Sew Along Week 1 - Supply list & improv basics

 

Welcome to the Northern Lights Sew Along!!!

 

 

 

I'm so glad you're here to join me in a little improv. adventure!  My name is Jill - and as a general rule, I say there are no rules in quilting, other than enjoy yourself.  I have basically two full time jobs, plus a 1 1/2 year old boy, so time is of the essence in my world, and time at my sewing machine is a premium.  At the same time, I want what I make to look fabulous - but be time effective - so I'm going to try to show you my tips for making it look good, easily!

 

Supply List:

 

- An assortment of fabrics, in fat quarter (18 x 22") or scraps - I'm using 8 Fat Quarters and a fat eighth in yellow.  Feel free to use solids, prints, whatever you have!

- Background - 1 meter - I'm using Kona Coal - although it looks like I originally intended it to be darker :)  (if you want a quilt larger than crib size, you'll need more)

- Whatever you usually use for quilting - I like a large cutting mat, and a 6 x 24" rule, along with my rotary blade

Okay - I've got my stuff, now what?!!?


Start cutting!!  - lets make our first "rainbow panel".  Here, I'm using my ruler to cut 1" strips of background fabric approximately 22" long.  You're going to need 8 of these (or cut 4 x width of fabric & cut in half)


Then, let's cut some wonky strips to fill in between that grey!  It's okay to cut them really wonky like this, as long as you remember to cut some nearby colours the opposite way to balance out your square (otherwise you end up with a "fan" shaped rainbow)

Then, sew a 1" strip of your background onto each of your wonky strips using a 1/4" seam
















And press it open - I tend to press my seams open - I find it helps my piece lay flat, especially when there are a lot of seams in an area.  Then lay it out and admire your work.  Make sure you don't have the fan I mentioned earlier.

 

Then, following the angle/curve of your coloured strip, carefully pair up your strips, and sew, still using a 1/4" seam.  Press your seams open, and repeat, until you have an entire slab of fabric sewn together!!!

 

Once you have all your rainbow sewn together, we have the building blocks for many parts of our improv quilt! 

*** We will need 2-3 blocks for our crib size quilts***

 Please comment with questions, I will answer them all, and make adjustments to my tutorial

 - go gentle, remember this is my first attempt!!

 See you in a week or two!