Tuesday, June 20, 2017

June QAL-week 3

Welcome to week 3 of the June quilt QAL! I hope you all are having fun making your June quilt blocks.
After the comments last week, I took another look at my cornerstone fabrics. (The original ones that I picked are the top left squares.) They ARE too light....(thank you for pointing that out!)...so I selected a more saturated red fabric. I like the saturated red cornerstones better, but I had a feeling there was still a better option. I auditioned a LOT of other fabrics, and I found two different aqua fabrics. I like them both, but I don't have enough of either one, individually, so I decided to use both. I think the aqua fabrics will add a lot more pizazz to the quilt. I'm still using fabric that I have on hand, so that's good! Remember what I said about editing until the very last seam is sewn? This is a great example of that very thing.

Today I will be giving cutting instructions for the background fabrics and the cornerstone fabrics. If you haven't finished your blocks from last week (I know I haven't!), find time to finish piecing them this week, if you can. Just a reminder, you will need 36 pieced blocks for the baby quilt and 48 pieced blocks for the lap size quilt. (100 blocks if you are making the quilt in the book.)
For the background fabric you will need:
1 1/3 yards for the baby size
2 yards for the lap size
(This allows for little waste, so please cut carefully and in the order listed, for best results. Feel free to purchase extra yardage if desired.)

For the baby size, cut 2 squares 12 5/8" and cut them in half on the diagonal, twice, to make 8 quarter square triangles.

For the lap size, cut 4 squares 12 5/8" and cut them in half on the diagonal, twice, to make 16 quarter square triangles. (There will be 2 extra QSTs for this size.)

Label as A.

For the baby size, cut 13 squares 8 1/2".

For the lap size, cut 18 squares 8 1/2".

Label as B.

For the baby size OR the lap size, cut 2 squares 6 5/8" and cut on the diagonal, twice, ONCE, to make 8 4 quarter half-square triangles.

(Edited to add, I'm so sorry about the error in the instructions! These triangles should be cut on the diagonal once, not twice. You need a total of 4 HSTs, not 8 QSTs. Thank you so much, Liz, for pointing that out.)

Label as C.

For the cornerstone fabric you will need:
1/3 yard for the baby size
1/2 yard for the lap size
(or a combination of two fabrics to equal those measurements)
For the baby size, cut 12 squares 4 1/2".

For the lap size, cut 17 squares 4 1/2".

Label as D.

For the baby size, cut 3 squares 7" and cut in half on the diagonal, twice, to make 12 quarter square triangles.

For the lap size, cut 4 squares 7" and cut in half on the diagonal, twice, to make 16 quarter square triangles. (There will be 2 extra QSTs of this size.)

Label as E.
Next week we will get into quilt top assembly!

If you have any questions, I will try to answer them in the comments. Thank you so much for quilting along with me!

15 comments:

Elaine M said...

The aqua does give a nice "pop". Fun that you are using 2 fabrics. Thanks for the instructions. Yippee, I got my strip blocks done.

The Joyful Quilter said...

The aqua is a GREAT choice!! The scissors in your photos? Redundant (since we all KNOW that you are using a rotary cutter!!) Off to the studio to start cutting...

Judy said...

I like how the aqua is pulling 'up' the aqua in some of your string pieces giving the whole quilt more color. The solid red tones down the red polka-dot and makes that arrangement easier on the eyes. I'm enjoying this, thanks.

Amanda Jean said...

The Joyful Quilter,

I added the scissors in the photos for scale, since that is the only thing that helps give a clue to the size of the cut pieces. :)

AJ

pingraham said...

Thanks for all your specific instructions as well as your photos with your thinking for your own quilt. I admire your sense of color and ability to create gorgeous quilts from different scraps, so this is so helpful for me. I'm making progress on my strip blocks and I'm beginning to love this quilt! This was my favorite (of many favorites!) quilt from your new book, and I'm so excited to have your help with it. I'm making the lap size, and even though I had figured out the measurements on my own and had written these on post-it notes in the book, it is nice to have you affirm that the same size blocks will work for a smaller quilt. I don't have enough experience and confidence yet to know if blocks will need to be downsized to look good on a smaller quilt. Thanks for your wonderful directions and photos!!! (I even got the courage to post a pic on Instagram!)

Mina said...

Love the addition of the aqua. I am still trying to shop my stash for my colors

Kim said...

I love your color choice. I'm making good progress on my 48 pieced Blocks. I hope to lay them out with my chosen background and corner stone fabric soon and see how it looks!

Tracybug Creative said...

I have found your editing encouragement refreshing. I often keep fabrics I've already pieced or even cut because I just don't want to "waste" the time I've already spent, but then when I don't make the changes I think I should I always regret it and can't quite look at the quilt the same way. What are some fun things you've done with your edits that you've pulled out...fabric you've already cut and either added or didn't add... did they go on to become inspiration elsewhere, did you just decide to pass them on to others to find some new life for? (Maybe not this quilt, but other quilts since you edit regularly). Also, I feel like this is a blog post idea/topic or maybe even a whole book concept HAHA!

Marcelle said...

Thanks for asking this, Tracy! I have had Amanda Jean's words about editing ringing in my mind ever since I read them last week. On pondering them, I'm convinced that her ruthless editing is probably a huge factor in why her scrap quilts always look so awesome! I am not ruthless enough yet, and have had similar regrets to the ones you just described. I want to just "put it in somewhere " and not have to throw it away! But, even writing this has helped me become a tiny bit ruthless, because reading it before sending makes me sound silly. Enough of that!

Carol said...

I love this, it is so cute and scrap friendly. If I had more time I would join in on the fun. I like the solid red best, the aqua is pretty too for a pop of color but I think I would use a sold aqua the sold color seems to calm down the block and not compete with the red dots. I love the red dots.

Unknown said...

I am loving this, I won't get a chance to sew until much later, but I am collecting and cutting, I'm thinking I might have to do some auditioning still. I personally like the more solid red corner stones for your quilt, but I am partial to red!

Rosa said...

No chance to sew this month but love read your instructions.Love your fabric choice!

Unknown said...

For block C in the book you subcut on the diagonal once to make 4 for the corners of the quilt. Today you have us cut 8 quarter square triangles. Is this one different?

Amanda Jean said...

Liz Rehrauer

No! That is my mistake. The C blocks should only be cut on the diagonal once. Great catch! I'll post updates soon!

pix*see style said...

Hi Amanda, I'm not sure if anyone has asked you this question before.... but you being the queen of scraps and full of ideas for not wasting fabric I have a question for you.
I have been quilting for over 24 years now and my stash is HUGE... I have everything in there - 1930's prints, very dark 1990's fabric for the "country " look quilts juvenile prints etc . My question is what can I do with this fabric so my projects won't look so dated? I see all these pretty patterns with bright fun fabrics - so cute! But even when I make a scrap quilt with what I have ... it's not cute or current. Is it time to donate and start fresh and maybe NOT buy yardage , but maybe buy the fat quarter bundles ?