scrap vortex QAL, week 2

Welcome to week 2 of the scrap vortex QAL! I'm very happy that so many of you are quilting along with me! Today I will be showing the directions for this week, and at the bottom of the post, I have a Q & A to address a few comments from last week. There is a lot of info in this post! (Please take the time to read it! :) )

This week's assignment is very similar to last week, except this time you just sew pairs of pairs together. Sew some pairs side by side, sew some pairs end to end. You can sew 3 little pieces in a row, then add a string to one side....any way works. Make some of each!

Let me walk you through a few examples. I chose to pair these two pieces together because they are about the same length. I could sew them together as is, but the red is right next to the dark blue and green. That would work, but....

flipping the piece on the right places the yellow next to the dark blue green. It looks much better the second way, so I sew it up! Now, don't overthink each step. If you do, this quilt will drive you crazy, because there are about a million decisions in a scrap vortex quilt. BUT, auditioning your options is a good thing! It's a fine line some days. Ha!

At this point, I will trim the top and bottom edges just a sliver, because the piece is getting a little bit unruly. That's it! Make several pairs of pairs. Or make sections of 5, 6, 7 or 8. (You will need hundreds of blocks!)

Here are just a few photos to show different scrap configurations...

 

Here is an example of building with slightly larger blocks. When I was pairing smaller blocks up, I noticed that these two blocks were sitting next to each other. They were in progress from a previous sewing session. They are roughly the same length and the colors work well together, so I sewed them together.

Notice how the seams don't line up in the middle? That is actually preferred, believe it or not. The offset/staggered seams add visual interest to the block and it helps blur the lines in each individual block that you are building. That's what you want! Random is good! :)

The edges of this block are pretty tidy, so I won't trim this block at this point. I'll just add it to the temporarily done pile.

Here is what I accomplished this week. Not a ton, but it is progress! It is kind of slow going at the beginning, but once you start adding blocks together, you will gain momentum! I like to place my blocks on the design wall as I complete them. It's encouraging to see progress!

Now, to answer some questions...

Q: My scraps don't all "go together", so how much should I edit?

A: My advice to you would be to edit based on the tone of the fabric more than anything else. If you have a lot of scraps that are in more traditional colors vs. the candy colors (what I tend to use) I would separate them into two different categories. Also, don't take out all the darks out of the equation (that would be my tendency), because the quilt needs the variety of values. The darks add interest to the quilt. At the end of the day, YOU need to decide what your comfort level is in editing your scraps...after all, it's your quilt!

Q: Will there be a linky party for the quilt along?

A: I don't think so, but if you want to share your progress, you can use the hashtag #scrapvortexqal, if you are on Instagram.

Q: How big is the largest scrap in your quilt?

A: I had to go check, but I found one (the green strip shown above) that is about 2 1/8" x 7 1/4 long. That's pretty big for me, but you can use any sized scraps you want!

Q: How do I sign up for the QAL?

A: This quilt along is very informal. In order to join, all you need to do is leave a comment (or not) and sew right along with me following the directions that I post. Easy and fun! If you have a blog, post about your progress! Or use the #scrapvortexqal hashtag on Instagram.

Q: How long will this QAL run?

A: Probably through the month of June, maybe into early July. We will see how things go!


Ok, that's all I have for this week. If you are quilting along, please let me know how your quilt is progressing! If you have any questions, I'll try to answer them in the comments (or in the next post).