage for more inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Skipper Quilt Along: Week 3

Welcome to week 3 of the Skipper Quilt Along!  

I've been thinking this past week that one of the things I love about Quilt Alongs is that if I stay caught up I'm guaranteed to have a quilt top in a few short weeks!  I just gotta keep pluggin' away!   

I hope you're finding the assignments in the Skipper Quilt Along doable.

I'm making a twin size quilt and found that it took just an hour or two to make my 16 blocks.

But time is precious. 

So today I want to refer you to a time-saving tutorial that you can use when making your blocks.  It's my Quick Corner Triangle Piecing Method (sometimes it's called the "Tape Method").   You can use this method any time a pattern instructs you to mark the wrong side of your squares with a diagonal line.  It completely eliminates that step!  Check out the tutorial.  There are photos and a video to make it super easy to follow.

So the plan for this week is:

Baby: make 4 blocks.

 Throw: make 8 blocks.

 Twin: make 16 blocks.

 Queen: make 24 blocks.

I love seeing these blocks come together!

Don't forget, there will be a fabulous prize at the end of the Quilt Along for one lucky winner!  Barbara Eason of One Sweet Bee Designs has so generously offered to donate edge-to-edge quilting (medium density) to one winner (any size quilt!)  The winner will just have to pay for shipping (she lives in TX.), batting, and thread.  And to all the other participants she is offering 25% off the quilting on their Skipper Quilts!  You can follower her on Instagram @onesweetbeequilts.

I'll choose the winner from the Instagram hashtag pool at the end of the Quilt Along.  I'll choose someone that posts a picture of their finished quilt top.  But I'm not gonna lie, you might get extra bonus points for every picture you post on Instagram during the Quilt Along!  Use the hashtag #skipperqal to enter.  Plus, we all want to see what you're up to and it's a chance to find and make new quilty friends (the very BEST part of Quilt Alongs!)

Have a great week and happy quilting! 

Skipper Quilt Along: Week 2

Happy Monday friends!  Welcome to week 2 of the Skipper Quilt Along!

I hope you all had fun picking out and cutting your fabrics last week.

Here's the plan for this week:

Baby: make 4 blocks.

Throw: make 8 blocks.

Twin: make 16 blocks.

Queen: make 24 blocks.

I've broken down the number of blocks you need to make each week 

into an amount divisible by 4 - since each strip set makes 4 blocks.

They're pretty quick and fun to make!

You'll find as you're making these blocks that you have some fun triangles left over.  So I've got an idea!  Instead of just discarding the leftover triangles, why not use them to make some other blocks!?!  The easiest way to do this is after you sew your squares onto your strip segments (and before you trim them) sew one more seam 1/2" away from the first as shown below.  The first seam (for the Skipper blocks) is the seam that goes from corner to corner.  The second seam (for the other blocks) is the shorter seam that is closer to the outer corner of the block.

Then cut between the two seams leaving about a 1/4" seam allowance on each block.

Press the Skipper block as directed in the pattern and press the other 

block (Half Square Triangle or HST) seams towards the bigger triangle.

Repeat on both ends of all the blocks and then trim the HST's to 3 3/4" each.

Sew together 4 HST's to make 1 Pinwheel block.  

You'll get 2 Pinwheel blocks from each set of 4 Skipper Blocks.  

The pinwheels will be going in opposite directions but they would be cute to mix together in a quilt or to break up into a couple of table runners!

Of course, if you don't want to deal with a second project, disregard these instructions and just move forward using the Skipper instructions! 

Have fun making these blocks and be sure to post a picture of your first set on Instagram using the hashtag #skipperqal.  I can't wait to see your blocks!!!

Happy quilting!

Skipper Quilt Along: Week 1

Welcome to week 1 of the Skipper Quilt Along!

I'm excited to get this party started!

Week 1 is all about planning and prepping.

Goal #1: get pattern.

If you haven't purchased the Skipper pattern yet, click HERE to visit my shop.

Goal #2: choose fabrics.

Tell me below what fabrics you're doing and what size you're making.  

I'm dying to know!

I'm using Sweet Tea fabrics by Sweetwater.

This quilt is for my 16-year-old son and he's on board with the reds, blues, and tans!  

I personally am kind of obsessed with the light blues in this line.

Oh, and I'm making the twin size. :)

[Note: the pattern calls for 1/8 yard cuts for the bright fabrics.  

I ordered my fabric online and a fat quarter bundle was the easiest way to get the entire line 

so I am making adjustments.  Eighth-yard cuts are definitely the most efficient use of fabric.]

Goal #3: Do all the cutting for your chosen quilt size.

Press your beautiful fabrics (if necessary) and begin cutting.

If you're looking for time-saving techniques, 

I think you will find my Quick Rotary Cutting Tutorial very helpful.

[I had to pull out this HANDMADE WITH LOVE tag that I got from a Quilter's Candy Box that I curated several months ago.  Since I'm making this for my son I want to be sure to use it!] 

Be sure to post on Instagram this week a picture of your fabric selection and cuts.  Use the hashtag #skipperqal so we can all see what you're working on.  Although we're not having weekly prizes in this Quilt Along, I think a little accountability goes a long way!  If you stay caught up and are able to post a picture of your finished quilt top by April 28th you'll be entered to win the GRAND PRIZE -  longarm quilting by One Sweet Bee Designs (@onesweetbeequilts on Instagram)!

In my opinion, one of the best things about Quilt Alongs is the opportunity to make new quilty friends, encourage each other, inspire and be inspired by others!  I hope you'll take a few minutes each week to peruse the hashtag and leave a few comments!

Before I let you go, I want to thank each and every one of you for being here.  Thank you for purchasing my pattern and thank you for coming along on this ride!  Quilting is so much more fun with friends!

*Click HERE for the Skipper Quilt Along Homepage

which includes the full schedule, sign up link and more!*