Be My Neighbor: Reveal Party

Tonight we hosted the long awaited reveal party for our Be My Neighbor Quilt Along. We started our first block on March 13, the final block was posted on October 16, with some finishing instructions posted two weeks later, and tonight 6 weeks later we got together and showed the results of 9 months of work.SXLLM​​

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We seen 10 finished quilts this evening and two that are works in progress, but they have challenged themselves to get them finished and not leave them in a box hiding away. (Next time you see Carrie, ask how her Be My Neighbor Quilt is coming along, because she is one of the ones not yet finished)

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Many of the ladies were able to make the quilt from their scrap bins, buying a small piece here or there to add a color, or to do the borders. 

Every quilt looked so different, even though they are all the same patterns, but they all are absolutely beautiful!

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Aside from doing a show and share of our quilts and handing out some prizes, we played a few games, and had some snacks, and those that attended got some sneak peaks of what was inside the 30 boxes that were delivered over the past few days. The rest of you will have to wait until Carrie sorts through the boxes to see what came. SXLLM​​

I would like to thank everyone that participated in this quilt along, I had so much fun, learned a lot, and it was great to make a quilt with a group of others and the encouragement along the way was amazing.

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Kayla

Be My Neighbor: Finishing

Our house blocks are finished and we now get to put them all together. If you did not trim your blocks to size as we went, make sure you do so before sewing them together, I loved using my Creative Grids 18.5" square for this, and there was only two that were larger than the square so it worked perfectly. Click here to see the suggested layout but feel free to move blocks around to suit your preferences. I liked the way my blocks looked so I followed the layout suggested.

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SXLLM​​Before cutting your sashing and border strips to the size listed in the pattern measure your rows and see what length they are, and cut your strips to that size instead. My rows were actually about a half inch linger than what the pattern states, likely because I use a scant quarter inch seam allowance. After cutting my strips to size I like to find the center of the row of the sashing or border strip and use wonder clips to clip out from the center to each end to avoid stretching the fabrics.  (The border and sashing size are located in the link above as well)

I must admit that while I was sewing my Art Gallery Blocks together I was panicking a little, I was really scared that it was going to be way to scrappy and random for my tastes. I went with a "quiet" sashing and border fabric to try tone down the quilt a little, and in the end I love it! I chose a soft grey cuddle to put on the back and have 4 colors picked out for a somewhat scrappy binding. I'm hoping to get it quilted in the next week so that I can get the binding on before I leave on my trip. 

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I am absolutely thrilled with how my Sherri and Chelsi neighborhood turned out! I chose a navy from her newest fabric line Clover Hollow for the sashing and will also use it for the binding. I decided to do the border a different fabric and went with a green floral also from Clover Hollow. I have chosen ivory cuddle for the back of this one, and hope to have it finished as well before I leave.

I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of December 11, when we can see all these neighborhood quilts together in the same room. The party will begin at 7pm on Tuesday, December 11, in our classroom downstairs. We will have some snacks to munch on and do a little show and share, and knowing Esther a prize or two. Even if you have not completed your quilt we would love to see your work so far. You have 6 full weeks yet to work on it. 

I had so much fun doing this Quilt Along that I have started planning the next ones. I hope that you had fun too, and will join me on the next one that will start in January.

Kayla

Be My Neighbor: Block 16

MLXLS​​This is the final block for our Be My Neighbor Quilt! It is a fun block but it has a lot of pieces. I cut mine and laid them out in sections to keep them organized. Even though it has many pieces, it is a very straightforward block. However be sure to look at the assembly instructions, the final block is sewn together in strips and the little apartment above the house is formed when these strips get sewn together. Also be sure to align the chimney section with the strips going horizontal, so that when you flip it up, the chimney points up and not sideways. 

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I love how these two blocks turned out, I have grabbed the pink and grey fabric for every single block in my Art Gallery Quilt but haven't found it suitable until this house, so I am glad I was able to finally use it. 

I am anxious to put all my blocks together and see how they look, but I am going to miss making a new house every couple weeks. 

I will post some tips for borders and sashing on October 30 and than we have about 6 weeks until our party on December 11. At the party we will do a show and share, have some snacks and maybe we will do a door prize or have some small gifts. 

Kayla

 

Be My Neighbor: Block 15

We are on the second to last block this week. Which means we are almost finished this quilt along. I am hoping to work ahead and get my top finished this week for a couple reasons. number one my oldest two are home from school this week, and they play really nice downstairs while I am sewing (or they give me a hand sewing, Chandler loves separating my chain stitched pieces), the second reason is that the next few weeks are looking really busy for myself, with a guild presentation, clearance sale, Bag Retreat and a couple classes as well as regular mom duties like dentist appointments, being mother helper in Tucker's Kindergarten Class and vaccinations for my littlest guy. The final reason being that I got a new Sewing Machine and really want to start playing with it, but I don't like sewing a project on different machines, I like to do a complete project on one machine when I can.

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SXLLM​​Block 15 is another pinwheel block and it has a tree with it as well. I love doing these pinwheels, and I love it even more when my points are nice and crisp. Trimming, being careful to not stretch the fabric while pressing and accurate 1/4" seams are all essential to nice points.

The roof part is a little different in this block, with it having two levels, you first make the lower section by doing the stitch and flip, add the larger roof rectangle to the top and than stitch and flip with the large squares, these squares will are supposed to be smaller than the roof section, so don't be too shocked when you lay them on top and they don't cover the whole side, just line them up with the top and side edges. 

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When you get to the final trimming step you will notice that the finished block size in the pattern says 15"x18" this however is incorrect and it is actually supposed to be 21"x18" finished.

Friday I will have pictures and a recap of the Aurifil Presentations that are being done in our store this week. 

As Monday is Thanksgiving Day (already!) we will be closed on the 8th to spend time with family.

Kayla

 

Be My Neighbor: Block 14

Since we started this quilt back in March, I have been looking forward to this block. I think it is so fun and I love that the designers included a boat in the Neighborhood.

This block was a quick sew for me, about half an hour from start to finish, including choosing fabrics, which is generally a very time consuming part, in my case anyways. The sewing is just one large half square triangle set, 8 stitch and flips, and than some sewing together of all the rectangles. 

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SXLLM​​My Sherri and Chelsi boat I decided to nestle in the waves, and chose two blues as the fabrics for the waves. For my Art Gallery block I chose to rest the boat on top of the waves, and used 1 blue fabric, and the background. I am really happy with both of them.

With only two more houses to sew up and some sashing and borders, this quilt along is nearly over, the last blog post for this quilt along will be on October 30.  With that being said, Esther and I chose Tuesday, December 11 as the date for the party. That will give you just over a month from the last blog post to get your neighborhood quilted and bound. If you are laughing at me right now saying "yeah right I am way behind," work to get as much as you can done, we would love to see your progress. 

The party will be in the evening, and will include refreshments, a show and share, and some prizes and goodies.

Kayla

Be My Neighbor: Block 13

Today is a day that for a lot of us marks the end of summer and the beginning of a new season. I sent two of my boys off to school today, one to Grade two and the other to Kindergarten. My oldest tried to tell me that he wasn't excited but he came home full of stories, while the other was super thrilled that it was finally his turn to attend, though there were definitely some butterflies flying around in his stomach as we left home. For me it also marks going back to work twice a week which I am excited for, though I will be ending my days at the store a little earlier to make it work better with my kids schedule. 

Its also the start of a new season of clubs and classes for the store. These classes are all great for those just starting out but at the same time, experienced quilters are welcome as well. Getting out for the day or evening and working on a new project is always fun. So when you have finished reading this post head on over to the "Classes" tab and see what we have in the way of clubs and classes this fall.

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As for the Be My Neighbor Quilt Along we have reached the final row of blocks. 

Esther and I will choose a date for the after party and publish it in the next Be My Neighbor Blog Post. We would love to see some finished quilts at this party so make sure you set some time aside to work on these blocks. 

I sewed up both my block 13's yesterday afternoon when our trip to the corn maze was postponed for nicer weather. 

This block has a lots of different things going on with the flower, leaves, bird and half square triangles. I have not figured out what those half squares are supposed to be, stairs maybe? 

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With only 3 blocks left to go for me I am getting quite excited to see the blocks all together. I usually have a picture in my head and plan quilts out before I sew but I have been working block by block on this one and haven't looked at my previous blocks for color arrangement or anything. I will have to see if my quilts get put together in the suggested manner or if I end up switching blocks around. be my

Have you been working block to block or did you have a picture in your mind or from another source that you have been using as a guide? 

Kayla 

Be My Neighbor: Block 12

This weeks featured block is number 12. It is a narrow block that is quick and easy to sew up, and a great way to finish off the third row. That's right it is the last block in our third row, which means we only have one row left, just four houses!

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I know that some of you are falling behind but hopefully with cooler temperatures around the corner you can set aside some time to work on houses and get caught up. Or sign up to join the PhD club which still has some spots available both during the week or on Saturdays, you can get an awful lot of sewing done in 6 uninterrupted hours ;)

I chose to do my Art Gallery Block using 4 different fabrics plus a background. For my Sherri and Chelsi block I decided to make the 9 patches scrappy and chose 9 different fabrics for that section of the house as well as a main house fabric, a roof and background. I must say that I love the look of this! If you are trying to use up scraps this is a great block for it, as the majority of the squares are cut 2".

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At the end of the last row I had said that I would maybe lay my blocks out to see if I need to focus on adding less of one color and more of another, I never did do that, as half my blocks are hanging in the store and the other half are at my house. I guess I will hope for the best, and keep making my blocks week by week, and choosing fabrics based on what I like that day.

When I started this project back in March, I would rarely press seams open, for no reason other than I didn't really like to. Now I press seams open often, especially in smaller blocks that have a lot of seams in a small space, and my pressing stick is a great tool which makes it easier and helps to prevent flipping of other previous seams while I press. That combined with some flatter, and my wool pressing mat has resulted in blocks that lay really nice and flat with very little bulk.

Kayla

Be My Neighbor: Block 11

We have come to Block 11 of our Quilt Along. This is the biggest block in the quilt, 21x18" finished. Block 11, is made up of 6 tiny houses which together make an adorable village. However it doesn't take very long to construct. Because all 6 houses are the same you can chain piece this block, yay! Besides for the chain piecing I switched up how I made my roof in this block.

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Rather than doing each roof separate, I did them using the four flying geese from two squares method. I ended up with 2 extra flying geese, but I was ok with it. To do it from squares, I cut 2 squares 7.5" from my roof material and 2 squares 9" from my background fabric. Next step was to draw a line on the diagonal of the smaller square and than center it on top of the larger square right sides together, sew a 1/4" on each side of the line, trim on the drawn line and press it open. Afterwards I layered the two odd looking half square triangles right sides together with the seams running parallel but not touching, marked the diagonal across the seams, again sew a 1/4", trim and press open. I used my Ultimate Flying Geese Ruler from Creative Grids to Trim them to the perfect size.

I have heard many times in the past few months that fabric choosing seems to take the longest. I have to agree, and I tend to make several different color option piles before actually making the final decision. I also tend to use quite a bit of space to do so. 

This time around I did my Sherri and Chelsi block with 6 different colors of houses and stuck with the same roof and window on each, and I am thrilled with the outcome. For my Art Gallery Block I am thinking of doing 6 houses in the same color group each a different pattern, and doing the roofs and windows the same again to tie them all together.

Kayla

Be My Neighbor: Block 10

SXLLM​​I am home once again from our family vacation last week. My husband, boys and myself spent five days with family and friends in Swan Lake Montana, a beautiful campground that we go to every year. We had wonderful weather and it was so nice to spend quality time together as a family. 

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This week we are working on the tenth house in our Quilt Along. I absolutely love star quilt blocks and so this house ranks pretty high on my list of favorites.  When I was putting the center portion together I had a slight moment of panic because my squares were smaller than my rectangles, I double checked all my measurements with the pattern, but it turns out this is how it is supposed to be. It gives a lovely floating star effect when the block is finished. 

MLXLS​​With this block I primarily used my 4.5" x 8.5" Creative Grids Ruler, it is such a handy size, it fits perfectly in my hand and in my ruler stand, and is a great length for trimming the triangles. 

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I have also been using my 18.5" square ruler from Creative Grids to square up each block before putting them aside to await the completion of the quilt. 

Speaking of triangles, my collection of Sherri and Chelsi HST's grew substantially with this block, and the tin that I keep them in is starting to fill up. I'm going to have to think of a project to use them for.

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If you are falling behind make sure you visit the blog on Friday for all the details on a new club that we will be starting in September.

Kayla

Be My Neighbor: Block 9

We have reached Block 9 in our quilt. This is the first block in the third row and the beginning of the second half of our quilt along. 

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At this point it is a great idea to lay out all the blocks you have made so far and see what colors and patterns are proving to be more dominant and if others need to be focused on more. 

Block 9 is a great house to do some playing around with colors. For example you can do the house all one color, the roof another and the bow tie blocks a third. You could do a couple colors for the roof sections or each layer of the house. Another option would be to use a couple colors for the bow ties or change the background of the bow tie blocks as Esther did in both of her blocks.

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SXLLM​​When making my Sherri and Chelsi house I chose to do each bow tie a different color, and because the pattern gives cutting instructions for a single bow tie this was easy to do. I love the pops of color that result from this!

You may notice that Esther and I used the same fabric for our Art Gallery Blocks but used different placement. This was entirely coincidental as we sent pictures to each other after we were finished, though Esther did finish hers first and added more fabrics to the blocks than I did. 

When making the bow tie blocks I rotated every other block 180 degrees in order to have the seams nesting, and I pressed the seams between each one open, resulting in a nice flat row with great points. 

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I am having such a great time making both my quilts, choosing fabrics and sewing up each house is a great way to feel like I have finished something and can check off my mental to do list every other week. 

And getting inspiration from everyone else’s blocks is amazing to. What are your favorite parts of this QAL so far?

Kayla