Well, life is continuing on, and we’re muddling on… here in my state, we’re remote learning this term – which means potentially as long as to the end of June. So yes, onwards we go! Keeping expectations low and keeping calmer because of it, and once again, focusing on just getting the quilt top done for Tropical Sunset. I went with a scrappy background using leftovers from this quilt, and Anna Maria Horner Loominous for the prints. You can kinda see that the red, yellow and and white prints have a metallic gold thread running through them!
You can find out the April block and quilt winners here on May 4th, but here’s a quick snapshot of just some of the gorgeous makes shared on Instagram using #MiniMasterpiecesQAL:
You can find more in the Facebook group.
BACK IN STOCK
In other news – signed copies of Mini Masterpieces are now back in stock! The Australian distributor finally had more stock and my order has arrived, perfectly in time for the start of the new month of the QAL. If you’ve been waiting to snag a signed copy from me, now’s your chance – buy your copy here.
For those in Australia, I am sending the books via Sendle now, which has a much more reliable delivery time at the moment than AusPost. If you’re international, whilst I do greatly appreciate your support, I highly recommend ordering a copy from somewhere local to you. International post is a mess at the moment, and while I’ve left the international option open, I cannot guarantee any kind of predictable delivery time.
MAY – FLYING GEESE BLOCKS
This month, we continue with triangles and move on to tackling flying geese. Not literal flying geese, that sounds incredibly difficult…
The Flying Geese sampler block is great for growing these skills:
- Accurate seams
- Working with different sizes of flying geese
Image by Page + Pixel for Lucky Spool
The Geese Lightning mini quilt is also good for trying out:
- Straight line quilting
- Colour gradient
- Rainbows
MAY 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 May 31st, 2020 (in your timezone). Monthly winners will be selected at random, and announced by updating this post + in the Facebook group on June 4, 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 a PDF copy of my Aurora starry sampler quilt.
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 bundle of screenprinted fabric from Karen Lewis Textiles.
Winners
Congratulations to Florence for winning the block prize with her flying geese sampler blocks.
And congrats to Brigette for winning the quilt prize with her beautiful take on the Geese Lightning mini quilt.
What you need
- A copy of Mini Masterpieces – you can buy a copy from these various stockists, and signed copies 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 47-48 for the block and mini quilt
Recommended
- Colouring sheet planner (download below)
- 6 1/2″ square ruler
- Erasable fabric marker, or Diagonal Seam Tape (washi tape)
- Starch or starch alternative spray
TIPS FOR FLYING GEESE BLOCKS
If you’ve made the snowball quilt blocks, you can do flying geese! It’s exactly the same technique, but this time with small squares and larger rectangles, where the squares (sky) are half the size of the rectangles (geese). The sampler block includes two different sizes of flying geese, so you’ll get some practice in sewing smaller and larger flying geese. And once again, highly recommend the Diagonal Seam Tape!
Flying geese sampler quilt block by @bonjour_quilts
TIPS FOR GEESE LIGHTNING
Geese Lightning is quite a geometrically bold design – the zig-zagging lines down the quilt top are quite striking. Paying attention to careful sewing of seams will help keep these lines zigging nicely, as does the pressing. The instructions in Mini Masterpieces are to allow for the nesting of seams across the quilt top, but as always, if you prefer to press the seams open, you can do that instead.
Geese Lightning block by @karenlewistextiles
And once you’ve got all those leftover scrap triangles, here’s 8 ways to use them up!
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.
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