APQ Quiltalong Square Dance Quilt Finished

Last March, I joined a quilt along led by American Patchwork & Quilting magazine, making the quilt Square Dance, designed by Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life.  The blocks didn't take long to make but I dawdled over finishing.  Finally, the quilt is finished.

Dillie, one of our corgis, saw the camera and immediately began posing.  My fabric choices were inspired by the print on the left, from Laundry Basket Quilts for Andover Fabrics.  I pulled the fabrics for the blocks from a fat eighth bundle of assorted Laundry Basket Quilts fabrics and intended to use the floral print for the borders.  

But once I had the blocks finished and sewn together, in rainbow-ish order, I found the large floral too busy for the borders.  I ended up using a simple tone-on-tone print in light navy (from another Laundry Basket line called Olive Branch) and though you can't really see it, I used a kiwi green tone-on-tone for the binding.  The background is Kona Cream, with a simple beige floral for the sashing posts.

The quilting is a large, curvy floral pantograph.  

This quilt is easy enough for a beginner and the blocks go together quickly.  The blocks are 9" square so it is easy to make the quilt larger or smaller to suit your needs.

This is my last post before Christmas.  We're having a small family celebration at home and I am looking forward to a few days of relaxation.  I hope your celebration is a merry one!

APQ Quilt Along Update

I have all 30 blocks for Square Dance, this year's American Patchwork & Quilting quilt along Project, finished and sewn together with the sashing, posts, and inner border.

I tried several different arrangements for the blocks and liked this rainbow-ish layout best.  But it did cause me to rethink my choice of border fabric.  I made the blocks from 30 pieces taken from the bundle of fat eighth cuts shown on the right in the photo below (all from assorted Laundry Basket Quilts lines for Andover Fabrics).  The large floral print on the left was supposed to be the border.

I love that print but I don't love it with the assortment of blocks; the blocks need a border fabric that is less busy, that will provide a frame but not overpower the blocks, while the border fabric would be ideal with a simpler assortment of blocks that will not fight for attention with the big floral print.  So... on to Plan B.  I ordered a simple tone-on-tone print in dark navy for the border to audition with the blocks.  While I wait for it to arrive, I will work on some other things.  I have several quilts to bind, plus my handwork "portable" projects.

#APQQuiltAlong

I've never done a quilt-along before and now I'm in two of them, simultaneously!  Must blame it on Covid-19.

I'm joining American Patchwork & Quilting magazine's latest quilt-along, making a quilt designed by Sherri McConnell called Square Dance.  I first saw it on Sherri's blog, A Quilting Life, and knew I would like to make the quilt.  Then my magazine arrived (I subscribe) so I could figure out what fabric to used based on the fabric requirements.  It looks like fairly easy construction.  Though a lot of pieces for a 9" block, it uses some strip piecing techniques.  In fact, the recommendation is to use two honey buns and a charm pack, which will eliminate a lot of the tedious cutting.

This is the issue of the magazine with the directions.  You can also order the pattern directly from APQ.  More info here.

I had been eyeing some fabric at Laundry Basket Quilts and decided to go that route for my quilt.  Since this fabric line does not come in honey buns, I did the math and figured I could cut the blocks from fat eighths.  The floral on the left is the "inspiration" and will probably be the borders.  I'm using Kona in Cream for the background.  Kona Snow is my default background but I wanted something a bit darker/richer to better complement the fat eighth bundle fabrics.  Cream is significantly darker, with a slight golden tint to it, compared to Snow.

Time to starch!