Odori Quilt: Art Gallery Stitched Fat Quarter Shop Quilt Along

Today is the very exciting Odori Quilt Along, part of the AGF Stitched with Kimberly series brought to you by Fat Quarter Shop.

Download your free quilt pattern, and join in on the fun! Purchase a kit featuring Love Story by Maureen Cracknell or choose your own assortment of fabrics. Also, make sure you add backing fabric and the versatile Creative Grids Spider Web Ruler  to your cart because you'll be needing it.

My fabric selections include Campsite Sweets Capsules Campsite, Esoterra Night Dino Trails, Lambkin Dim Keeping Watch, Blithe Silver Galcier Path, Fusions Woodlands Wreathed, Campsite Capsules Fireflies Glow, Blithe Philosopher's Dreams for the binding, and Curious Paws Capsules Nest for the background. I merged many collections--pulling my favorite prints, unified by theme and color palette. You can see the combinations other Art Gallery Fabrics admirers have curated at the #showandgetagf hashtag.

With so many seams coming together in the center of the spider web, I wanted a strong, but thin 50 weight thread to minimize bulk. I pulled Aurifil White 2024, Pumpkin 2150, Light Beige 2310, Mint 2830 and Forest Green 4026 to match my fabric selections.

I found that the scale of the Art Gallery prints was perfect for the 2" and 3" strips specified. I selected larger prints for the wider strips and vice versa. Those metallic bums have my heart going pitter patter! (File that under "Things I Never Thought I'd Type" 😊. )

There was enough leeway in the fabric requirements that I was able to do some fussy cutting. To be safe, it's a good idea to look through the instructions first and see how many units each strip set is intended to produce. I labeled my strips with Alphabitties to keep organized. 

I found that it helped to further label my pattern as shown below to keep track of which unit went where.

Cutting the kite shapes was a breeze with the Creative Grids Spider Web Ruler. You cut 5" squares, and then line up two edges with the dashed guide lines before cutting both sides.

I'm not usually an open presser, but it made the most sense for this pattern, as it allows for the flattest seams.

Speaking of seams, there are no y-seams here! Hooray!

I adore the gender neutral Nest Capsule from Art Gallery Fabrics. See all the wonderful projects everyone has been making with Nest fabrics under the #nestisout hashtag. I chose Curious Paws because it reminded me of bear paws. (Though it would work equally well in a pet-themed quilt, as it mimics dog paws too.) I also wanted something non-directional.

Bear in mind that directional prints will be both facing the center of the web and facing the outside of the web in this quilt due to the strip-pieced construction techniques. This makes non-directional prints the easiest to work with, though I couldn't resist a few directional prints myself.

Even though the pattern specifies symmetrical spacing of the blocks, I maintained the colors within the rings, but rearranged the placement, making it harder to distinguish the individual block structure.

Come quilt along with us, and share using the hashtags #fqsquiltalong, #agfstitched, and #odoriquilt.

FYI: March 2018

Locals, I have a University of New Mexico Continuing Education Free-Motion Quilting class starting this Thursday from 6- 8:30 at Ann Silva's Sewing Center, and goes for three weekly sessions. It's not too late to sign up and join me. Even better, you can borrow a machine for free if you prefer not to haul yours, or haven't purchased a quilting machine. Sign up now to hone your filler, feather, and flourish skills.

If you're far flung, you can try Craftsy Unlimited out for two weeks for only $1. Catch this almost free deal on the Craftsy Unlimited site before it ends March 8.

Wonderland Quilt Along Block #6: The Rabbit

Are you ready for some hippity hoppity Wonderland Quilt Along fun? Today's block is The Rabbit. Snatch up your free pattern, get paper-piecing, and then share with the crew on IG at #WonderlandQuiltAlong and in the Facebook Group.

If this is your first introduction to the quilt along and paper-piecing, you may want to review the process. For success, here are a few pointers:

• Err on the side of caution when cutting pieces. It's easier to trim back than to pick out teeny tiny stitches.
• Check your printer settings to make sure they are at 100%. Double check that the 1" square on the pattern actually is 1".
• Use a thin thread, such as Aurifil 50 wt. to keep seams flat.
• Trim back darker fabrics even with or slightly behind lighter ones in the seam allowance to minimize shadowing.
• Only use directional prints if you don't mind them going every which way.

Amy Friend published some tips on her blog that are worth a look too.

I like to put all of my pieces through assembly-line style.

I went with an atypical coloring for my rabbit, since I have a predominately white background and did not want him to be camouflaged. I used the Curious Dream Escape print to strategically place the keyholes for eyes and the nose.

I've installed an inexpensive curtain rod and curtain clip rings set from Target in my sewing room to help me hang and photograph my quilt blocks.

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