Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Modern Pearls Quilt Along - Week Four (the finish!)

Good Morning, friends!  It's the fourth (and final) week of our Modern Pearls Quilt Along, and this is where all those 9 patches start to look less 9-patch-ish, and more like a chain of pearls!
The homework for this week is to get your rows sewn together, and then add your borders.  Easy, right?
Irish Chain Two Color Quilt
This last week I was feeling behind (in many areas of my life), and I sat down for about an hour (on Easter day) to sew, and before I knew it, I had all my 9-patches sewn together.  I know I've said it before, but this really is SUCH a fast quilt.  I have yet to use a single pin.

It's been a delight to see all of your quilts, your colors, and your enthusiasm for this pattern.  Thanks for the encouragement, friends.

And remember, even if you haven't jumped in on the quilt-along, you can always download this pattern for FREE on week 1. (here)

Thanks for sewing along with me.



Week 1 - choosing fabric and FREE PATTERN (here)
Week 2 - cutting and sewing strips sets (here)
Week 3 - sub-cutting strips + sewing blocks (here)








Thursday, April 9, 2020

Modern Pearls Quilt Along - Week Three

Irish Chain Quilt
Good Morning! I can't believe it's Thursday, and I'm just now getting our weekly Quilt-Along info up.  Thank you for being patient with me!  Every day this past week has been filled to the brim from morning till night around here, with prepping to move, prepping our new garden area, finishing up school, and working baby pigs.

You all are superstars - so many of you have jumped way ahead, and I've even seen a few finishes!  I love it when you post photos of your quilts - it makes me so happy to see your creativity and enthusiasm for this fun pattern.
Irish Chain Quilt
Here's where we're at with our Modern Pearls Quilt Along schedule:
Week 2 (last week) = cut out your quilt, and get your strip piecing sewn.
Week 3 (this week) = sub-cutting your strip pieces, and sew your 9-patches.
Week 4 (4/13) = sew together your quilt top (rows and borders)!
Strip Piecing quilt
I've posted a little video in my Instagram stories of how I speed up the process of sub-cutting my strips, which you may find helpful.  (I'll save it to the quilt-along highlights as well, so you can find it there.)  This is already such a fast quilt, but any time-saving tricks make it even better!

If you want to find previous posts for the quilt along, I'll link them below.



Week 1 - choosing fabric and FREE PATTERN (here)
Week 2 - cutting and sewing strips sets (here)
Week 4 - sewing your quilt top - the finish! (here)

Monday, March 30, 2020

Modern Pearls Quilt Along - Week Two

It's week TWO of our Modern Pearls Quilt Along, and it makes me so happy to be sewing "with" so many of you, especially during this time of social distancing.  There's just something about knowing that we are doing this together that makes it even more special. 
Irish Chain Quilt
Quick re-cap on our timeline:
Week 1 (last week) = choosing fabrics.
Week 2 (this week) = cut out your quilt, and get your strip piecing sewn.
Week 3 (4/6) = sub-cutting your strip pieces, and sew your 9-patches.
Week 4 (4/13) = sew together your quilt top! 
cutting out a quilt
I often cut out my quilt on my kitchen counter, so I can also help my kids with their school at the same time.
I don't have prizes for this quilt along, but I think feeling connected with each other would be very special.  During the last quilt along I hosted, we answered weekly prompts (when we posted our progress photos), and it was so encouraging to get to know each other.  I say we do it again!  
So this week's prompt is: What is one thing people on IG may not know about you?  
Feel free to add multiple photos, and include one of this thing/area/topic.  I already can't wait to see what you have to say.
Irish Chain Quilt
One tip for cutting: I mark up my patterns, to keep track of what I've cut, and what I still have left to do.  If it's a PDF pattern that I can re-print, I go ahead and write directly on the pattern.  But if it's a printed pattern that was shipped to me, I use a sticky note next to the cutting instructions, and I make check marks next to the instructions.  That way when I'm done cutting, I can simply toss the sticky note, and my pattern is all "clean" for the next time I use that pattern.

Don't forget to use the quilt-along hashtags!
Then we can all follow along with your progress AND get to know YOU! Have fun cutting and sewing this week!

#modernpearlsquiltalong
#modernpearlsquilt
#twocolorquilt
#irishchainquilt


You can find the rest of the quilt-along blog posts by clicking the links below:
Week 1 - choosing fabric and FREE PATTERN (here)
Week 3 - sub-cutting strips + sewing blocks (here)
Week 4 - sewing your quilt top - the finish! (here)

Saturday, March 21, 2020

Modern Pearls Quilt Along - Week One (and pattern!)

Welcome to the start of the Modern Pearls Quilt-Along! I'm excited that we can have fun sewing together.

Here's a quick run-down:

Schedule
It'll be a fast 4 weeks, but I have a feeling many of you will be able to get it done in a week or two!  Every Monday I'll put up a new blog post with the week's homework, and the question-of-the-week.  
3/23 - Decide on fabric
3/30 - Cut out your quilt.  Sew strips.
4/6 - Sew 9-patches
4/13 - Sew quilt top together

Theme
This is going to be super relaxed and fun.  There may or may not be prizes. (I don't know yet!) But I want to encourage you to post progress photos as you go. I'll come up with a few fun, interactive questions that you can answer (if you want) when you post your photos.  These help us get to know each other!

Hashtag
Don't forget to use 2 different hashtags when you post your progress pictures:
#modernpearlsquiltalong
#twocolorquilt

Other hashtags you can use (so other quilters can find you)
#irishchainquilt
#modernpearlsquilt

Pattern
(edited: You can now find the pattern HERE)


I can't wait to see what you're going to make!


You can find the other quilt-along posts by clicking these links:
Week 2 - cutting and sewing strips sets (here)
Week 3 - sub-cutting strips + sewing blocks (here)
Week 4 - sewing your quilt top - the finish! (here)