Westward Ho!
It's week 9, and this week we have Block(s) I in the Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along!
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Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along Block(s) I |
You'll be making two little 4 1/2" finished blocks I with two different color combinations this week.
CLICK HERE to download the fabric requirements and cutting instructions for Block(s) I
See you back here next week for Block(s) J!
Martha
Westward Ho!
It's week 8, and this week we have Block H in the Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along!
I've been using alphabet blocks from my childhood to identify each block, and it looks like a puppy got a hold of this one, or a very aggressive teething baby!
If you missed Monday's blog post, I explain in words and screenshots how to order fabric on Spoonflower, using the Fill-A-Yard option on the Spoonflower site. In this way, you're able to order yardage amounts outside of the default increments when ordering individual prints (the default amounts are 8" x 8" test swatch, fat quarter and yard increments). I've also posted a more explanatory video on the process, which you can access in the same post:
How to Use Spoonflower Fill-A-Yard
And here are this week's instructions to download for Block H:
CLICK HERE to download fabric requirements and cutting instructions for Block H
I'll be back next week!
Martha
Several years ago I started designing fabrics and using the print-on-demand textile printing company Spoonflower to print my fabrics on quilting weight fabric.
You'll see some of my fabric designs used in quilts in my book, Prairie Patchwork for Martingale Publishing. Church Picnic and Ma's Sewing Basket are quilts made using my Porch Perfect fabric collection - fabrics in teal blues, creams, reds, browns and black:
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Ma's Sewing Basket |
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Church Picnic |
When you order fabric from Spoonflower, the default yardage quantities are an 8" x 8" text swatch, a fat quarter, and then increments of yards - 1 yard, 2 yards, 3 yards, etc.
But what if you would like, or need, yardage under a yard, or even smaller than a fat quarter.
In that case, you can use the Fill-A-Yard option on the website, and I'll explain how to do just that.
The first thing you'll need to do is get to my Wagons West Designs Spoonflower shop page on the Spoonflower website, by clicking https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/wagons_west_designs
Pictured you'll see the landing page for my Spoonflower shop. On the left side of the page, you'll see Shop Home in blue, and underneath an option titled "All Collections". Click on that.
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Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along Sampler Quilt |
You'll be directed to the Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along collection page, where you'll see all of the prints used in the Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along sampler quilt. To order pieces of fabric less than one yard, you'll want to use the Fill-A-Yard option, which you see in the banner just below the title of the collection. Click "Start Designing".
Option 3 is set at the default Petal Cotton, which is what you want to use for quilting, so now drop down to Option 4, and select "Start Designing".
You'll now be taken to a blank grid, shaded gray, and divided into 6" squares. If you fill each square with a different fabric, you'll have 42 different fabrics printed on one yard of fabric. Pictured, you'll see that I've filled part of the grid with 2 x 3 squares of the same print, which gives you a 12" x 18" rectangle of fabric, which is very close to what a fat eighth of fabric would be (9" x 21"). The prints you see selected are those fabrics in which you only need a fat eighth of a yard for the Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along sampler quilt. The rest of the grid is filled with one square each of the different prints where the fabric requirement is either an 8" square or a 5" square - the 6" square is close!
Pictured below is another example, still using the Fill-A-Yard option, where I've selected fabrics for which a half yard is called for in the Prairie Patchwork QAL sampler quilt fabric requirements. In that case, I've filled in the grid with 3 down, and 7 across for each fabric, resulting in an 18" x 42" rectangle of fabric, or in other words, a 1/2 yard.
The following YouTube video gives you a step-by-step tutorial on how to use the Fill-A-Yard option on Spoonflower. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me!
Until next time,
Martha
Westward Ho!
It's week 7, and this week we have Block G in the Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along!
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| Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along Block G |
"G" is for galaxy, and this week's block G is what is commonly referred to as the friendship star block. You won't be making a galaxy of blocks G, but six of the red and beige blocks.
The Latin phrase "Ad Astra Per Astra" is the state motto of Kansas, and it means "to the stars through hardships". Perhaps the vast night sky, filled with stars from our Milky Way galaxy and beyond, on the uninhabited prairie, made a lifelong impression on the early pioneers; so much so that they included stars in the state motto.
The Kansas state seal, which is also on the state flag, is pictured below. In addition to the "Ad Astra Per Astra" motto, it features pioneer imagery, such as a farmer and plow, a wagon train, bison, and a steamboat, which was one of the forms of transportation pioneers took from the East to arrive at the starting point of one of the several trails heading West.
If you're participating in the Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along, I would love to see your progress! Just tag your photos #prairiepatchworkquiltalong on Instagram or Facebook!
CLICK HERE to download the cutting and assembly instructions to make block (s) G.
I will see you back here next week with block H!
Martha
Westward Ho!
It's week 6, and this week we have Block F in the Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along!
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| Prairie Patchwork Quilt Along - Block F |
| Block F is one of the blocks from the quilt "Prairie Spring" in Prairie Patchwork. It's a quilt that celebrates springtime on the prairie, especially a pristine prairie that pioneers would have first encountered as they migrated to the plains in the 1800's. Today, of course, a great deal of what was short and long grass prairie in Kansas, is now farm or ranch land. | |
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Prairie SpringToday I live, not on the prairie, but in the Sonoran Desert, and I was lucky when photographing some of the blocks for the quilt along, that it was springtime here. One of the native plants that we have growing in our yard, is the Chuparosa bush, and it was in full bloom just a month ago. I included one of the bright red sprigs in the photo above of Block F, and in the Block D photo, pictured a few weeks ago.The Chuparosa bush is a favorite of hummingbirds when it's blooming. The blooms are all gone now, but we have other native plants blooming, some of which the hummingbirds also love, so we have those sweet, tiny lovelies humming all around our home pretty much all hours of the day. Here are a few of our current plants blooming:
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Desert Marigold
All but the Palo Verde will be blooming until winter comes along!
CLICK HERE to download fabric requirements and cutting instructions for Block F.
Until next time,
Martha
