A customer came into the shop with the most stunning Halloween quilt top a few weeks back. She said she’d started it last year for Moda Blockheads 5, and she wanted to finish it up before Blockheads 6 started this year. I forgot to take a picture so you’ll just have to trust me when I tell you it was spectacular. Such an array of different types of variations on star blocks in both a small 6” and large 12” scale…that quilt has occupied my thoughts much of late.
So when I saw that we weren’t too far into Blockheads 6, I seized the moment and jumped in.
What is Moda Blockheads? It’s a sew-along from Moda Fabrics where they’re going to release one block pattern every week on Wednesdays from May 28 through November 12. You can see the backlog of all the blocks here: https://my.modafabrics.com/inspiration-resources/blockheads-6-archive
This quilt is going to be a big one, at an estimated finish size of 81” x 81”. They’re recommending that you start with 30-35 fat quarters and 3-4 yards of background fabric.
I’m starting with a fat quarter bundle I bought a few years ago: Christmas Village from Riley Blake Designs, designed by Katherine Lenius. It’s 24 fat quarters which means that I’ll have to supplement with the Christmas goodies we’ll be getting in the shop (we have a few Christmas fabrics now and we’re due to get more soon!) I’ll try to do two blocks at a time until I’m caught up.
The first block is called Regatta, by Vanessa Christenson of V and Co.
You’re supposed to make two of these in different colorways. I ran into the Cotton Patch to grab two background fabrics: Chalk + Charcoal in Jungle and a crisp white snowflake fabric by Michael Miller. Here’s how the blocks turned out:
I recently took Chelsea Hard’s “Learn to Quilt 101: Half Square Triangles” class and got some great tips about how to make HSTs more quickly and confidently. I think they look pretty good! (There are a few seats left in her upcoming class on July 19 if you’re thinking about practicing these!)
The second block is called Crossroads, by Lynne Hagmeier of Kansas Troubles Quilters.
And here are my blocks:
I read the instructions over and over again because it didn't look right with my 5.5” square cut into halves, but I forged ahead until it was apparent during piecing that this was not going to work. I had to watch the tutorial video for confirmation that I needed to cut it into quarters, so I hope my struggle can help someone else attempting this sew-along.
My four year old is very excited that I’m starting a Christmas quilt. She says that in December we all need to snuggle under this and watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Hopefully that motivates me to keep with the schedule and finish this on time!
Is anyone out there also doing Moda Blockheads 6? Or getting a head start on holiday projects? We've had a lot of Halloween fabric leaving the store this week so it seems at least a few of us are planning ahead.
Until next time,
Vivian
A customer came into the shop with the most stunning Halloween quilt top a few weeks back. She said she’d started it last year for So when I saw that we weren’t too far into Blockheads 6, I seized the moment and jumped in.
What is Moda Blockheads? It’s a sew-along from Moda Fabrics where they’re going to release one block pattern every week on Wednesdays from May 28 through November 12. You can see the backlog of all the blocks here: https://my.modafabrics.com/inspiration-resources/blockheads-6-archive
This quilt is going to be a big one, at an estimated finish size of 81” x 81”. They’re recommending that you start with 30-35 fat quarters and 3-4 yards of background fabric.
I’m starting with a fat quarter bundle I bought a few years ago: Christmas Village from Riley Blake Designs, designed by Katherine Lenius. It’s 24 fat quarters which means that I’ll have to supplement with the Christmas goodies we’ll be getting in the shop (we have a few Christmas fabrics now and we’re due to get more soon!) I’ll try to do two blocks at a time until I’m caught up.
The first block is called Regatta, by Vanessa Christenson of V and Co.
You’re supposed to make two of these in different colorways. I ran into the Cotton Patch to grab two background fabrics: Chalk + Charcoal in Jungle and a crisp white snowflake fabric by Michael Miller. Here’s how the blocks turned out:
I recently took Chelsea Hard’s “Learn to Quilt 101: Half Square Triangles” class and got some great tips about how to make HSTs more quickly and confidently. I think they look pretty good! (There are a few seats left in her upcoming class on July 19 if you’re thinking about practicing these!)
The second block is called Crossroads, by Lynne Hagmeier of Kansas Troubles Quilters.
And here are my blocks:
If you're also following along, BEWARE: one of the cutting instructions is incorrect! It says you need fabric B cut into a 5.5” square, then cut in half diagonally. Actually, you need to cut it diagonally BOTH DIRECTIONS so that you're left with your original square in quarters, like this:
I read the instructions over and over again because it didn't look right with my 5.5” square cut into halves, but I forged ahead until it was apparent during piecing that this was not going to work. I had to watch the tutorial video for confirmation that I needed to cut it into quarters, so I hope my struggle can help someone else attempting this sew-along.
My four year old is very excited that I’m starting a Christmas quilt. She says that in December we all need to snuggle under this and watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Hopefully that motivates me to keep with the schedule and finish this on time!
Is anyone out there also doing Moda Blockheads 6? Or getting a head start on holiday projects? We've had a lot of Halloween fabric leaving the store this week so it seems at least a few of us are planning ahead.
Until next time,
Vivian