Red Sampler Quilt Along - Week One - You're Invited!!

 

Hello again and welcome to my blog:)

Today is the day to 

announce my new quilt along...

RED SAMPLER QUILT ALONG

And yes!...

of course you are invited to join me!

As you know by now ...

I love to make all kinds of samplers.

I have made many over the years 

and most of them I've made scrappy 

using my scrappy stash baskets.

I'm talking about the 

same baskets that I have been 

doing block tutorials about on my 

YouTube Channel

I've also made samplers 

using only one color...

however I still consider them scrappy 

because 

I use several different prints

 from my stash baskets in one color...

 and sometimes just one print

 for the background or sometimes more!

This sew along is all about

 using scrappy red prints 

and several different backgrounds...

probably five or maybe six.

 

And the blocks that we will be making

 for the red sampler are from my books:

Farm Girl Vintage

Farm Girl Vintage 2

Vintage Christmas 

Great Granny Squared

All of these books have instructions

 to make either the 6" or 12" sized blocks 

and several settings that you can

 choose from to make your red sampler.

I'm going to be making 

6" and 12" blocks for my sampler 

because I'll be using the setting 

from the sampler quilt in my book

 Farm Girl Vintage 2

That quilt setting requires 

20 - 12" blocks 

and 

30 - 6" blocks

for a total of 50.

I'll be choosing and sewing 

some of the 

more traditional sampler looking blocks

 from each of these books 

and sewing 3 blocks each week 

until I have 50 for my quilt.

Of course you are welcome 

to make 50 of my blocks and choose 

the same setting that I am doing 

or you can choose any of my other 

settings that I have in my books.

You can see here on the 

Table of Contents 

of my Farm Girl Vintage 2

 that the sampler setting 

that I am using is on page 138.

In my first Farm Girl Vintage Book

 there are so many 

setting choices to choose from.

Some only use 6" blocks 

(like the cover quilt) 

or some only use 12" blocks 

and some use both sizes together!

And remember that I am 

always telling you that 

"You are the BOSS 

of your own Quilt"

and so you can choose a setting

 that needs fewer blocks 

if that's what your time allows!

In my book Vintage Christmas 

there are many more setting choices 

for 6" and/or 12" blocks:)

The main quilt in my 

Great Granny Squared Book 

uses 20 - 12" Blocks 

and would make a fabulous sampler!

Now let's chat a little 

about my three block choices 

for this week.

I made one 12" and two 6"

This is my block called 

SUNNY SUNFLOWER

and it's on page 66 of my first

 Farm Girl Vintage Book.

This block is  

"QUILTING DAY"

and it's on page 112 of 

Farm Girl Vintage 2

And last but not least 

is my block called 

"TAFFY"

and it's on page 90 of my book

 Vintage Christmas

I already love love and love 

how these three blocks look together

 and I can't wait to add more each week!

*SCHEDULE*

The sew along starts now!

I'll be posting my three 

Red Sampler Blocks 

here on my blog every Monday 

and I'm sure I'll show and tell

 them several times 

on my YouTube Channel as well.

The sew along will last for 16 weeks

 and will end the last week in July.

If I sew 3 blocks for 16 weeks 

that adds up to 48 and so I'll be 

sewing 1 or 2 more blocks extra 

during those weeks to make 50 total:)

I have something fun planned 

for the label of our Red Samplers

 and as a hint...

 I'll be using blocks from my 

Spelling Bee Book

Here I have 5 - one yard cuts 

of my Bee Backgrounds fabrics

 in my vintage red and white enamel bowl 

just waiting to be cut and sewn

 into cute Red Sampler Blocks!

 (the Chicken Tracks print 

is from my Farm Girl Vintage collection)

I may add one or two more backgrounds

 or just stick with these 5:)

As for the reds...

I'm using all shades from light to dark.

This is important when you are 

using only one color 

so that your block design isn't lost.

 This sew along will be a great exercise 

in color value placement 

and how it can make or break a block:)

Notice that within each block 

I have used prints that 

have contrast from each other...

either by a different shade of red 

or by using a print that has 

quite a bit of white in it 

such as the gingham.

Keep this in mind as you are 

gathering reds for your sampler.

I gathered some reds from my stash and 

placed them in another one of my 

vintage enamelware pans

 to choose from for this weeks blocks.

Because I'd like to use 

even more variety of reds 

than these... I know I'll need

 a bigger container!

I always keep a few extra 

scrappy baskets on hand 

just for projects such as this 

and this week I'll be going 

through my stash baskets in my closet 

and filling one of these up 

with even more reds.

I'm sure one of these 

baskets full will be plenty!

Okay...

with all of this being said...

I sure hope that you are excited 

as much as I am about my 

Red Sampler Quilt Along 

and that you will be

 sewing right along with me.

READY - SET - SEW!!!

Besides posting here 

weekly on my blog

 I'll also be posting 

my blocks weekly on 

 INSTAGRAM

And I would love it if you 

would too... and use the hashtag

 

#RedSamplerQuiltAlong

 

so that we can all see your blocks:)

And as I've said earlier...

I plan on showing and telling

 my Red Sampler Blocks 

two or three times on my 

YouTube Channel

I can't wait!!

xx

Lori