Willow QAL: Week 1

Hello hello!

Welcome to week 1 of the Willow Quilt-Along!  

Jessica Dayon and I are hosting this Quilt-Along and we are super excited you're here!

One of the best things about a Quilt-Along is connecting with you guys and hopefully
having some new friends at the end of it!  So Jessica and I thought it would be fun to
answer a get-to-know-you question each week. We thought we'd start by doing a brief
introduction about ourselves.  We'd love it if you want to play along too!

So I'm Amber Johnson.  I've been married to my husband for 21 years.  

We have 2 children (a boy, 17 and a girl, 14).  We also have a dog that we adore 

(she's half Black Lab and half Brittany Spaniel).  We met on the first day I moved to 

Utah to go to college.  A few weeks later he asked me out.  A couple weeks 

later I told him I just wanted to be friends.  A few months later I realized I was crazy 

and that he was everything I always said I ever wanted so I asked him if he wanted to "hang out" 

again (at that point I knew he was the one).  About 6 months later we were married and now...

here we are!  I was born in California, grew up in Washington State and have been quilting 

for about 20 years.  That's me in a nutshell!

So the assignment for this week is to make 6 Harmony Blocks (above).

I found that they went together relatively quickly by using the chain-piecing method.  

Chain-piecing is a time-saving quilting technique similar to an assembly line.  

You repeat a single sewing step for all the blocks of a quilt without cutting threads 

between each section until after you are done with that step.  It creates a "chain" 

of pieces and saves time and thread.

Note: the blocks finish at 6" so you will be working with small(ish) pieces.  

Try to be as accurate as you can in your cutting and sewing so everything goes 

together nicely.  Check your seam allowance prior to making your first block 

to make sure it's exactly 1/4".

Click HERE for the pattern.
Click HERE for the Willow coloring page so you can fill in your own colors!

Be sure to stop by Jessica's blog next to see her beautiful blocks and get to know her more.

And please introduce yourself in the comment section below.  

We'd love to know where you're from and whatever else you'd like to tell us! :)

Happy sewing!

Willow Quilt Along

I have some fun news for you guys today!

My IG friend Jessica Dayon asked me a couple of months ago if I would like to host a Quilt Along with her and I thought, "What better way to make some new quilty friends?!" so I said, "Yes!"  We've been in close contact ever since - collaborating, planning, and testing blocks to create this really pretty design we're calling Willow.  We hope you love it as much as we do and we hope you'll join us for this free Quilt Along.

Here are the details...

Willow Quilt Along

Hosted by Jessica Dayon and Amber Johnson

- Pattern: weekly instructions for the Willow pattern will be given here on my blog and on Jessica's blog each Thursday.

- Finished Quilt Size: 60" x 60"

- Finished Block Size: 6" x 6"

- Duration: 7 weeks

- Schedule: 

Week 1 (March 26th): Make 6 Harmony Blocks

Week 2 (April 2nd): Make 4 Grace Blocks
Week 3 (April 9th): Make 4 Grace Blocks
Week 4 (April 16th): Make 6 Hope Blocks

Week 5 (April 23rd): Make 5 Hope Blocks

Week 6 (April 30th): Make the cornerstones and cut the layout pieces 

Week 7 (May 7th): Assemble the top 

- Fabric Requirements: 

For the blocks, you will need 2 light-colored fat quarters, 3 medium-colored fat quarters, 3 dark-colored fat quarters and 5 fat quarters for the background. For the setting, you will need 2-3/8 yards of background fabric, 1/4 of a yard for the stashing stars, 7/8 of a yard for the border, 5/8 of a yard for the binding and 3-3/4 yards for the backing.
- Cost: it's FREE!
- Notes: This is another low-key Quilt-Along with no sign-ups and no prizes!  Just check our blogs every Thursday to get the week's assignment and in 7 weeks you will have a beautiful quilt top!  You can also follow along with us @jessicadayon and @gigis_thimble on Instagram.  Use the hashtag #willowqal to post pictures of your progress and see what everyone else is doing.  
- Click HERE for a PDF version of this information.

This blue and white version is what I'm planning on doing (or something very similar).

I'm going to try to use my stash that is heavy in different shades of blue.

I bought a background fabric and am hoping to use my stash for the rest.

Here are my test blocks.  

As you can see there are 3 different blocks for the main part of the quilt.  

We hope you like them.  They sure are fun to make!

 Because they finish at 6" you will become more comfortable working with small pieces.  Some of them have 1" finished Half-Square Triangles!  But I promise you they are not too hard to make. 

I wanted to see what this would look like in a more colorful palette so I also 

mocked up this version with bright, happy solids.

Or there is this version in Farmhouse Gingham from Riley Blake Designs.

I think this fabric line is gorgeous!

Or there is a classic red and white solid version if that's more your thing.

Those are just a few examples.  Really, the possibilities are endless with this pattern.

Color placement creates so many different looks!  I love that and can't wait to see 

the different versions you guys do!

One last thing that I wanted to share -

Jessica and I decided to name this pattern Willow because of what the Willow Tree represents.

The beautiful green symbolizes nature, fertility, and life. The tree also represents balance, learning, growth, harmony, strength, and stability.  The structure of the trunk represents standing firm and withstanding the greatest of challenges.  We both loved that and have named our blocks Grace, Hope and Harmony.  We hope this pattern will remind you of the beautiful qualities represented by the Willow Tree.  

Let me know below if you're going to join us (we really want you to!) and be sure to visit

Jessica's blog HERE to see her version.  It's beautiful so go on over and say "Hi!"!

Finished Irish Chain Quilt + Printable Instructions

Well, it's done and I love it!

My green and white Irish Chain quilt turned out 

just how I envisioned it.

It adds just a little bit of color and vintage charm at the foot of my bed.

I also think it would've been cute had the fabric placement been reversed.

I get asked a lot - 

the green  I used is called "Forest" by Michael Miller (Cotton Couture).

What do you think of my new "homebody" pillow?

I got it at the Corn Wagon Mercantile a few weeks ago.

The Corn Wagon is an awesome quilt shop in Springville, UT. 

and they recently opened a retreat center and mercantile behind the shop.  

The whole place is just a dream.  I definitely want to go back again soon! 

So I mentioned in my last post that I was debating whether or not to do crosshatching 

for the quilting on my quilt.  I decided to splurge and do it and I couldn't be happier!

 It was a bit pricey to do the crosshatching since my quilter basically had to quilt 

it twice but I think it was worth it.  I rarely do custom quilting (which is always more 

expensive) so I thought I would treat myself this time!  I feel like the crosshatching 

has a vintage vibe but is still kind of modern which is exactly the look I was going for!

The quilter I used on this was Denae Hansen of Plain Jane Quilting in American Fork, UT.

She always does a fantastic job and has a pretty quick turnaround time.

I always love her work!

I'm kind of obsessed with my backing fabric.  I went to 4 different fabric stores 

before I found it and the minute I saw it I knew it was the one.  It's called Wildwood
Peonies in Navy by Rifle Paper Co. for Cotton + Steel.  I actually ordered it through
AACottonCreations on Etsy though because the shop here in Utah only had it in canvas.
Are you one to put a lot of thought into your quilt backs or not?
Some people say, "Oh, it's on the back, you won't see it."  

But you do!  And I just want the back to make me as happy as the front.

Remember the labels I got a while back?  They're from Border City Quilts on Etsy.  

They were custom so if you want something similar just tell them you want the 2" x 2" 

cotton fold over labels.  You can pick the font and text.  I got a sheet of 20 for $16 

and I'm very happy with them! 

I'm so glad to have this quilt done so we can enjoy it now. 

I hope you don't mind me sharing a boatload of pictures with you today!

 Please let me know if you have any questions.  I'm also so happy to announce that I have 

the printable, condensed instructions for the two-color Irish Chain quilt HERE (2 size options). 

Happy quilting!