Fat Quarter Shop Charm Box Blog Hop

Welcome familiar friends and new visitors to my stop on the Fat Quarter Shop Charm Box Blog Hop. You are in luck today because, not only is a charming free pattern and accompanying instructional video available, but there's a giveaway going on too.

Today's project is part of the Fat Quarter Shop's Shortcut Quilt Series on YouTube, as was my Layers of Charm quilt. This video series shows you how to make beautiful, but easy to assemble, quilts. I know you're anxious, so let's take a look at the Charm Box Quilt.

I used two charm packs of Heather Ross's whimsical Far, Far Away line for Wyndham Fabrics. Kona Daffodil was used for the coordinating solid and binding. The backing is Unicorn in Green from the same line.

For the quilting, I used a removable marking pen to draw a horizontal line across the center of my quilt. With this line as an initial guide, I put on my walking foot and went across the quilt using a scallop decorative stitch. I lined up the edge of my walking foot with the top points of my scallops to make a second scalloped line, parallel to the first. I continued making lines to the right of the previously completed lines, in order to keep the bulk of the quilt on the left side of the needle and out of the throat space. When I reached the top of the quilt, I flipped it over, vertically mirrored my decorative stitch, and finished quilting the other half.

I do have a cautionary tale for you. If your charm squares have pinked edges, it is important to determine whether they are 5" from outer point to outer point, or 5" from valley to valley of the pinked edge. 

I wrongfully assumed I should measure my 1/4" seam from the outer points of the pinked edges. By doing so, I unintentionally decreased my seam size and added 1/4" to the row's size with each and every seam. When it came time to add the sashing, my strip of pieced blocks was too long. I could have re-sewn my seams, but decided to forge ahead and recut longer sashing.

For bonus points, I made a second version of the Charm Box quilt in Carolyn Friedlander's Doe collection for Robert Kaufman. The sashing and binding is Kona Gold, and the backing is Black Line Scales from the same collection.

To mimic the prints in the Doe collection, I did straight-line quilting with my walking foot and seam guides. The lines are at a 45 degree angle to the sides of the quilt and 1" apart. Sporadically, I threw in a stacked triangle decorative stitch.

Just in case you have forgotten that I am not the epitome of flawless perfection, I feel the need to share another cautionary tale. When sewing your charm rows and fabric strips together, always begin stitching at the same end. This way, if some of the strips stick out a little more than others, you'll minimize fabric loss by only having one staggered end. Personally, I did not do as I say. This meant that my charm rows got a little taken off the top and bottom. Regardless of my "Afton Moments", I adore both quilts. It's amazing how the same pattern can have such a different feel based on fabric choice. 

Are you ready to give the Charm Box Quilt a try? Check out their instructional video on YouTube or below.

I also wanted to mention that the Fat Quarter Shop has a kit available in Aloha Girl by Fig Tree Quilts, in case you want to save yourself the task of fabric selection.

Without further ado, I present to you the opportunity to win a $25 gift card, courtesy of the Fat Quarter Shop.

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Thanks for joining me. I hope you'll do me the pleasure of a return visit, or following Quilting Mod so you don't miss out on any of the fun.