Anoka Quilter

Imanna, I can see why you like your scrappy swoon. That is beautiful. Also, I like you idea of the sunflower-ish swoon. How about a different shade of yellow where the teal is?

sewbizgirl

Beautiful Swoon Imanna. Thank you for sharing your photo!

WMUTeach

My first, Immana, was a green to replace the teal. Lay it out and see what "clicks" with you.

jaba

I love the brown and teal, it blends so nice. Great job on that one!! I have some sunflower fabric that has been on the shelf for to long, it needs to be used! Inspire me please, yellow is just not my favorite color.

sewbizgirl

Imanna, what size did your Swoon come out using 2" squares? I used 2.5" squares so I'd be interested in knowing how much smaller yours was when you finished. Thanks!

lmanna

Thanks for all of the compliments on my scrappy swoon, everyone.I really did not expect to like it. DH is going to draft a sunflower pattern for me inspired by the swoon. I really dislike making the same quilt pattern twice but I have to do a sunflower now. Can't get it out of my mind, know what I mean? It'll be his first attempt at drafting a quilt pattern.If nothing else, it will be an original.:-)

Jaba, I think you need to make a sunflower :-) or a sun...how about a yellow submarine as a nod to the Beatles? Quickly running out of ideas...

Sewbizgirl, mine came out to 36" before binding.Perfect size for a wall hanging.

djmat

On a borrowed computer, hope mine if repaired for the April addys! Have fun with the first quiltalong!
dj

djmat

Wow, my computer fixed itself, awesome, hope it holds!

sewbizgirl

Here's our Quiltalong! Let's get started, playing with our beautiful candies.


Arkansas Crossroads Quiltalong – Part 1

Welcome to our first QuiltAlong of the 2016/17 Birthday Swap. We are going to begin with Arkansas Crossroads, an easy quilt to use up lots of your candy squares.

This tutorial will be offered in two sizes: A throw size measuring 49” x 55.5”, and a baby quilt size measuring 39.5” square.

For the throw size you will need 500 candy squares, and 2.25 yards of neutral background fabric to make 68 - 4.5” background squares.
For the baby quilt size you will need 228 candy squares, and 1.33 yards of neutral background fabric to make 36 – 4.5” background squares.
The throw is a 5 x 6 block layout, plus the border.
The baby quilt is a 4 x 4 block layout, plus the border.

Choosing Your Candy:
This quilt looks great in random scrappy colors (first photo), OR you can choose to do a different color scheme for each block in your quilt (second photo). Just remember each completed block uses 24 candy squares, so be sure you have enough of each color if you are doing the color-by-color scheme.

sewbizgirl

Begin by collecting your 2.5” candy squares (and maybe cutting some extra from your scraps if you have little stash to work with). It’s best to use colors (rather than neutrals) in the 16 patch blocks, as neutral edge squares may get lost against the neutral background. Likewise, avoid using black squares in your blocks if your background is black!

Once you have chosen your squares you can start sewing together your 16 patch blocks—4 rows of 4 squares—making either 15 for the throw size, or 8 for the baby quilt. You should have collected 24 candies for each block, so set aside the extras for step two, next week.