Sew Let's Quilt Along: Quilt Shop

I can hardly believe it’s already time for the final block of segment one! If you’ve missed any of the past blocks, you can find them on my quilt along page. The end of segment one means it’s time to share all of your blocks to enter the giveaway! It’s also time for the hosts to provide ideas for small projects. All of the info can be found on my segment one wrap-up post.

Our final block of segment one is this adorable quilt shop designed by Abbie Danahy of Sparkle On! Head on over to her blog post to get the pattern. Remember, all block patterns will be free until the quilt along ends on September 24, 2019.

Tips and Tricks

Seam Test

Any time a block has different sized pieces coming together, it’s essential to test your seam allowance. It’s the only way you can be sure everything will fit together nicely and your block will come out at just the right size.

To test your seam allowance, cut two 2" squares and sew them together. Press as desired, and measure the resulting rectangle. The rectangle should be 3 1/2" long. If your rectangle is shorter, you need a narrower seam allowance. If your rectangle is longer, you need a wider seam allowance. Adjust your seam and try again. Once the rectangle is exactly 3 1/2" long, you're good to go.

Choosing Fabrics

For me, choosing fabrics is the very hardest part of making these blocks. It feels like such a commitment! To help me visualize what my block would look like, I laid my fabrics out roughly where they would fit in the final block. After auditioning a lot of possibilities, I landed on this fabric pull.

Stitch and Flip Corners

My favorite tool for drawing the diagonal lines is a Sewline ceramic pencil. They come in several colors, but I just bought one pencil and change out the lead as needed. To save time, I drew the lines on all of the stitch and flip squares before I started sewing (though I should have had the lines going the other way on half of the purple pieces since that fabric is directional).

The secret to making a successful stitch and flip corner is to stitch just outside of the drawn line. The line you drew isn't the stitching line - it's actually where the fabric needs to fold! By stitching just outside of the line, you give yourself the extra fabric you need to reach all the way to the corner when you flip it over.

Just to be safe, I always test to make sure my corner is covered before I cut away the excess fabric from the back.

Awning Fringe

I find it so much easier to get nice points when my seams nest. To get the seams of the awning fringe to nest, I pressed the first corner in (towards the building fabric) and the second corner out (towards the awning fabric). By always sewing the left corner first, and by pressing each of the units the same way, I ensured all of my awning pieces would nest when I sewed them together.

Pinwheels

The little pinwheels in the shop windows are just so cute! It’s definitely worth the little bit of extra work to include them.

Abbie’s pattern has you make oversized half square triangles (HSTs) and trim them down. To trim HSTs, line up the 45° line on your ruler with the diagonal seam in the HST. Trim the first two sides (making sure to leave enough space to trim the other two sides next). Click to enlarge images.

Rotate the block 180°. Once again, line up the 45° line with the center seam. This time, you also want to line up the edges with the 1 1/2” lines on your ruler. Trim the remaining two sides. Now you have a perfectly trimmed half square triangle!

To reduce bulk, I recommend spinning the seam in the center of the pinwheel. Press the first two seams in opposite directions so the final seam will nest. After sewing the final seam that connects two halves of the pinwheel together, pop the stitches in the center so the seams will spin. I find it easiest to press from the back first, then flip it over and press again from the front.

Our Lovely Hosts

We have nine hosts for segment one, and we all made our very own quilt shop blocks. Be sure to visit all of the lovely ladies below for more tips and inspiration. If you like what you see, leave a comment! We all love a bit of encouragement from our fellow quilters.

Prizes

We will have a prize package at the end of every segment, as well as a grand prize at the end of the quilt along. The prizes are open to all participants that are at least 18 years old. If you don’t remember what I mean by segment, check out the intro post for a refresher on how this quilt along is structured.

How to Enter

To be eligible to win a segment prize, you need to make all of the blocks from that segment. Share a photo or photos of your blocks (in a single post) to be entered.

For segment one, entries will be open from 12:00 am May 7 to 11:59 pm May 20, 2019 (Eastern time). There are three places you can share your blocks to be entered in the drawing:

Segment One Prize Package

We have a wonderful array of prizes for each segment! Here’s the prize package for segment one:

Grand Prize

To be eligible to win the grand prize, you need to make all 13 blocks from the whole quilt along and turn them into a quilt or other project(s). Quilt tops don’t need to be quilted, but projects do need to be finished. Share a single post that shows all of the blocks in a quilt or project. It doesn’t matter how many projects or what projects you make, or how many blocks you use in each project as long as you show that you’ve used all 13 blocks in a finished project or projects.

Important Note

To keep the contest portion of the quilt-along fair and fun for everyone, only quilters that use all of the designers' blocks [in a quilt or project(s)] will be eligible for the grand prize. Likewise, our segment prizes will only be open to those that make all of the designers’ blocks for that segment.

Fabulous Sponsors

We are really lucky to have some amazing sponsors on board for this quilt along! Please check them out as thanks for supporting us. Bluprint, Dear Stella, Everything Mary, Island Batik, Paintbrush Studio Fabrics, Prym, Shabby Fabrics, Timeless Treasures, Warm Company Additionally, many of the block designers are donating their quilt patterns.

What Will Your Shop Look Like?

Abbie included so many fun ways to embellish this block! Do you have any ideas what you will do to make your quilt shop special? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Quilting, Quilt AlongsBobbi BridgemanSew Let's Quilt Along, Partners in Design, pieced quilt block, mystery quilt7 Comments