Update: On-point fabric requirements were incorrect. Please see the updated requirements here.
Hi everyone, welcome to Block 1 of the Beginner’s Quilt-Along (QAL). It’s Michele here and I’ll be teaching you how to piece the 13 blocks for the QAL. Pat Sloan will be quilting along with us on her blog, posting her version of the blocks and sharing a few tips too. Here’s Pat’s take on Block 1. The QAL blocks will be published here on the Quilting Gallery each Thursday morning. See the main Beginner’s QAL page for more information and additional links.
Don’t forget to upload your completed block to the Flickr group each week. This week, we have a lovely charm pack from Moda to give-away to one of you. Winner will be selected randomly from those that completed the block and the winner gets to choose from one of these:
Each week, I’ll be sharing with you Beginner’s Resources, for example, links to videos, tutorials and even a few products that make our quilting easier and more accurate. If you have any questions, or want more information or advice, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below or even in Flickr. I’ll do my best to answer you and/or find resources that I think are great for beginners.
All measurements used in the quilt-along will be Imperial (inches and yards). Here’s a quick tip to easily convert the measurements to Metric: go to Google and in the search box type something like, “1 yard in metres” and Google will do the conversion for you. Works with many measurement units.
All of our blocks are traditional blocks that have been around for many years. They are all based on a 3×3 grid, meaning each block has three rows and three columns. I’ll be showing grey scale versions of the blocks. If you’ve chosen to use a background fabric, it’s up to you if you want your background fabric to be the white or black represented in each of the blocks we’ll be making.
Also, don’t forget to share about the Quilt-Along with your quilting friends for a chance to win the Reliable iron. Full details here! The winner will be chosen next Wednesday and announced in the post for Block 2 on Thursday.
Block 1 – Play a Game of Hopscotch
Our dear Pat came up with FUN names for our QAL blocks… she’s so creative! Our first block is Play a Game of Hopscotch, also known as the 9-Patch block. It is made up of 9 squares, each cut the same size. I’m sure it’s one of the most used and recognized quilt block we have. Definitely a perfect block for a beginner.
Here’s a Mosaic of photos from Flickr featuring the 9-patch block. You can click the links underneath to see the full image on Flickr.
Once sewn, the 9-patch can be cut up and made into one of my favourite patterns, the disappearing 9-patch (also called the charm square quilt). Here’s one I made for friends that got married a couple of years ago … it’s still a favourite quilt of mine. More photos here.
Recently, Kim created this Spinning Nines Table Runner Tutorial. Looks complicated right? It’s not, she starts with 9-patches, cuts them and sews them back together. I can’t wait to try this one.
I hope you’re inspired by the humble 9-patch and it’s potential in your quilts. Let’s move on to this week’s resources then I’ll share with you the tutorial for putting together this block.
Beginner’s Lesson and Block Tutorial
The beginner’s lessons and block tutorials for the Beginner’s Quilt-Along have been removed from this site and are now available for sale as a complete booklet.
Find out more about it here: Breezy Beginner’s Sampler Quilt.
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