January 11, 2018

#plusblockQAL {assembling the blocks}

Better late than never...here are instructions on assembling your plus quilt blocks for the #plusblockQAL.

No matter which size block you are making, the pieces are assembled the same way. Lay out your fabric pieces like in the picture below. If you have directional fabrics, now is the time to make sure all the fabrics are laid out properly.

The first step is to sew a small background square to each small plus square and sew a small background square to each end of your plus rectangle fabric. Press seams. (At this step, I press my seams open. See my notes on pressing on the last picture.)

Now sew a large background square to each side of your top and bottom pieces. You will end up with three strips.

The last step is to sew your three strips together. At this point, it's more important to match up your centers of each strip so your plus is lined up properly.

This shows how I press my seams for this block.

When pressing seams, I don't always press open/press to the dark fabric/press to the light fabric. My goal is to reduce bulk at the seams as much as possible so I usually let the fabric dictate how it wants to be pressed.  I start by pressing open. (I piece with a shorter stitch length and have never had a problem when pressing my seams open.) After sewing the larger squares to the first pieced unit, I press those seams to the large background square. After all three strips are sewn together, I press the finals seams toward the middle of the block.

Clear as mud? I need to work on my tutorial writing skills! If you have any questions, please ask away.

January 5, 2018

#plusblockQAL...cutting your jelly roll

For those of you that have decided to use a jelly roll for the #plusblockQAL, here are some instructions for quickly cutting up your fabric. Each jelly roll strip will make 3 pluses. Fabrics in a jelly roll are often duplicated. If you have two matching strips, you can use your leftover pieces from the strips and cut an additional plus...so 7 pluses from 2 jelly roll strips.

I leave my jelly roll folded. (Yes...that probably breaks all the quilting rules!) From your folded strip:

  • remove the selvedges
  • cut three 2.5-inch squares (since the strip is folded you have 6 squares)
  • cut one 6.5-inch by 2.5-inch rectangle (since the strip is folded you have 2 rectangles)
  • take your leftover piece and proceed to step 2




  • unfold your leftover piece and press the fabric to remove the crease where it was folded
  • cut one additional 2.5-inch by 6.5-inch rectangle
  • the remaining fabric can go in your scrap bin or you can pair it with a matching leftover piece to cut one additional plus


That's it! You'll have your jelly roll cut up in no time!

I also had a question on how much background fabric is needed. I'm terrible at calculating fabric requirements since I'm not good at quilty math and I almost always make scrappy projects. (I cut what I have. If I run out, I buy more fat quarters!) I did find this AWESOME fabric calculator online. You can enter your fabric width, the size of pieces you need to cut and how many pieces you need and the calculator will figure your yardage for you!!!

There are already so many great posts on Instagram with everybody's progress. Check out the hashtag #plusblockQAL to see what everybody is making and for more info on the quilt-a-long!