Today is DAY 1 for the Blueprint QAL.

Make sure you have a new blade in your rotary cutter and a new needle in your machine.

And put dinner in the crockpot to simmer all day so you have more time for cutting and sewing.

Today is CUTTING!

Follow the instructions on page102 of Celebrate with Quilts and get as many of the blocks cut out as possible. While there are some shortcuts to strip piece some of the units, it doesnt speed up the process much. I cut extra of everything so I could play around with some of the fabrics. I am using a combination of a couple of Christmas lines including Cheer and Merriment from Fancy That Design House for some of my big blocks.

 If you just cant wait to start sewing, we will be piecing the Tile Block (page 7) and the corner blocks (page 104) first. 

Here are some of my corner blocks. The bigger section of the blocks is big enough to showcase some of the large/medium scale prints.

One tip that may sound a tad bit rude but I am going to put it out there. If there is a print you dont really care for cut it up, cut it up in several pieces and it will look much better.

As Susan shared in yesterdays post, she is using Curated in Color by Cathe Holden. Susan met Cathe at Quilt Market and fell in love with Cathe and her fabric. While Curated will not be in stores until April 2024, Susan had to get her hands on it and play. 

Susan has her fabrics up on the wall and is letting them "simmer". 

She has played with more of the fabrics, filling in and reaaranging.

I love how Susan always uses the word "play" when she talks about her design process. These fabrics are so different for Susan but I love that she is having fun and trying new fabrics.
She is very good at playing.

One tip that Susan shared was that just becasue the instructions tell you exactly how many of each block  to make, you can switch it up. Susan's fabric did all the work for her and she didnt want to cut them up into small pieces, so she isnt even making the tile blocks. If the fabrics you have choosen are larger prints, this may also work for you.

Be sure and share your fabric pull and progress by using #blueprintQAL. We love to follow along.

December 7: Introduction and cutting (TODAY) 9 big blocks

December 8: One segment of sewing- Tile Block- Make 8 and Corner Block- Make 11.

So this is 28 out of the 42 total!

December 9: Second segment of sewing- Nine Patches- Make 14 total

December 10: Finish up and talk about backings, quilting, binding and more

Are you making this quilt for yourself or as a gift? It can always be a gift to yourself, but if you are making it for someone else, leave a comment ane let us know. We are also giving away the service of a longarm quilter to finish up your quilt.

Enjoy !  -modalissa and Susan Ache of @yardgrl60