Cupcakes 'n Daisies: 2015 APQ Quilt Along

Showing posts with label 2015 APQ Quilt Along. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Bonus Finish

So far I've finished two of three Go Four It Quilt Along patterns in the April issue of American Patchwork and Quilting, I'm still thinking about my fabric options for the third pattern, Scraptacular.

To fill the time while I figure out my plan of attack, I played around with the bonus triangles from my Buried Treasure project, and came up with this, my first mini quilt.

Each block finishes at 4 inches. I used Camille's "Half Square Triangles in 25 Ways" Craftsy video for the block patterns. (link here)

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 151

The quilt is named Scrumptious Shuffle

It finished at 23 1/2" x 23 1/2".

The majority of the fabric is from Scrumptious by Bonnie and Camille for Moda.

It has approximately 293 pieces.

More finished Go Four It quilts are showing up on instagram and around blogland, here's a great finish by Carrie Nelson if you're looking for inspiration. I hope you're Going Four It!

APQ Quilt Along Finish

The second pattern I chose for the APQ Go Four It Quilt Along was Buried Treasure by April Rosenthal.

This is April's quilt.

Here are my blocks set exactly like the pattern.

But you can turn a few blocks here and there and also get this pattern if you prefer.

I found working on this pattern pure joy. I love the colors (Scrumptious by Bonnie and Camille for Moda) and learned from my last quilt that I prefer a plain white background. It was easy to piece, all the points and corners matched up perfectly, and it went together in no time.

I decided to stick with April's layout.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 150

The pattern is Buried Treasure by April Rosenthal and is in the April 2015 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting.

The fabric is all Bonnie and Camille for Moda, mostly Scrumptious.

It finished at 64"x 64"

It has approximately 896 pieces.

My favorite daughter has dibs on both my APQ Go Four It Quilts, they are definitely her colors. I also plan to make Edyta's pattern Scraptacular but am stumped on what fabric to use for the non 4 patch rows. I'm going to wait and see what some of you come up with, hopefully that will help me get it right the first time. Barb, from Me and My Sisters Designs, is making Scraptacular out of her latest line Bandana by Moda. She is using a color palette that I love, and is working away on her 4 patches but has yet to reveal her solid row fabric, I'm eagerly watching. If you spy a great Scraptacular be sure to let me know.

APQ Quilt Along First Finish

So the first pattern I selected from the available three patterns for the APQ Go Four It Quilt Along was Rainbow Rows. Here it is, designed and pieced by Lissa Alexander.

This quilt immediately appealed to me for two reasons, the scrappy background fabric and the prominent rows of diamonds.

I enjoyed going through my low volume stash and cutting all my strips. I also enjoyed making all the 4 patches. But as I mentioned in my last post, the low volume prints that I initially loved didn't appeal to me once the blocks were pieced and on my design wall.

I can't even put my finger on why that layout didn't appeal to me, other than maybe I'm more of a white background kind of gal than I thought. I received some great feedback and suggestions on my blocks so I decided to keep working at it, and discovered that while the busy background bothered me when the blocks were set on point, that same background appealed to me when the blocks were not set on point. I'm just crazy that way I guess.

So this is my version of Rainbow Rows and I'm happy with it. It is the same block from Lissa's pattern, just set differently.

This is Lifetime Quilt Number 149

The pattern is Rainbow Rows by Lissa Alexander from the April issue of American Patchwork and Quilting.

It finished at 46" x 56" - a nice lap size.

It has approximately 1,526 pieces.

From what I've heard most folks have located the magazine for the quilt along. Be sure to send me a picture or link to your blog while you are working on your Go Four It project. Nicole from Sister's Choice Quilts is joining the fun and making a few changes to Lisa's pattern also, check it out here. #apqquiltalong on Instagram has some great pictures too, so check them out if you can. My favorite finish so far is by Kimberly from the Fat Quarter Shop.

Stop back by tomorrow, Buried Treasure is pieced,

and I got it right the first try!

APQ Quilt Along Update

I've been working away on my quilt for the Go Four It Quilt Along that's in the April 2015 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting. For those of you still looking for the magazine, it officially went on sale February 3, I bet it will show up this week. My grocery store gets new magazines on Tuesdays, I would check today! If you're tired of looking for it, or live in one of the many areas enjoying an enthusiastic winter, the Fat Quarter Shop has the magazine for sale online. (click here)

As I mentioned in my last blog post, out of the three 4 patch patterns available in the magazine, I decided to use the Rainbow Rows pattern by Lissa Alexander and go with the alternate color option project which is a wall hanging.

And this is what I got. I thought this looked a little on the busy side and also thought perhaps going with a lap size instead of a wall hanging size would improve things.

Which got me this. I'm not saying I don't like this layout or my fabric choices, but I am saying it doesn't look like I thought it would. So I've decided to think about these blocks and try a different pattern.

This is Buried Treasure by April Rosenthal.

The magazine lists the skill level as intermediate, but I believe the blocks are very easy and think a confident beginner would have no trouble piecing this quilt.

Since I thought my first sew along effort was on the busy side, I decided to stick with just three colors for my Buried Treasure, just like the pattern, even though I was really tempted to add some yellow, grey and turquoise to my pink, orange and green.

I think all these fabrics are by Bonnie and Camille for Moda.

I'm feeling better about this pattern, the blocks are going together perfectly and the colors are very cheery. I think I just may be a white background kind of girl. The pattern calls for cutting squares to piece the 4 patches but I made strip sets instead, my 4 patch blocks are more accurate whenever I go with strip sets.

One thing that helps me piece the Floating Star blocks is the Folded Corner Clipper template.

By lining up the bottom of the background fabric on the appropriate line, and the bottom and sides of the print square on the appropriate lines, I'm able to cut and piece very accurate blocks. The Folded Corner Clipper is by Prairie Sky Quilting. (click here to purchase)

And see that little triangle bonus block that is cut? I've been running those through my machine the same time I sew that block. I also press them while I'm pressing the Floating Star blocks.

And now I have this.

Half square triangle units. They're currently around 1 3/4" but I plan to trim them to 1 1/2". And I already have a plan for them, remember the Shower Shuffle quilt I made using Camille's Craftsy shuffle block video? I plan to make a mini shuffle quilt using these pieces. (Lifetime Quilt Number 122 details here.)

I'm not the only person working on these projects, check out the links below for more inspiration.

April Rosenthal, Prairie Grass Patterns

aprilrosenthal.com

Barb and Mary, Me and My Sister Designs

meandmysisterdesigns.com/blog

Bonnie Hunter, Quiltville’s Quips & Snips!

quiltville.blogspot.com

Camille Roskelley, Simplify

camilleroskelley.typepad.com

Debbie Roberts, The Quilted Moose

quiltedmoose.com/blog

Edyta Sitar, Laundry Basket Quilts

laundrybasketquilts.com/blog

Jane Davidson, Quilt Jane

quiltjane.com

Jo Morton, Jo Morton Quilts

jomortonquilts.com/jos_journal/

Kimberly Jolly, Jolly Jabber

fatquartershop.blogspot.com

Linda Collins, Quilts in the Barn

quiltsinthebarnaus.blogspot.com

Lisa Bongean

lisabongean.com

Lissa Alexander, Moda Lissa

modalissa.blogspot.com

Shea Henderson, Empty Bobbin Sewing

emptybobbinsewing.com

Sherri McConnell, A Quilting Life

www.aquiltinglife.com

Vanessa Goertzen, Lella Boutique

lellaboutique.blogspot.com

American Patchwork & Quilting staff

AllPeopleQuilt.com/blog

There's also inspiration on instagram using #apqquiltalong.

If you're working on one of these patterns please send me a link to your blog or pictures via email, I love seeing all the different ideas for these patterns and you may be just the inspiration someone else needs to join the fun.

APQ Quilt Along 2015

Does this quilt look familiar?

This was the project for the 2014 American Patchwork & Quilting Quilt Along. It was a hugely popular quilt along, and every time I saw a finished quilt I said to myself, "I need to make that quilt". I loved every one I spotted, each different, but each amazing. Unfortunately I did not squeeze this project into my 2014 finished list, I have higher hopes for this year's quilt along.

Information and pattern instructions for the 2015 APQ Quilt Along will be arriving in your mailbox or at your newsstand very soon.

To add to the fun, this year you have 3 patterns to chose from, each designed by a different quilter but all using a the same theme, 4 patches.

Top left is Buried Treasure by April Rosenthal, top right is Rainbow Rows by Lissa Alexander, and bottom left is Scraptacular by Edyta Sitar.

I'm hoping to make a version of all three, but first up for me is Rainbow Rows.

The lights were easy, I just pulled out my stack of low volume prints that I've accumulated. The tougher decision was my contrasting fabric. I debated three options; a bright and colorful version, close to Lissa's quilt,

a shades of grey version,

or how about rows of gray and orange, a combination of my first two options?

This is what I went with. I have all the pieces cut, now it's time for some piecing.

If the magazine and my blog posts don't get you motivated, then check out all these other quilters who will also be providing inspiration for these projects.