Getting Ready for Quilty Fun!

Next week we'll be starting a new project in my weekly classes based on the book Quilty Fun by Lori Holt and I've been getting ready to sew this lovely row quilt. First I went through my fabrics and chose a selection of small-ish prints in my favourite colours:

I'm using Kona White for my background. 

I decided to make some of Lori Holt's mini design boards to organise the fabrics for each row. You can follow her tutorial here: http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/mini-design-board-tutorial.html

I did cheat a little - I used 505 spray to glue my wadding to the foamcore board (bought from Hobbycraft) and haven't yet added the binding but they work just fine!

I cut 3" squares for the checkerboard row which is the first tutorial in the book and laid them out on a design board:

This size of board (10" by nearly 12") fits nicely into a large IKEA ziplock bag so I can keep everything clean and tidy util I'm ready to sew. 

I then looked at the requirements for the second row and realised I'll be cutting lots of 1.5" strips and squares of background fabric for this quilt so decided I needed to use a gadget to help! I bought a June Tailor Shape Cut a while ago but this is the first time I've really used it and it's fantastic! 

I do use a larger version regularly to cut charm squares and jelly roll strips for my shop but with the smaller version you can cut strips in half inch intervals. You cut along slots in a sturdy transparent grid with your rotary cutter and in minutes you can cut dozens of strips and squares. Watch this video to see how it works:

http://www.junetailor.com/shapecutvideo.htm

I'll try to keep posting regular updates on how the quilt is progressing. I'm getting pretty excited about this project! My students quilts are always interesting to see as they all look different depending on the fabrics they choose and the personal touches they add even when working from the same pattern. 

Lori Holt's book is amazing. It is so beautifully laid out with clear instructions and diagrams. As well as the cover quilt there are many other smaller projects in the second half of the book. The Fat Quarter Shop also did a different quilt using the blocks in the book and had a sew along and blog hop which is well worth a look:

http://fatquartershop.blogspot.co.uk/p/quilty-fun-sew-along-and-blog-tour.html

Happy Stitching!

Hazel