GETTING READY FOR HOMEWARD BOUND

 The 2023 Block of the Month quilt for The Quilt Show is Homeward Bound. This quilt is designed exclusively for The Quilt Show by Sarah Fielke. It features piecing and applique, lovely flora and fauna shapes, and makes a beautiful year-long project:

Best of all, the patterns are FREE to STAR MEMBERS of The Quilt Show. If you join before December 31, 2022, you also have access to the entire 2022 BOM--Garden Party Down Under by Irene Blanck. After December 31, 2022, those patterns will only be available for purchase from Irene. 

TIPS FOR GETTING READY TO MAKE HOMEWARD BOUND:

1. Have paper and printer ink ready. The pattern is usually up the first of each month. A little birdie told me Month 1 will be up December 29, 2022.

2. Plan to watch Facebook LIVE/YouTube Friday December 30, 2022 at noon central time. I will discuss how to find everything, how to ask questions, how to post photos, and give some special tips for the tiny center cabin we make in Month 1. Find the LIVE on Facebook at The Quilt Show page OR  on Youtube.com, The Quilt Show channel there. All the broadcasts are recorded and remain available all year for you to  watch when it's convenient.

3. Have a notebook you can store your patterns in. I get a 3 ring binder with 12 page tabs so each month is kept separately:

If you bought the KIT from The Quilt Show, you will find it helpful to have the Materials Requirements document printed or saved where you can quickly find it. Each fabric is listed by the Month it will be used and what it is used for. This is also helpful information if you are using your own fabric: 

4. BEFORE YOU BEGIN, each month, watch any VIDEOS that are available for that month. Month 1 has two videos, a Main one and one on making Bias Stems. The VIDEOS  supplement the written pattern. Also READ the pattern completely before you begin. READ my blog for that month--I often make suggestions for ways to do something you may want to try.  

5. January 1, 2023 will be the release of The Quilt Show featuring Sarah Fielke in studio. It is sure to be an informative show and will give you an overview of the entire project. The Block of the Month show is often FREE FOR ALL TO WATCH so check it out even if you don't plan to do the Block of the Month project.

6. The Block of the Month project is a good one to make with friends. Find one or two or several friends who want to make this with you. Gatherings don't have to be in person, though that is fun. My group of Sunday Sew and Sews began January 2017 to work on Halo Star Medallion, that year's Block of the Month. We are still going strong today as a group of 13 who meet one Sunday a month to cheer each other on.

7. Use the FORUM on The Quilt Show website to ask questions and post your progress. We love to see all the great fabric choices that everyone is making. I am there to answer all your questions so help is available should you need it.

I look forward to our year together. I hope you will join in the fun and learn some new techniques--I did!

Let's quilt.

Babara

LOCAL CLASSES STARTING IN JANUARY

 As busy as most of us are this time of year, I am looking ahead to local classes starting in January.

At Patches & Stitches, the longest continually operating quilt shop in the country, in business since April 1978, I will begin a BRAND NEW Quiltmaking 101 class. 

QUILTMAKING 101: Saturday January 28 and February 11, 2023, 9-4. Learn the 3 most important steps in piecing a quilt: the cutting, sewing and the pressing. You can expect to have a completed top ready for quilting by the end of the second session. Students will have all supplies purchased and ready by the start of the first session. Sure to be lots of fun and very educational, even for those with experience:

DISAPPEARING PATCHWORK:  Friday February 17, 2023, 9-4. Learn this FAST and EASY block then play with design ideas of your own. Neutrals are fine but so are any other color combinations you love. Don't miss this really fun class:

Register for these classes by going into PATCHES & STITCHES or calling the shop, 256-533-3886.

At SOUTHERN CHARM QUILTING, another class for those wanting to learn the basics. From selecting fabrics to finishing the binding, learn it all in this 3-session class:

START QUILTING -- SOUP TO  NUTS:  Friday January 27, February 10, and 24, 10-3. A simple sampler that allows you to create your own unique design. This is a fun class that will teach you a lot:

 

SUNRISE SUNSET: Saturday February 4 2023, 10-4. This looks so much more complicated than it is. Kits are available for the colorful background. The pattern is called "Aether" by Patty Murphy, I named mine "Sunrise Sunset" for ease of pronunciation. See my blog post about this HERE.

Register for these classes by going  into SOUTHERN CHARM QUILTING or online.

I will continue my monthly blog posts with supplemental instructions for HOMEWARD BOUND, the 2023 BLOCK OF THE MONTH quilt for THE QUILT SHOW  The pattern is FREE for STAR MEMBERS of The Quilt Show--and there are many more reasons to join The Quilt Show. But, even if you are not going to make HOMEWARD BOUND, each of my monthly posts will teach something that can be applied to other quilt projects, so don't miss those. They are my free class to you:

70" square, piecing and applique, you choose your favorite method

Let's quilt.

Barbara