December 30, 2017

#plusblockQAL {schedule}

I am thrilled with all the excitement and interest in the #plusblockQAL. Some of you have already starting making blocks...a LOT of blocks! I love what I'm seeing so far and can't wait to get started on my own quilt.

This quilt-a-long is going to be pretty laid back and stress free. You decide how many blocks you want to make and how big you want your quilt to be. You pick your own fabrics. I have made a tentative schedule, but you can work at your own pace and not worry about falling behind. Since we're not swapping blocks, there's no hard and fast deadlines. The goal of this QAl is to take some time for yourselves and make something you want to make.

2018 #plusblockQAL Schedule
  • week 1: January 1 - January 7
    • blog and Instagram posts on planning, cutting, block assembly, etc
  • week 2: January 8 - January 14
  • week 3: January 15 - January 21
  • week 4: January 22 - January 28
  • week 5: January 29 - February 4
  • week 6: February 5 - February 11
  • week 7: February 12 - February 18
  • week 8: February 19 - February 25
    • blog and Instagram posts on quilt layout, quilt top assembly, quilting, and binding
  • week 9 & beyond: February 26 - ?
    • complete your quilts and show them off!
Weeks 2 through 8 (January 8 - February 25) will be all about making your blocks...that's 7 full weeks (56 days) to make as many blocks as you can/want. Try to post your block tally for each week on Sundays. Let us know how many blocks you completed that week and share a pic. Use #plusblockQAL on your posts so I and other QAL participants can find them.

Some thoughts on time management...

My son is in 5th grade, and I talk to him a LOT about time management. (That's kind of amusing since I'm quite the procrastinator.) When he's assigned a school project, it often seems like he has a lot of time before the project needs to be completed so he don't start right away. Inevitably, he ends up trying to do the whole thing at the last minute. One way to plan how to complete a project is to break the project down into parts and spread it over the time frame allotted. This works for quilting projects, too!

Let's say you want to make a queen-ish sized plus block quilt. If you're using the 11.5" block measurements, you would need 8 rows of 8 blocks (64 blocks total) for a finished quilt measuring approximately 88" x 88". If you break that down over the 7 week block-making time frame, you should be making 9.14 blocks per week. (Of course you can't make 0.14 block so make 10 per week, and you'll be ahead of the game!) You could further break it down by day...make 2 blocks on 3 days of the week and just 1 block on the remaining 4 days. Totally doable. If you're in a groove and feel like making more, even better.

I'm ready to start quilting with everyone. If you're selected fabrics, share a pic on Instagram!

do. Good Stitches Peace Circle November quilt top

December 8, 2017

Another {plus block}!

We're well into December, and I'm getting pretty excited for the #plusblockQAL I'll be hosting in January! I really love Moda Grunge and polka dots and decided to splurge on a Grunge Hits the Spots jelly roll for my quilt. Since a jelly roll consists of 2.5" strips, I modified the measurements of the original block to make it jelly roll friendly! Each jelly roll strip will make 3 pluses with a little fabric left over for your scrap bin. You can also use charm packs, mini charm packs and/or a layer cake for the background and make your entire quilt with precuts. This block is 10.5" (10" finished when sewn into a quilt top).

For each block, you will need two different fabric colors/values...one for the plus and one for the background. (My blocks will use various colors of Grunge polka dot fabrics for the pluses and scrappy low volume fabrics for the background.)

Cutting instructions for each block:
  • 2 squares 2.5" x 2.5" of plus fabric
  • 1 rectangle 6.5" x 2.5" of plus fabric
  • 4 squares 2.5" x 2.5" of background fabric
  • 4 squares 4.5" x 4.5" of background fabric





Please see my previous post for more details on the quilt-a-long. If you have an AccuQuilt die cutting system, stay tuned for a post on which dies to use to cut your pieces.