Bee In My Bonnet: Mercantile Sampler Sew Along

Welcome Quilty friends!!

Today is the day for the

"Bee Prepared"

post that I do in preparation for my

new fabric collections!

This is the point to start gathering

your supplies and order

your quilt kits for the sew along.

This Bee Prepared post is for the

MERCANTILE SAMPLER SEW ALONG

and I'm so excited for it to start!

We will be making the

Mercantile Sampler Quilt

which finishes at

88" x 88"

It consists of 25 pieced quilt blocks.

Some are traditional blocks and some

are blocks that I have designed

specifically for this quilt.

After we piece them we will then

turn each block

into a 12" circle and applique it

onto a pieced 4-patch background.

Because the pieced blocks become circles

we are able to turn some of them

in different way than we normally

could when piecing traditionally

and it really adds interest to

the quilt and let's you see the

block in an entirely

different perspective.

This was my goal for this quilt

and I think its sew fun!!

Each block finishes at 14" x 14"

after the piecing and appliquéd circle.

The scrappy sashing and borders are a

simple machine pieced setting

to compliment the blocks!

The collection that we are using

for the Mercantile Sampler is of course...

MERCANTILE!!

Inspired by my own dear memories

of growing up in a small town

where my grandma owned

the only store there was.

It was right in the middle of

Main Street and was called

The Herriman Mercantile

and we all called it

"The Merc"

Mercantile fabric was designed by me...

and produced and distributed

to quilt shops everywhere

by the amazing

Riley Blake Designs

If you would like to know everything about Mercantile

CLICK HERE

to view the entire storyboard.

I am very proud of how the

Mercantile fabrics turned out and

I love how it stands on its own but also

blends well with my other collections.

Here you can see how it looks with

my previous collection HOME TOWN:)

While we are talking fabric...

a note about pre-washing.

This is a personal choice and up to you.

I do NOT prewash my fabrics.

I did used to years ago

but now we have such nice

quality fabric available to us

I do not find it necessary.

So let's chat about the

MERCANTILE SAMPLER Quilt Fabric Kit.

Several shops are stocking the kit...

both brick and mortar shops

as well as online quilt shops.

The fabric and notions as well

have already shipped

to quilt shops everywhere

and will continue to ship as

each new item arrives at the warehouse!

So of course if you have not

already pre-ordered

your fabric kit and need one...

it is not too late at all!

The sew along does not begin

until January 29th...

and when I say "BEGIN"

that just means it's when I begin

to do the weekly tutorials.

As always...

everyone sews at their own speed,

at their own time and so it simply

does not matter when you start.

Do what makes you happy

and do what works for you...

because I always keep

each and every tutorial right here

on my blog and it never goes away.

The schedule is NOT to keep

YOU

on a deadline or stress you out ...

it is simply the schedule for

to do my tutorials.

If you will look at my sew alongs that way

hopefully that relieves any stress.

Sewing is FUN and should stay that way!

And if you are just deciding to join in

Just do a quick google search of

"MERCANTILE SAMPLER Quilt Fabric Kit"

to find one...

google is your best friend lol...

easy peasy!!

And speaking of sewing...

like I always say...

you do not need a

fancy shmancy sewing machine

to make the applique circles

or to piece the quilt blocks.

Just a good straight stitching

machine is all you need...

at just a bit shorter than

regular stitch length.

It really is a matter of

personal preference and what works

best for you but I would suggest

doing a smaller stitch

rather than larger.

As usual...

I am using one of my vintage

Singer Featherweight machines

for making this quilt.

With that being said...

now let's talk more about

the quilt and the supplies!

The following are supplies I'll be using

and are needed to piece the blocks.

Very handy and helpful when cutting my

pieced blocks especially are my

Sew Handy Stickers

I will show you how I use them

when I make my pieced blocks

for this sew along.

Of course you will need good scissors

 and a good rotary cutter.

For pressing I use my 

Quick Press Seam Roller 

and a good iron.

I always use a vintage iron 

which I tell you all about on my

 YouTube channel

CLICK HERE

but of course you don't have to 

use a vintage iron but if you are

 interested you may find my video helpful.

Also...for trimming segments during

 the piecing process I use my 

 SMALL Cute Cuts Cutting Mat

These are the sizes of the 

Cute Cuts Trim-It Rulers 

needed to make blocks in this quilt.

5 1/2" 4 1/2"  4"  3 1/2"  2 1/2"  2 1/4"

Some are used more than others

 but ALL are used.

The 2 1/4" and 4" size are new

but the other 4 sizes have been 

available for years and I use my

 Cute Cuts Trim-It Rulers 

EVERY time I piece quilt blocks... 

As well as for laying out applique blocks.

We will use the 14 1/2" Trim-It to trim our blocks and also for laying out the circles.

Besides my Trim-It Rulers 
for laying out and trimming blocks...
You will need cutting rulers and 
of course a cutting mat
 to cut out your fabric pieces for each block.
I have a variety of Cute Cuts Rulers 
in 3 different colors and shapes and sizes
and the same goes for my cutting mats.
I have a big variety for cutting and of 
course to make your sewing room look cute!

These rulers are the ones that I use
 to cut all of my fabrics for everything...
including all of my pieced quilt blocks.

I have designed several sets of Washi tape

to use and so I have several to choose from.

Here you can see my Mercantile set:)

I use my washi tape to temporarily tape my

Seams Sew Easy Guide

onto my sewing machine.

I use my SEAMS SEW EASY GUIDE

for piecing all of my blocks.

It is an accurate 1/4" seam allowance

essential for me and also

essential for me when sewing

Easy Corner triangles,

Half square triangles,

Quarter Square triangles

and Flying Geese

all of which we are doing for this quilt.

Also on another note...

for those of you who may not know

what washi tape is...

it was developed for paper crafting

and packaging but I also use it

for sewing and quilting!

Just think of it as cute

miniature painters tape.

It has a low adhesive so that it

can hold temporarily and can be

easily peeled off without leaving

a residue on fabric or your sewing machine.

To make the pieced blocks into circles

we will be using the new

14" x 14" Sew-In Interfacing Squares

along with...

Bee in my Bonnet 12" Circle Ruler
Clover Point to Point Turner
and
Busy Bee Mechanical Pencils
for tracing the circle onto the
sew in interfacing and for marking
some of the pieced block segments
using the new
Cute Cuts Marking Rulers

For piecing the blocks and appliquéing
the circles you will need
Bee in my Bonnet Design Boards.
These are the new Mercantile ones!

In addition to the Circle Ruler and the
Design Boards when laying out and basting
the circles onto the background
I will be using:

Sue Daley Glue

Bee in my Bonnet Pretty Pins
(applique set)

Bee in my Bonnet
Flower Power Pin Holder

Bee Vintage Measuring Tape

Now let's talk thread for applique!

This is my brand NEW collection
of thread for Aurifil called
HONEY BEE ESSENTIALS

It has 32 - 50 wt and 13 - 80 wt
100% quality cotton spools...
both of which I use for
either machine or hand applique.
Either method will work
for the circles in this quilt.
CLICK HERE
to watch my video on BOTH methods.
I also use 50 wt. when piecing blocks.

***TAKE NOTE***
Because I always match my thread colors
with my applique pieces...
and we are only appliquéing
circles for this quilt...
in these four backgrounds...
you will only need one color
to applique and you could choose either
color 2000 or 2311

If you are going to hand applique
there is sure to be a needle
that you will love in my needle card.

Here is a photo of my NIFTY NEEDLES...
they come in a card with several
of each different kind...
and also come in
individual needle tubes as well.

There are 6 different kinds
for all stitching tasks...
shown in the tubes are
Embroidery...hand sewing...
applique and binding.

You can also use the sewing needles
in one of the smaller sizes
if the applique needles are
too small for you.

It's really a personal preference...
they all work just as well and
there are several sizes
to choose from within each tube.

I will also definitely be using my
STITCHY READERS
I use several strengths of magnification
depending on the task.

Each color is a different magnification:)
I could not do what I do without them!

Okay...for right now just a
few words about the sew along guide.

There is no pattern to purchase...

because basically the

Mercantile Sampler

Sew Along Guide

AND

My weekly tutorials

are the cutting and then the

instructions

on how to piece each block

are shown weekly here

on my blog or YouTube channel

for week one

during the sew along.

My new fabric collection Sew Alongs

always take place here on my blog.

For this sew along each tutorial

will be on Monday's and Friday's!

and I will do a video on my

YouTube Channel

for week one.

The Mercantile Sampler Sew Along starts

January 29th and you are invited!

My wish is that you will join us

in making the quilt!

I have learned at a very young age

that sewing along with others who have

the same interest as we do

is so much fun...

it makes our sewing time even

that much more special!!

How do you join the sew along?

1.You simply grab yourself a

Mercantile Sampler Quilt Fabric Kit

2. You will need the

12" Circle Ruler and Trim -It Rulers

in sizes I just told you about

and of course

the Sew Along Guide

3. Gather up supplies needed

to make the quilt

4. Come HERE to my BLOG every

Monday and Friday

during the sew along

(starting January 29th)

where I will give you the

free step by step tutorial for one of

the blocks on each of those days.

*remember for week one block

I'll be doing a

video tutorial on my YouTube channel

and I will also be doing a

week one blog post here as well.

Please read ALL of the information

within this post telling you all that

you need to know about this sew along.

Once the sew along has begun...

each of my blog posts here will be

tutorials about actually

making the blocks and so I am

telling you here all about the supplies

and other things necessary to get started

gathering what you will need.

After purchasing the fabric kit and

the rulers you will

need to download the handy dandy

Mercantile Sampler

Sew Along Guide

CLICK HERE

for the free download.

Because there are 25 different pieced blocks

I have also provided for you a

separate and detailed cutting guide

for each individual block

CLICK HERE

For your convenience you may also

download and/or view a

larger photo of the quilt.

CLICK HERE

I will be keeping my sew along guide in the

MERCANTILE

BEE KEEPER BINDER

to keep everything organized

and handy all in one place...

all of the info needed at my fingertips:)

I use sheet protectors to

hold each page of the guide

for easy peasy reference!

Once again...

The Mercantile

Sew Along Guide

is not a pattern!!

Yes...it is very handy and very full

of information but to find out

HOW TO

make the blocks during the sew along

is when you come here on my blog.

and my YouTube channel

on the first week.

So to re-cap...

the tutorials are the instructions

and the guide is simply a guide.

Why do I create a guide?

It has all kinds of info such as:

In the guide you will have

the schedule of what blocks

we will be doing each week

during the sew along.

Also in the guide you will find

fabric requirements for the quilt...

and notion requirements for the quilt

as well as suggested notions

that I use when making mine.

You will also find several pages of

instructions for cutting each and every

piece of fabric in your kit!

All of this is very helpful information.

This way you can cut ahead of time

if you would like to

and make individual block kits for

your quilt and have them all

ready to go for each tutorial!

As with any sew along...

organization is really the key.

I like to have this information

ready for you 3-4 weeks ahead of time

so that you can have each block cut

and ready to go...

So that each week you can

simply make the block or blocks!!

You will also find a diagram of the

pieced blocks in rows, sashing,

and instructions for the quilt borders

for when it is

time for you to finish your quilt

and sew it all together!

And as always there is a page

for "Mercantile Notes"

so that you can

jot anything down from my blog posts

or video tutorials

during the sew along.

I recommend using these pages to

write down the tips

that I will be giving you during

the tutorials for each block:)

You can print as many

note pages as you would like

to take as many notes as you want

so you could print a page for

each block if you wanted to!

If you would like to watch my

Virtual Spring Market Video

from 2023

where I show you these 3 storyboards

including ALL about Mercantile

and this sew along...

CLICK HERE!!

BIRTHDAY CAKE BLOCK

MERCANTILE SAMPLER

So here is a sneak peek

of what is to come January 29th!

Again...

during the first week I always

do a video tutorial.

The first block is the

BIRTHDAY CAKE BLOCK

and I'll be doing that tutorial on my

YouTube Channel

I'll of course also be posting

all about week one here on my blog

and will have a link to my

YouTube video here for you

on my week one blog post.

A while ago blogger changed their format

and since then I have not been able

to put a button on my blog

for you to get email notifications

or to follow me here.

But remember that google is your

best friend and all you have to do

is type in the name of my blog

or the name of my sew along

and it will bring you right here!

I have been using my blog exclusively

for my sew alongs for several years now

except for the week one video.

I like to be able to write everything

down here for you such as the pieced

block measurements and applique info needed

but I also like the visual of

actually showing you how I do my methods.

That's why I do the first week

on my YouTube Channel.

Using both my blog and my channel

for these sew alongs is a perfect pair!

I do many other tutorials

on my channel as well.

So...If you would like to know

what I am up to on a regular basis...

check out my videos on my

YouTube channel.

There I talk about what I've been doing

and new things happening:)

If you are new to my Sew Alongs...

I suggest that you watch a few

of my previous week one video tutorials

because I know that

they will help a you a lot!!

CLICK HERE

to watch week one tutorial for

Chicken Salad Sew Along

CLICK HERE

to watch my week one tutorial for

My Happy Place Sew Along

CLICK HERE