Well folks, it’s 2020! Happy New Year! I am so excited about this year, and the Mini Masterpieces quilt along. I don’t know about you, but I am so ready to dig in and play and grow and cultivate my creativity through quilting. Are you ready too?!
First up this month is the Simple Squares lesson. If you are newer to quilting, this is the perfect chapter to focus in on the basics of quilting – cutting and sewing accurately.
If you’re already a confident, experienced quilter, don’t write this chapter off! This is the chapter to just have a play and feel the joy of simple patchwork. There is something so pleasing about the nested seams of patchworked squares! Or a row of neatly pressed open seams if that’s more your jam 😉
The Simple Squares sampler block is great for growing these skills:
- Accurate cutting
- Accurate seams
- Fussy cutting
Image by Page + Pixel for Lucky Spool
The Building Block mini quilt is also good for trying out:
- Rainbow colour order (or ombre, or monochrome, or…!)
- Scrap busting
January Prizes
To enter, you can either post a photo of your month’s project in the Blossom Heart Quilts group on Facebook in this month’s photo album (not sure how to do that? Click here to find out how), or post it on Instagram using the QAL hashtag #MiniMasterpiecesQAL. Either method is acceptable, just be sure to do it by January 31st, 2020 (in your timezone). Monthly winners will be selected at random, and announced by updating this post + in the Facebook group + on Instagram on February 3rd, 2020.
For all the QAL details including prize eligibility, read this post here.
Block Prize
If you’re sewing along making the sampler blocks this year, that’s awesome! Each month, there’ll be a mix of patterns, notions, and other little goodies on offer. This month, the prize is an Entwined pattern kit – a copy of my Entwined mini quilt pattern, and 8 Liberty fat sixteenths to make it with.
Quilt Prize
If you’re making mini quilts or some other type of fully finished product with the mini quilt pattern or turning the sampler block into a finished product (pillow, bag, zippered pouch, etc), this month’s prize is a fat quarter bundle of Playground by Dylan M. that’s out this month in shops. It’s the fabric I’ll be using for my Building Blocks quilt!
WINNERS
Congratulations to Elizabeth for wining the block prize.
And congratulations to Yvonne for winning the quilt prize.
What you need
- A copy of Mini Masterpieces – you can buy a copy from these various stockists, or a signed copy from me here
- A sewing machine (or hand sewing supplies!) and basic quilting supplies
- Your favourite fabrics – all the fabric requirements are listed on pages 21-22 for the block and mini quilt
Recommended
- Colouring sheet planner
- 6 1/2″ square ruler
- Washi tape or quarter-inch machine foot
- Starch or starch alternative spray
I have had many requests for a colouring sheet for the mini quilts to help personalise and plan your mini quilts. I love to include these in my quilting patterns, and being a big pre-planner myself, I understand this request on a very deep level, ha! Click here to fill in your details to be sent this month’s planning page and to be notified when the rest are released (very soon!).
Tips for Simple Squares
The basic skills covered in the Simple Squares lesson is about focusing on accurate cutting and sewing. When you are cutting small squares, I highly recommend using a small ruler that’s not much larger than the size you are cutting. One of the basic sewing room tools I always recommend having on hand is a 6 1/2″ square ruler for just this reason. This is because when you are focusing on cutting accurately, there’s nothing more distracting than trying to handle an oversized ruler while trying to safely manoeuver your rotary cutter and not mis-cut the fabric!
If you’d like to include some cute fussy cutting in your sampler block or mini quilt, check out my fussy cutting tutorial here.
Simple Squares sampler block by @betteroffthread
Once you’ve successfully cut out the squares and are now sewing them together, it’s time to aim for an accurate quarter inch seam. If your sewing machine has a 1/4″ foot option, give that a go. If not, grab some fun washi tape, or Diagonal Seam Tape by Cluck Cluck Sew, and use that to mark the seam line on your sewing machine to guide your fabric along instead.
The final step for achieving an accurate quilt block is to be careful when pressing your blocks. The rule when it comes to pressing in quilting is to do just that – press. Lift the iron up and down on and off the seams. Don’t iron like you would clothing, sweeping the iron back and forth. Doing so will pull and stretch your fabric, and it can distort the seam. Be gentle with your carefully sewn seams!
Another useful tool is to use starch or a starch alternative (I use Flatter spray by Soak). These products will help remove wrinkles and creases from your fabric, as well as getting those seams to sit flatter, which in turn helps you sew more accurately. Follow the product instructions to use it on your fabric.
And that’s about it! I’ll be sewing along too and sharing as I go on Instagram – @blossomheartquilts – and in the Facebook group. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments and I’ll respond to you there.
Simple Squares sampler block by @sarahashfordstudio
Simple Squares sampler block by @betteroffthread
Leave a Reply