Welcome to F+P QAL Week 1

Welcome

Welcome to the first week of my Facet+Plus Quilt Along (F+P QAL). I am so glad you are here, quilting along or just reading along.

‘Just another spin on the plus block’. This quilt pattern features a chunky plus with a facet cut out of the middle alternated with a 4-patch or solid background block. A modified 4-patch block is used to achieve the quilt design and once turned clockwise or counter-clockwise, the plus motifs are revealed. No boarders were harmed in the designing of this quilt, but you may certainly add boarders if that is what you prefer. I envisioned the background to be scrappy to both add interest to the quilt and to use up smaller fabric scraps. You may certainly use a single fabric for the background (I think a large and bold print would look smashing), whatever your heart desires!

So here we are! This round of instructions will include fabric yardage requirements along with a bit of a discussion about fabric selection. I always tell myself to try different fabrics or colorways on the next quilt I make but generally never do. And the fabric I have selected for this project is no different.

I have designed this quilt in a Baby Size that finishes at 40″x50″ and Lap Size that finishes at 50″x60″. Please be aware that I have calculated the yardage in a way to reduce waste and therefor is not much wiggle room when it comes to cutting. Each measurement has been rounded up to the nearest 0.1 yard so if you would like some extra insurance, buy more fabric than is stated.

Baby Size Quilt Layout (finishes at 40″x50″)

Lap Size Quilt Layout (finishes at 50″x60″)

Fabric Requirements

Click here to view a PDF of the fabric yardage requirements. Save or print off yourself a copy. The dark color fabric corresponds to the dark side of the pluses on the color diagrams above, the light color corresponds to the light side of the pluses. Please keep that in mind as more dark color fabric than light color fabric is required for the lap size quilt.

There are also some Pattern Notes on this page such as using a 0.25″ seam allowance for block and quilt top construction, the Width of Fabric (WOF) equals 40″ and the finished quilt blocks are 10″ (10.5″ unfinished).

Now onto the fun stuff…fabric selection.

Fabric Selection

Fabric selection is almost my favorite part of quilt-making. Pulling out my pithy stash and scraps and arranging and remembering when I got this or that and what bits were used in which previous quilt is just good ole’ fun. Okay, so lets talk about this quilt.

I gravitate towards cool tones and monochromatic color schemes, and have envisioned this quilt in exactly that way. I have recently borrowed Heather Jones’ book Quilt Local from my library. She has an extensive section on color selection with lots of illustrations for inspiration. Although I did not get adventurous picking colors for this quilt, I will certainly consult the book when I am stuck for color inspiration next time.

I think the key to making the faceted pluses come alive is to have some sort of difference in value, saturation or color between the two halves of the pluses.Whether that difference is bold and loud or subtle and quiet, it is up to you! Everyone has a unique eye for color and for putting prints and solids together; I am curious to see what amazing things other quilters come up with. Coloring sheets have been included in this post if you want to try out different things before committing to fabric. Click here for Baby Size, click here for Lap Size.

I tried a few different color versions of the quilt, one rendered in the dark/light scheme and one with a few accent blocks scattered wabi-sabi (which will be achievable with a little bit of planning)! Feel free to do a scrappy background, or a background in one fabric.

So what fabric did I choose?

I chose (from top to bottom) Kona Snow, Blueberry Park in Pond, Kona Silver, Kona Cypress and Kona Bone. I will use the Kona Snow, Silver and Bone for the background (which will create secondary blocks of background color) and the other two colors will make up monochromatic pluses.

We will piece these modified 4-patch blocks in the third and forth installments of bi-weekly instructions.

Well that is all for now!

Cheers,

Amanda

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