The Hanami QAL – A Virtual Cherry Blossom Picnic

UPDATE 2021: Most of these patterns have been discontinued – you can read why here. The cherry blossom block has been renamed to Blossom and you can find it here. However, I have left this post as-is so as to not erase my mistakes but to show how you can change and grow as a person.

During cherry blossom season in Japan, you will find parks full of trees that have quite simply exploded in pink and white blossoms. And underneath these trees, you can barely walk for all the picnic blankets and plastic sheets that cover the ground for excited picnickers sharing a hanami picnic.

Hanami is the activity of viewing sakura (cherry blossoms) while they are in full bloom, and it is not uncommon to have several hanami booked during the week or so that the trees are in bloom – various friend groups, family groups, work lunches, and even evening events with lights strung up through the trees. The sakura season also coincides, obviously, with the arrival of beautiful spring weather – the freezing winds of winter have ended, and it’s a few weeks yet until the heat and humidity starts to climb. It’s truly magical! This year, the cherry blossom season is forecast to begin arriving in the southern half of Japan during the last week of March, and slowly spreads north as the weather warms up.

But the cherry blossom season isn’t just restricted to Japan! I know that even in the USA, there are big cherry blossom festivals. When I released the Sakura pattern, Kaye, the Cherry Blossom Senior Queen from Macon, Georgia for 2018, emailed me to express her excitement at the pattern, and to also share about the International Cherry Blossom Festival in Macon. It’s larger than the National Cherry Blossom Festival held in Washington, DC that I already knew about.

Hanami QAL

I just adore the cherry blossom season, and haven’t found anything similar in Melbourne during our spring later in the year. So, the next best option is to have a virtual hanami – a cherry blossom quilt along!

From March 11 – April 7, we’ll be making Sakura quilt blocks, and any of my other Japanese quilt block patterns, and ending up with a finished top.

How you decide to put these blocks together is really up to you! Nine Sakura blocks will perfectly make an 18″ x 18″ pillow, or you could swap in some Tsuru blocks that are the same size. The Kokeshi and Hina Matsuri blocks measure 4″ x 6″ finished, so three of those blocks in a row are the same as two Sakura or Tsuru blocks. The Kimono blocks are 8″ x 8″, which are the same width as two Kokeshi or Hina Matsuri. Or even mix and match blocks with negative space – I’m not putting any limits on your layout creativity! Heck, you can even resize them by printing at a different scale! The only requirements is the finished product must include at least one of my Japanese quilt block patterns – Sakura, Tsuru, Kokeshi, Kimono, or Hinamatsuri.

And all five of these patterns are just $2.50 until the start of the QAL on Monday! You can find them all in this section of my shop.

Prizes

There are weekly and grand prizes to be one! Each week, one lucky quilter will win a set of four ‘cherry blossom pink’ Aurifil spools –  2415, 2425, 2435, and 2445.

At the end of the QAL, there will be two grand prizes – one for a fully finished pillow or mini quilt (maximum length of any one side is 24″), and one for a finished quilt top.

For the fully finished pillow or mini quilt (quilted and bound), there is a beautiful bundle of Betsy Liberty prints from Ava & Neve – they remind me so much of cherry blossoms! Note – colourways sent may differ from the image below.

For a finished quilt top, there is a large Wabi Sabi thread box by Karen Lewis from Aurifil. The perfect accompaniment for a Japanese quilt along, right?!

Hanami QAL Details

To join in the Hanami QAL community and to enter for the prizes, use the hashtags #hanamiQAL and #blossomheartquilts to share your work.

1. Post the weekly picture (as per below) on Instagram and use #hanamiQAL and #blossomheartquilts. These are the tags I will be checking to (randomly) pick the winners.
2. Post your picture any time during the week, but make sure it is before midnight (aka 11.59pm) each Sunday of the quilt-along (in your time zone). Weekly winners will be announced Tuesdays (AEDT).
3. Make sure your account is set to public. If it’s set to private, I won’t be able to see your beautiful photos!
4. Post your finished projects by before midnight (aka 11.59pm) April 7th (in your timezone) – winners will be announced Tuesday, April 9th (AEDT).

What to post

What pictures should you post? Here’s that information! You are welcome to post more than these official check-in posts, and in fact, the more finished blocks you post, the more entries 😉

Week 1: Fabric pulls + mention what pattern/s you’re making. Post by March 17th.

Week 2: One or more finished blocks – any of the Japanese quilt blocks! Post by March 24th.

Week 3: One or more finished blocks – any of the Japanese quilt blocks! Post by March 31st.

Week 4: Your finished product – fully finished pillow or mini quilt, or finished larger quilt top. Post by April 7th.

FAQs

Can I use blocks I’ve already made?

Yes, yes you can! I am all for encouraging you to finish up older projects, because finished quilts are so much nicer than piles of WIPs. But to win prizes, you will need to be posting current pictures (as in, you can’t just add the hashtags to older photos) during the correct weeks. I’m thrilled to help you get them finished!

I’ve never paper pieced before, can I join in?

Of course you can! Kimono is the most beginner-friendly option, but if you love a challenge, dive on in to whichever one strikes your fancy. I do have a full, in-depth foundation paper piecing tutorial right here, so that will also be a good help.

Any other questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

Are you in? Go grab your patterns for just $2.50 and let’s go!