2023 Spring Qube QAL

Part 1 Instructions and Yardage Requirements

Part 2 Cutting for All Blocks

Part 3 Block 1 Cutting and Construction

Part 4 Block 2 Cutting and Construction

Part 5 Block 3 Cutting and Construction

Part 6 Block 4 Cutting and Construction

Part 7 Block 5 Cutting and Construction

Part 8 Block 6 Cutting and Construction

Part 9 Quilt Assembly

Putting it Together with Block 2 of the Fall 2022 QAL

One of the things we enjoy most as quilters is putting the blocks together into a layout to be able to see our progress. With this QAL, we will be on Block 4 before we can begin to stitch some of the rows together. If you have a design wall, you can begin to lay out the blocks there. If you don’t have a design wall, there is another option that has worked well for me.

The alternate option is to get a flannel backed vinyl/plastic table cloth that is often use outdoors for picnics and use the flannel side to lay out your blocks. The nice thing about this is that you can lay it out on your bed, on the floor, or thumbtack it to your wall. When you put it away, it is easy to roll/fold it and the vinyl side will keep your blocks from shifting on the flannel.

For this QAL, the layout is seen below with Blocks 1 and 2 in place.  You can begin to see how it is coming together.

Fall 2022 QAL Week #3 Depression Era Block

Today’s block is similar to one we did last January, but this time there are half square triangles on the corners. And please note that the corners are different. There are two color variations in the four half square triangles. This is important because it makes the design flow block to block in the next set of blocks. So think about those half square triangles and the smaller triangle colors for the Airplane block which is coming up next.

I’m traveling today, so won’t be able to answer questions until the late afternoon. Hope you get this block and have fun. Click on the block to get the instructions.

Block 2 Depression Era Block

2022 Fall Quilt Along Week # 2 Block 1

I hope your Qube is in position and your needle is sharp. Today we will launch the first block in this QAL. It is the Center Block and I have posted instructions for making a Variable Star block. You have the option of choosing another block for the center of your quilt. The only requirement is that the block you choose and make is the same finished size as the Qube you are using for the quilt.

This is the star block and instructions can be found here.

Center Star Block

 

Fall 2022 Quilt Along – Week # 1 Fabric Selection

The Fall 2022 Quilt Along (QAL) is here with a guide to the fabric selection. With thi.s QAL, I have added coloring pages as well as yardage amounts that will assure you have more than enough fabric to complete the quilt and  enough fabric to make up for anything that goes awry with a block.

This is a fun quilt to stitch. I ask you to please read the instructions and ask questions on the Facebook Page “AccuQuilt Qube Quilts”. This is not sponsored by AccuQuilt but is a User Group of supportive quilters.

The menu at the top of this page always has the links. Please bookmark the blog and go to that menu for printouts of the instructions.

 

Sister’s Choice Quilt

For the Fall 2022 QAL we’re going to be making a quilt with a layout similar to this but this quilt is NOT what we will be doing for the QAL. This layout will be a template for you to make quilts with many different blocks and it is an easy way to make a larger quilt quickly.

I made this quilt in 2016 for my sister. The blocks finish at 12″ but that is with the added background fabric coping strips around each block to give more negative space for quilting. The outer border uses log cabin blocks.

Look in the side bar free patterns section for more information on how this quilt was made.  I used several different Qubes to make this. The Sister’s Choice block is not a 4×4 patch like the Qube blocks so it finished at 7-1/2″ and the coping strips I added made it a 12″ block. This quilt used the 6″ Mix & Match Qube, the 8″ Mix & Match Qube, and the log cabin die as well as some coping strips cut with a rotary cutter.

You will find the original blog post here.

A Butterfly Block from the Past

As I sat this morning, my eyes rested on the beautiful butterfly wall hanging that I created 30 years ago and wondered whether it could be made with an AccuQuilt Qube. This wall hanging was created in the days of plastic templates and rotary cutting and before longarm quilting machines were readily available. The original does not bear close inspection as the piecing is fine, but the quilting leaves a lot to be desired and the entire background is unquilted. However, it hangs above my mantle and the colors and butterflies give me great pleasure.

The block is drawn in EQ8 and my original block was made as a finished 6″ block. Using the AccuQuilt Qube system, I have drawn it as 6″, 8″, 10″ and 12″ finished blocks. The 6″ block requires some rotary cutting but the others can all be made using the 4″/8″ combination, the 5″/10″ combination, and the 6″/12″ combination Mix & Match Qubes. The antennae are embroidered and in the original blocks I used a stem stitch on my sewing machine and pulled the ends of the threads to the back and tied them so they would not come undone. You can find the cutting diagrams from EQ here.

This is one of the blocks from the original wall hanging.

And this is the block from EQ8.

Marjorie’s Butterfly from EQ

A Simple Four-Patch

Sometimes we can build the most fun quilt blocks from a simple four-patch. Mixing squares and half square triangles can result in some really beautiful blocks. This is one I saw recently on a Facebook post in our AccuQuilt Qube group. It is three half square triangles and a square and is the cutest little fish ever.

When I need thinking time I make 2-1/2″ half square triangles. It’s very soothing to me to be able to sit  and stitch while I enjoy the tree-tops and greenery of the yard while sewing triangle after triangle. It results in stacks of triangles. These are some of the fish that I have made.

What will I do with them? I think a baby quilt would be perfect or some borders or even make a nine-patch from the four-patch squares. Here are some possibilities I played around with in EQ.  This was so much fun in EQ – seems like infinite possibilities.

Disappearing Hourglass Quilt Block with AccuQuilt GO! Qubes

On the Facebook AccuQuilt Qube Group the question came up of how to make  the Disappearing Hourglass QuiltBlock with the Qube system. Barbara Biddlecomb Harper posted the question from a quilter and drafted a block. And who doesn’t love a good challenge like this? I would never have thought to use the chisel and the Bowtie shapes, but Barbara did and that made all the difference. There is more than one way to build this block, but I approached it from the traditional block with a star in the center. In order to get all of the shapes to work together, I ended up using 6″ and 12″ Qube shapes, but it could be done with 4″ and 8″ Qubes or with 5″ and 10″ Qubes.

It took three tries to cut the block from a 10″ Layer Cake Square. And there were only strings left. For a Layer Cake square it would be better to cut it with the smaller Qubes or use Fat Quarters for the larger Qubes.

The 6″ and 12″ Qubes make a 9″ finished block. The 4″ and 8″ Qubes make a 6″ finished block and the 5″ and 10″ Qubes make a 7-1/2″ finished block.

This is the cutting diagram for the 6″ and 12″ Qubes. It really makes a pretty block. The cutting is the same for both diagrams, the layout is different with the rotation of the four patch in the center.

And this was my trial with a Layer Cake Square. You can see the tiny bit of scraps left over.

QAL Roundup

Monday and seems strange not to be posting a new block today. So I went to FB and downloaded some pictures of quilts that are in progress or just finished from the Photo Album on the Qube FB Page. These are wonderful quilts. Some are still in progress and final pics haven’t been posted but they are turning out so beautifully that I had to go ahead and post them.