AGF Quilt Block Collection Blog Tour

AGF Quilt Block Collection Blog Tour

You all know how much I love Art Gallery Fabrics, right? Well, of course I do, I'm one of their designers but I loved them even before I was designing for them. They are leaders in the industry for sewing inspiration, fabric quality, and fresh, modern prints. Their website and blog is stocked full of free projects, giveaways, and ideas for your next sewing adventure.

For some time now AGF has been building a quilt block library for you with Youtube demonstration videos for making each block. Art Gallery Fabrics has asked Sharon McConnell of Color Girl Quilts to host a AGF Quilt Block Collection Blog Tour so you can get even more ideas on how to sew with all these fun traditional quilt blocks. I jumped on the chance to be part of the tour and today is my turn to show you what I made.

Nov 13 - Sharon McConnell | colorgirlquilts.com/blog | @colorgirlquilts

Nov 14 - Karen O'Connor | ladykquiltsdesigns.com | @ladykquilts

Nov 16 - Amy Friend | www.duringquiettime.com | @duringquiettime

Nov 17 - Kate Basti | www.quiltwithkate.com | @katebasti

Nov 18 - Yvonne Fuchs | quiltingjetgirl.com | @quiltingjetgirl

Nov 19 - AnneMarie Chany | www.genxquilters.com | @genxquilters

Nov 20 - Maureen Cracknell | maureencracknellhandmade.blogspot.com | @maureencracknell

Nov 21 - Sharon Holland | sharonhollanddesigns.com | @sharonhollanddesigns

Nov 22 - Lucy Brennan | www.charmaboutyou.com |  @charmaboutyou

I knew right away I wanted to make a table runner from the Aztec block. This block makes me think of pine boughs and perfect for all the pretty Art Gallery Fabrics I have in spruce, mint, teal, silver, and wintery-white mixes. 

To make a runner like mine you will need:

• Six 10'' square light prints

• Six 10'' square dark/medium prints

• (1) 20'' x 60" rectangle backing and batting

• (4) 2-1/4'' x 42'' strips for binding

I mixed my own AFG prints with fabrics designed by other AGF designers for the perfect winter-greens look. Here's a list of the Art Gallery Fabrics collections these prints came from:

Bountiful prints by me Sharon Holland (me)

Coastline print by Sharon Holland

Bachelorette Fusions with prints by Sharon Holland and Pat Bravo

Floralia Fusions with prints by Sharon Holland and Bari J.

Woodland Fusions print by Maureen Cracknell

Spices Fusions print by Bonnie Christine

I always like a physical print out when I'm working with a new pattern. You can download the free Aztec block here. The AGF instructions are well illustrated and easy to follow. I did jot down a few notes for myself when I was making this block and I'd like to share those tips with you. 

First off, I made you a downloadable coloring page for this runner. It's three Aztec blocks sewn short sides together to make a runner that finishes around 15'' x 54'' in size. If you'd like a longer runner, then simply add more blocks. The reason I suggest working out your fabric placement before you begin has to do with the sub cutting and the direction of the points. Click on the coloring page image (below) for the download to pop-up. 

When you first are sewing your half-square triangle (HST) units, use a short stitch length to keep your pieces from unraveling after sub cutting the strips. Be sure to use an accurate seam allowance and square your HSTs to 9-1/2". 

Audition Before SUB Cutting

My original idea for fabric placement ended up changing once my sections for the blocks were all assembled but for this tip you can see how I reference my colored page before I made the sub cut strips. Notice I kept my HST seams running the same direction (like in the AGF instructions) BUT the light and dark placement of the HST have been flipped in my cutting so the points are correctly oriented when I put the blocks together. My suggestion is to have your coloring page by you and flip the HST before cutting to see if everything matches up with your colored page. When you're ready to sub cut, cut the strips into 2-3/8'' segments. 

Pairs of A/B sections ready to assemble into blocks. After I had my block sections sewn I played with the placement and decided to make my blocks so the green prints meet in the center of the block. 

Now here's a runner perfect to leave out all winter long. Dress it up with sparkling silver and metallic accents or create a snowy lodge-look with rustic elements. The quarter inch straight-line machine quilting accentuates the needle-like quilt block pattern and was a fast way to finish this table topper.

What AGF quilt block would you make from their quilt block collection? I hope you've been inspired by the tour makes and if you have, Art Gallery Fabrics wants to see your blocks and block inspired projects and they have an Instagram contest to help celebrate all your quilty creations! 

Here's how to enter: 

-Sew up a block from the AGF Quilt Block Collection with AGF fabrics

-Share them on your public Instagram account using the #agfquiltblockcollection hashtag

-Every month AGF will be choosing two lucky winners who will receive a fat quarter bundle of AGF fabric featured in the AGF Quilt Block Collection!!!!!!

Sewcial Bee Sampler Finale

Sewcial Bee Sampler Finale

This is it, the finale week of the Sewcial Bee Sampler (SBS) and time for Maureen and I to reveal our finished sampler quilts! The last 27 weeks have been incredible. The response and participation to the Sewcial Bee Sampler sew along has been more than my co-host Maureen Cracknell and I could ever imagine. So many new friendships have been formed through the SBS Instagram community and I love hearing how your patchwork sewing skills have been improving through our sewing techniques and tutorials. Thank you for making this so successful.

Surprisingly we still have a few new Makers joining our sew along at this late point and will continue to as they see your beautiful finished quilts being posted. If you're just finding out about us, be sure to take advantage of the in-blog tutorials for the different patchwork techniques used throughout the Sewcial Bee Sampler. Pick up tips and block variations beginning with the first blog post The Start of Something Sewcial. Both Maureen and I will leave all the SBS downloads up on our blogs for you to download long after this event is done. Also, check out the #SewcialBeeSampler hashtag on Instagram, you'll see an amazing array of beautiful blocks and quilts as inspiration overload! 

Before I get to showing you my finished quilts I want to remind you one last time about our Sewcial Bee Sampler Survey. The survey will only remain open one more week, until August 9th, 2017. To help us better understand what you're looking for in a future sew along, Maureen and I have prepared an 8 question survey. This quick questionnaire is completely anonymous and your answers will give us better insight into serving your needs as a quilter. To ensure the most accurate results, please only take the survey once. Many thanks to the 472 SBS Makers who've already participated in the SBS questionnaire! If you've not yet had a chance to take the survey, please do using this link provided. The link is the same on both Maureen's and my blog and goes to the same survey. So, if you access the questionnaire from either Maureen's site or mine, your answers are compiled to the same place.  

Quilt 1: Bountiful 

Originally I only planned to make one sampler quilt but very early into the sew along I could see I wanted to play with more fabric and color options and decided to make two to better show the variety that can be achieved in a project like this. I think each of my quilts has it's own personality as each and everyone of the SBS samplers have a unique point of view from the makers fabric choice, block assembly, and final layout arrangement. That's what makes a project like this so much fun.

My original quilt is made with fabrics from my newest Art Gallery Fabrics (AGF) collection called Bountiful. I also added in some coordinating AGF Pure Element solids.

I decided to keep the sashing fabric the same as the block frames to make the blocks float on the white background. 

The batting for my Bountiful SBS sampler is Hobbs Tuscany Wool. This is an exceptionally fine product and makes for a lightweight quilt with extra loft than a cotton type batting. It is a little different machine quilting on wool because of the added loft and takes a little bit of getting used to handling but needle quilts with ease. I chose to do a very simple free motion stitching on this quilt to give it a modern touch. 

Photo courtesy of Alexis Wright

Visit my Shop Fabrics page to find online quilt shops that carry Bountiful.

Quilt 2: Tiny Dancer

For my second SBS sampler quilt I decided to use fabrics from my first four Art Gallery Fabrics collections with the addition of the new Fusion reprints of my prints. I call my mixed group Tiny Dancer after the Sketchbook fabrics dandelion print by the same name.

On my second quilt I used my Sketchbook fabrics Speckled Lapis print for the block frames and a medium blue Mudcloth Blue print from Tapestry for the sashing. 

Since this quilt had a decidedly feminine quality to it with the colors and floral prints, I chose to stitch a dense, meandering floral machine quilting on it. The batting is the exquisite Hobbs Tuscany Silk batting. Truly the best batting I've ever had the pleasure to work with and works and handles much like a cotton batting.

To find shops that carry fabrics from my Gossamer, Sketchbook, Coastline, and Tapestry collections, use the links provided on my Shop Fabrics page. 

It was so much fun finally putting these blocks together and I love how they both turned out! My daughter helped me photography these over the weekend and I believe she has her eyes set on the Bountiful quilt for her guest bed (it's her favorite fabric collection to date). My year and a half year old granddaughter loved the Tiny Dancer mixed prints quilt and would point out the flowers and butterfly prints. I think someday when she's ready for a big girl bed, that will be her quilt. 

This Friday we still have another Giveaway Friday and it's going to be a big one! Maureen will be hosting the giveaway from her blog and I will be hosting the Instagram giveaway. Everything will be run as normal with the exception of the giveaway being slightly different in the two social media platforms. More about that on Friday!

Aurifil      Circa 15      The Intrepid Thread      Fat Quarter Shop      Omnigrid      Llama Fabrics      Color Girl     Lady Belle Fabric      Needle in a Fabric Stash      Dritz      Knotted Thread    Needle and Foot      Stash Builder Box    Hobbs Batting   Thread Cutterz

Sewcial Bee Sampler Block #11

Hello SBS Makers, it's Wednesday! With Easter coming up and spring break, I thought you'd enjoy having an easy block this week so you can enjoy the holiday and maybe have more outdoor time. And no, we didn't plan for this to lineup this way, but it will be a nice break from the more complicated blocks we've done the last two weeks. 

My co-host Maureen Cracknell and I are thrilled with all the blocks being made and the awesome virtual community that's been created by this sew along. We're still seeing new SBS Makers joining us every day so please be sure to welcome the new members and help out where you can with encouragement and any tips you've learned along the way. Thank you for being such a wonderful, supportive community, I know many new friendships have been made because of the SBS. 

If you're just joining, you may want to start at the beginning of the community sewing bee with my first post The Start of Something Sewcial and work your way up to the present. I've included tips and tutorials with each new block and they can be helpful, especially if you're new to quilting. 

Download the free Four Square block from my Sew Along page.

Block #11 is called Four Square and reminds me of the school playground game where a ball is bounced back and forth between four squares painted on the cement. The block is easy, in that there's no units to sew, you just cut and start putting the block together. 

I am making two sampler quilts. This first block features my new Bountiful fabrics from Art Gallery fabrics and AGF Pure Elements solid in Grapefruit in the block and Snow white for the frame. 

There won't be any tutorial today but I do have one thing I need you to do to prepare for this block.

Raise your right hand and repeat after me:

I, (your name goes here), do solemnly swear, that I will cut my block pieces out carefully and use a true 1/4" seam allowance!

If you need a refresher on using a rotary cutter and ruler to cut pieces as well as how to check for an accurate 1/4" seam allowance read my Perfect Patchwork tutorial. 

To sew this block, according to the instructions on the free PDF download, you will be making small Log-Cabin-like sections. Each time you add a piece onto the section, the long side of the new piece will perfectly match the length of the sewn section. If you're pieces are not measuring up, you need to make sure they were cut correctly to begin with and/or double check those seam allowance. There shouldn't be any need to trim or fudge the piecing on this block. 

And just a note about the frame (because I even cut the wrong size on my first block!): Cut 1-1/4" wide strips like it says in the instructions, not 1-1/2'' wide like I defaulted to. Once you have the unframed block pieced, it should be 11" square. After adding the frames, the block will measure 12-1/2" square. 

My second sampler quilt is made from a 20-piece curated collection of prints from my first four Art Gallery Fabrics collections. Block #11 uses Sketchbook, Tapestry, and Fusion prints. 

Aurifil      Circa 15      The Intrepid Thread      Fat Quarter Shop      Omnigrid      Llama Fabrics      Color Girl     Lady Belle Fabric      Needle in a Fabric Stash      Dritz      Knotted Thread    NeedleandFoot      Stash Builder Box

Also, don't forget that Friday is Giveaway Friday and this week I will be hosting the giveaway from this blog. We've got a great giveaway planned from Intrepid Thread I know you'll not want to miss!