Having gotten into quite a rhythm designing, making and sharing quilt block tutorials, I wanted to keep up the momentum in 2016. And what better topic to focus on than a modern HST sampler, and make it into a proper quilt along!
The Modern HST Sampler quilt along uses 24 half-square triangle block designs from myself and select Australian guest designers to teach you a variety of methods to create HSTs. Starting off easy with simple designs and large HSTs, you’ll be very comfortable working with half-square triangles of all sizes and combinations by the end of the year!
About the quilt
Throughout 2016, we’ll be making 24 quilt blocks. Each one finishes at 12″ (12.5″ unfinished), and will feature a range of HST quilt block designs that range from the familiar, to more unique and modern designs. The designs are also a mystery until they’re released, to make it more fun!
The quilt is designed to be finished with 2″ finished sashing, which makes for a finished quilt size of 58″ x 86″. As-is, it makes a generous single/twin bed-sized quilt. Adding a slightly wider outer sashing/border would easily bring it up to a double/full bed-sized quilt.
Why the Modern HST Sampler quilt is unique
Being very involved in the Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt sew along has made me very aware of just how daunting half-square triangles are to many quilters, something I hadn’t really noticed so much before. HSTs are something I’m very comfortable with myself, and I want to help you become more comfortable with them too! So the Modern HST Sampler has something very unique about it.
Most, if not all, HST sampler quilts feature sixteen-patch block designs. This means that all the half-square triangles are 3″ finished. In the Modern HST Sampler, we will actually be making a mix of nine-patch and sixteen-patch blocks.
What does that mean? It means that we’ll be making a range of sizes of half-square triangles, ranging from 1.5″ finished to 4″ finished. Fear not, we’re easing into the smaller ones! We’re also going to be covering the three main ways of creating half-square triangles – traditional (2 at a time), alternative (4 at a time), and eight at a time – to get you really comfortable with all methods and options of making HSTs.
I’ve carefully structured and ordered the block designs to start with the easiest nine-patch blocks, and thus 4″ finished HSTs, and work our way to more complex block designs at the end of the year. I will add in one more little juicy hint about the blocks – they also include squares and/or rectangles in the design. Not every single patch of the block is an HST!
Guest designers
It has been so much fun working with other designers and aesthetics over the past year, that I wanted to do it again. And the guest designers didn’t let me down, they have certainly got some WOW blocks in store for you! Who are they? Well, we have Jane from Quiltjane, Ms Molli Sparkles, Keera from Live Love Sew, Melissa from Ms Midge, and Jess from Elven Garden Quilts. All of these people are incredible designers, whose work I absolutely adore and also bring different styles to the table.
Quilt along dates and details
The quilt along officially starts when the first tutorial goes live on January 11! A new Modern HST Sampler tutorial will be shared roughly every fortnight (every other week).
Community
What’s a QAL without a hashtag?! If you’re sharing your blocks and progress on Instagram, the official tag to use is #modernhstsampler – by adding this to your photos, we can all easily check out your work and double tap that photo to heart it!
You can also use the Blossom Heart Quilts Facebook group to share your progress and chat with other QALers, whether that’s asking questions or celebrating your HST successes, and of course cheering on others.
And at the end of each quarter (every 3 months), there will be opportunities for you to share your progress on the blog via a linky party. You don’t need a blog to be able to link up – you can add photos directly from Instagram, or even just straight from your computer!
Fabric needs
Ooh, now here’s the fun part, hey?! Fabric talk! You will need:
- 16 fat quarters of assorted prints
- 2 1/2 yards background fabric
- 1 1/2 yards sashing fabric
- 5 yards backing
- min. 62″ x 90″ batting
- 5/8 yards binding
It’s hard to be prescriptive about how many prints to choose, as it depends totally on how you interpret the block designs, and how many colours and/or prints you want to include. Having said that, I recommend choosing a palette of 4-5 colours, with 3-5 fat quarters for each, to make a pretty stack of fabrics to choose from for the year.
But here’s the fun news that will definitely make the fabric choosing part of the process sooo much easier for you – the Fat Quarter Shop have teamed up with me to offer you a Modern HST Sampler quilt kit! Inspired by the rich colours of Morocco, this bundle includes everything you need to make your Modern HST Sampler quilt top, including the sashing and binding.
I carefully selected the prints, inspired by my Moroccan Story board on Pinterest, to include a range of light and dark shades within each colour. There’s dark and mysterious navy, jewelled pinks, rich turquoise, and golden mustard, all set against the sandy colour of Kona Oyster for the background and sashing, and framed by a deep turquoise binding. I will be using this bundle myself to sew my Modern HST Sampler quilt! It includes prints from Blueberry Park by Karen Lewis Textiles, Rhoda Ruth by Elizabeth Hartman, Anna Elise by Bari J., Cotton + Steel, and Art Gallery Fabrics. This colour palette has long been calling out my name, I just can’t resist the saturated beauty of the deep jewel tones. I can’t wait to start playing! The Modern HST Sampler kit is expected to ship in early January, so be sure to click the magic pink words – Notify me when this product is in stock – so you can snap it up when it’s in!
So, what say you? Are you in? The easiest way to make sure you keep updated on the Modern HST Sampler blog posts is to follow my blog – you can follow via Bloglovin or your preferred RSS reader, you can get daily emails of blog posts, you can subscribe to my newsletter which goes out every Tuesday and includes the links to the past week’s blog posts.
If you have any questions, leave a comment below and I’ll get back to you!
Ms Midge says
Well I’m in! lol
Amy says
Bloody hell woman, do you ever sleep???
P.S. I’m totally in!
Alyce says
Like a baby… whenever the heck I finally feel like going to sleep at night, HA!
Jackie says
What is the cost to participate, Alyce? It sounds like a lot of fun!
Alyce says
$00.00! The tutorials are going to be posted on my blog right here, as a normal blog post.
Wendy Nielsen says
I’m in. Is there a sign up?
Alyce says
Nope, just follow along on the blog as usual 🙂
Anja @ Anja Quilts says
This sounds like fun. Now to find some fabrics so I can play along.
Leanne says
Sounds great !! And I think I have the perfect Fat quarter pack to use 🙂
Jill says
I’m terrified of triangles so I am in!
Caroline says
Awesome!! There are so many things about this that I love. I’m in!
Sue says
If you can keep up this pace so can I!! 🙂 I am IN!!
Maja says
No sewing plans for 2016 until now 🙂 I’m in!
Judi says
I want to turn my hatred of triangles into a love fest, so I am totally in! Thanks for doing this!!
Bethany Whipps says
Sounds like fun, I’m in!! I wanted to do a BOM last year but I’d decided (early in the year) to make a large amount of quilts for gifts at Christmas. I’m excited about my gifts but really looking forward to sewing whatever I want to next year. This looks like the perfect project!!
Kathleen says
I’ll give it a try, if I can find what I need in my stash. I’ve put myself on a fabric purchasing diet. At any rate, the blocks will be fun to learn, even if they don’t go together! They can always be pillows!
Susan says
And I am in too. Love your colour choices.
Velda says
I’m so IN IN IN this one. Thanks for giving us the details early. Next stop is over to the fabric shop for a little on line gift for me. Merry Christmas. Cannot wait. I love HST, and modern quilting. So perfect for me.
Pam Arbour says
I am looking forward to it. Thanks!
Jennie says
Oh, I’m definitely in. All this and a move thousands of miles away.
I’m praying that your husbands job is locked in quickly so you have more time for packing, shopping for more fabric, getting the kids ready for the move emotionally, shopping for fabric…….
Vickie T says
I’m terrified of triangles and have tons of UFOs because I goofed on cutting/sewing/stretched the bias, so I’m thrilled to find your website and this project!
Mary K. says
I’d love to conquer HST! I’m with Vickie T though…… Too many UFO’s because of wonky HST. I can’t bear to waste any more money on fabric that I mess up. So I ‘m going to give it a try using my stash.
Krysta says
I was thinking about next year’s sewing project and I also need to start using my fat quarters so your timing is perfect. I was looking at my stash and I think I’ll use my black/white low volumes for the background. But I have not decided on what color scheme for the main fabrics I’ll go with. But yeah, I’m in.
Fernanda Godke says
I’m in!
Barbara says
I’m in too!
Anita says
I’ll be in, also!
Stephanie says
I have been searching all morning for the perfect QAL to participate in next year, I think I found it! I need HST practice and this sounds like a good way to use up a bunch of my stash.
Cindy Holten says
Sounds like fun. Please count me in.
Randi says
I’d like to use my stash for this, but I’ll be using regular yardage instead of fat quarters. Advice on how much I’ll need? Should I pre-cut my fabrics into fat quarters?
Thanks! Really looking forward to this QAL… it’s my first & I’m glad for the chance to improve my HST skills!
Alyce says
Just halve the amount of fat quarters if you’re using half-yards, etc to work out the equivalent amount. But it’s not so much about how much fabric you need, as much as it’s about how many different prints you want to use. So you might want 6 different greens, and you pull 2 fat quarters, 3 half-yards and a yard, because those are the prints you want to use. You certainly don’t need to pre-cut your fabric into fat quarters, I’d leave it whole so you can cut off what you need as you need it and then return the mostly intact yardage to your stash at the end!
Cindy Holten says
I received my Modern HST kit from Fat Quarters shop and I’m wondering if it would be alright if I pressed all the fabric prior to the start of the QAL? Also, what fabric (pattern, name, color) would you suggest for the backing? Thanks for your help. I’m looking forward to this QAL and learning the RIGHT way to handle HSTs.
Alyce says
Yahoo! Of course go ahead and press/re-fold/etc your kit, no problem with that at all. Backing is always a very personal choice – do you want it to match the top’s colours, do you want to use a wideback so you don’t have to piece it, do you want to use up scraps and spare HSTs and make a scrappy, pieced backing?
If you want something to match the kit, try one of Elizabeth Hartman’s prints (the binding is one of her prints from Rhoda Ruth), or if you’d prefer a bigger scale print, have a check of Bari J – some of her prints are also in the kit.
Alanna says
if not using the kit, do I buy a fat quarter bundle with 16 different prints? or if one has only 5 prints, should I just buy 4 bundles? is it a good idea to end up with multiple fat quarters of the same print?
Alyce says
It all depends on how you want your quilt to look at the end. If you want your quilt to look very cohesive, multiples of the same print would work (although you’d be better off buying a yard of each print – much cheaper option!). If so, I’d suggest a print per colour = a yard each of 4 colours. If you want a more scrappy look, then you would want 3-5 different prints per colour.
Janet says
This is going to be fun. Glad I found this page while in Pinterest! My kit from the Fat Quarter Shop has arrived. I am a beginning quilter and am looking forward to learning new skills. I am sooooo excited!
Alison says
I’m in. But then I have said this about the 1930 Farmers Wife QAL and still have to do the first block.
Donna says
Really looking forward to this, thanks.
Tracey says
This is perfect for my first project of 2016. I’ve spent last few weeks going through my FQ stash and adding a few new ones. Can’t wait to start! Thank you so much for the advice on rulers.
Kristi says
I am so excited about this QAL. I pulled a Kona solid FQ bundle and will be using a gray Passport by 3 sisters for Moda. Do you think that would be too much?
Sue Triggs-Rhuda says
I think I will join in! Heard you on Modern Sewciety and this sounded like fun. Have never done anything like this before so it will be an awesome adventure.
Alanna says
In the Kit, is the background fabric the same as the sashing fabric? If not, which one is which? I am pretty new to quilting and am not sure what sashing is.
Alyce says
Yes, the background and sashing fabric is the same in the kit 🙂 Sashing is the thin strips of fabric used between blocks to space them out a bit, like between my blocks in this quilt: http://www.blossomheartquilts.com/2015/12/bee-hive-sampler-quilt/
Teri Sinclair says
Thank you for taking the time to put this together. It sounds fun. I’m going to do something totally out of my comfort zone and choose my own fabric (gasp!) rather than use the kit offered by FQS. You have no idea how brave I feel for doing that. I love, LOVE, L-O-V-E half square triangles, so I know i’ll love the final quilt. This is only my second quilt along, and frankly, I started my first one just last week! haha But I am excited to join. Thank you
Tracey says
I think the hardest part of this QAL will be waiting for the next block! I will try to take my time with the next one, and savour it more. With the time difference between Japan and Canada, I had it done Sunday night and now I’m itching for the new one.
Alyce says
Haha!! Well at least you get two per month instead of the usual one per month for a block of the month program 😉
Tracey says
Oh Alyce, I really appreciate the extra block a month. I truly do! And I know as the blocks get more complicated, I’ll be very happy to have the two weeks to perfect them. Many, many thanks for making this QAL available to us. 😀
Alyce says
Thank YOU for joining! x
Robby says
Just discovered this while looking for a quilt along. Am I too late to join? Love HST, and a gal can always use a new trick or two.
Alyce says
Of course! You can join in at anytime!
Nancy says
This sounds like fun.. count me in. I won’t be Abe to start for a week or so but am looking forward to it. Thanks so for sharing and donating your time!
Sherree says
I am in, even though I am late getting started.
Alyce says
Never too late, welcome!
Debbiie Kosiba says
What is the background ? Print or solid & what color to go with the bundle you selected?
Alyce says
The background is the solid in the top right pic in the kit image – Kona Oyster. It’s a gorgeous sandy colour!
Gale Collins says
I just found you and would like to join in. I’m an oldie and very new at this sort of thing. Not sure that I will be able to post progress so can I tag along anyway?
Alyce says
Of course you can, welcome! The more the merrier, at any time and at your own pace 🙂
rachelle pare says
I definitely want to do this
Alyce says
The tutorials will always be here!