Welcome to the first week of SoChick's 1st Annual Quilt Along!
Are you ready to start piecing the top for your epic Anchors Aweigh Quilt?!
We'll be doing approximately two rows per week of Tula Pink's Anchors Aweigh quilt top. At the end of the QAL you'll have the opportunity to submit a photo of your completed Quilt Top, via a link party in the final post, for a chance to win a Free Lesson from Craftsy.com, which will help you to complete your quilt on your home sewing machine!
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Week 1 {Anchors Aweigh Row 1 & Row 8}
Remember, as I mentioned when we were cutting and prepping our fabric... Organization is key! This quilt top will go together much more smoothly if you stay organized and on top of all of your pieces. Also, you will want the quilt pattern in front of you as you prep and sew each section/row, and I will reference the pattern throughout the Quilt Along.
Let's begin!
We've cut our squares ahead of time and labeled them:
Now we can cut the solids for Row 1 and Row 8... keep in mind that when cutting long Width of Fabric (WOF) strips, you can save time and ensure a straighter cut by keeping the fabric folded as it was on the bolt, in half, selvage to selvage, to make one single WOF cut.
I started by cutting my larger 12.5in strips (sections 1 & 3), then cut the 11in strip for each row. Once you cut the smaller pieces you need from the 11in section of fabric you can set the extra fabric aside for later rows.
Next, I pull out all of the squares called for in the given row and lay them with the corresponding solids, below.
Now that our first two Rows are prepped, it's time to sew them!
Row 1:
Align squares right sides together and stitch with a consistent 1/4" seam allowance, continue this way to stitch each square end-to-end.
Press all seams open...
Align squares with bottom of white solid section and stitch, pressing that seam open also.
Once the pieced sections of the row are stitched, give them a good shot of starch to keep the seams crisp...
Finish each row by joining all of the sections, using 1/4 in seam allowances and pressing seams open. I starched these as well... for good measure. Continue with Row 8.
My finished rows... of course I took the photos after I had folded them away, and yes, i pinned them to the back of my sofa... this quilt is going to be huge! *yay*
Well, two Rows down and six to go, not so bad, right?!
I'm excited to see your progress, please add your photo to the SoChickQAL {Anchors Aweigh} Flickr page or leave a comment on this post with a link to your photo on Instagram or other photo-sharing site!
Have questions? Ask away!
XxOo~ Melissa
Are you ready to start piecing the top for your epic Anchors Aweigh Quilt?!
We'll be doing approximately two rows per week of Tula Pink's Anchors Aweigh quilt top. At the end of the QAL you'll have the opportunity to submit a photo of your completed Quilt Top, via a link party in the final post, for a chance to win a Free Lesson from Craftsy.com, which will help you to complete your quilt on your home sewing machine!
You can read more about the Quilt Along, here.
Read about cutting & prepping your fabric, here.
Here we go!
* * *
Week 1 {Anchors Aweigh Row 1 & Row 8}
Remember, as I mentioned when we were cutting and prepping our fabric... Organization is key! This quilt top will go together much more smoothly if you stay organized and on top of all of your pieces. Also, you will want the quilt pattern in front of you as you prep and sew each section/row, and I will reference the pattern throughout the Quilt Along.
Let's begin!
We've cut our squares ahead of time and labeled them:
Now we can cut the solids for Row 1 and Row 8... keep in mind that when cutting long Width of Fabric (WOF) strips, you can save time and ensure a straighter cut by keeping the fabric folded as it was on the bolt, in half, selvage to selvage, to make one single WOF cut.
 |
| Each Row is broken down into sections. This is Row 1, Sections 1, 2 &3. |
I started by cutting my larger 12.5in strips (sections 1 & 3), then cut the 11in strip for each row. Once you cut the smaller pieces you need from the 11in section of fabric you can set the extra fabric aside for later rows.
Next, I pull out all of the squares called for in the given row and lay them with the corresponding solids, below.
Now that our first two Rows are prepped, it's time to sew them!
Row 1:
Align squares right sides together and stitch with a consistent 1/4" seam allowance, continue this way to stitch each square end-to-end.
Once the pieced sections of the row are stitched, give them a good shot of starch to keep the seams crisp...
Finish each row by joining all of the sections, using 1/4 in seam allowances and pressing seams open. I starched these as well... for good measure. Continue with Row 8.
My finished rows... of course I took the photos after I had folded them away, and yes, i pinned them to the back of my sofa... this quilt is going to be huge! *yay*
Well, two Rows down and six to go, not so bad, right?!
I'm excited to see your progress, please add your photo to the SoChickQAL {Anchors Aweigh} Flickr page or leave a comment on this post with a link to your photo on Instagram or other photo-sharing site!
Have questions? Ask away!
XxOo~ Melissa
WOW that's huge!!!! Geez...Little nervous i won't have space for this thing...Also hoping I win the craftsy class since I don't know if I can quilt that pretty baby on my machine! ;)
ReplyDeleteWhen you cut the strips did you just cut straight across once folded in half? Does that make sense? Just cause one is 12.5 and the other is 11....so what happens to the extra piece of fabric if I do the 11 the same as the 12.5...Do we hang onto it or is it scrap??
I'm going to have to pick up some starch! You make it look so nice that way. Nice little trick. Do you just spray it or spray and then iron? Wow girlie....week one day one and already a million questions :)
Yep... this is a pretty huge Queen sized quilt. But, I feel that you'll be able to tackle quilting it on your home machine due to the simple nature of the actual quilting; really it doesn't need fancy quilting because of the huge focal Anchor and fabrics. You can do it! :-)
DeleteAs for the solids. Yes, I cut all of the solids in this way. So for the first row I cut two WOF sections which measured 12 1/2in and one section that is 11in by WOF. From the 11in piece you will then cut the smaller solid pieces for the row as needed. You will SAVE the remaining 11in strip of solid for use in future rows. I folded each mine and put them in the back of my tray of squares. :-)
This ensures that you are making single, clean, cuts from your 3 yards of Solids... which makes it easier to manage that amount of fabric. So we'll cut our sections this way as the quilt progresses, using from our "spare" solids as needed for smaller pieces.
Hope that all makes sense!
XxOo~M
Ok, I got the prep and the rows 1 and 8 done. Don't know how to post pics on flickr but at least I got started. Thanks for this quilt a long, will be fun if we can all post pics.
ReplyDeleteSuper, Sheree! If you don't have a flickr account but use a photo sharing app, like Instagram, feel free to share a link to your photos here in the comments. Glad to have you sewing along!
DeleteXxOo~M
Have you quilted yours yet? I just finished piecing mine and I am going to quilt it this weekend. I think I will probably use the suggested quilting diagram, but wondered if you did it any differently. Thanks for the QAL! It was very helpful, even though I came into it a bit late! I was very happy to have it for a reference. I threw this quilt together in about a month, sewing on most evenings after work and on the weekends when I had time. It was much easier than I expected, but very dramatic! I love it!
ReplyDeleteHi Amy, I'm so glad you found the QAL... better late than never, right?! I agree, I love how awesome this quilt is and how it went together fairly quickly. I have not quilted mine yet, I will admit that the task is a bit daunting as it's my first large quilt.... I'll be sure to share when I do, hopefully soon!
DeleteWell, I'm lucky my friend has a long arm and has offered to let me use it! But, I have done large quilts on my home machine and it isn't as bad as you might think. You'll get into a rhythm once you get started and hopefully, it will be smooth sailing for you. Good Luck! I'll add a pic of mine to the flickr group when its done, if you don't mind?
DeleteI would absolutely LOVE for you to share in the Flikr group! :)
Delete