Sewcialites for little bits of big fun!

I am really excited to be a part of the Sewcialites Quilt Along being given by the Fat Quarter Shop! The sew along officially starts on Friday, September 25th, 2020 and goes until Friday June 25th, 2021. A new block from a group of 18 designers will be released by the Fat Quarter Shop each Friday!

This is a peek at my first block, Devoted, done up in my Thatched basics in gray Heather. There are three sizes of blocks for Sewcialites- 3", 6" or 9" sizes. You can pick whatever size you like. I have never made a sampler quilt with only 3" blocks and I thought this would make a really charming wall quilt so I decided to go for the smallest block size!

This is a close up with a quarter so you can get a sense of the scale. I must admit that making these little blocks is rather addictive! I did not know that I would enjoy making the little pieces so much. It is really satisfying to use up some of my smaller scraps (because I have a hard time throwing away fabric scraps) AND the small size is a really nice little project to add in to the beginning or end of my day.

The Fat Quarter Shop created a layout for the blocks with a center section and corners made from the blocks. There are large half square triangles that surround the center squares and I decided to flip my big HST to make more of a diamond setting for the blocks. I'll be using either a light gray OR I might try some low volume neutral prints in there.  As you can see from my plan, I'll be making my blocks with white (cream Thatched) and two shades of gray. For three of the blocks (one of them- the flower- is my block!) I am highlighting them with color. Flowers, sewing machines and love...well, that deserves a little added notice!

Since I will be using all Thatched basics from Moda, I know one thing I can do to add subtle variation is to flip the fabric and also use the backsides. The back side has a more chambray-like look and I can get some lighter shades that blend beautifully with the thatched colors on the front. I've picked Heather and Pebble for the colors and haven't decided yet on the colored squares, although sprig, chartreuse and tangerine might be the flower and turquoise or peacock for the sewing machine.

I hope you will join along since sewing together creates such nice community, especially in times where we are more separated at home. A couple places to check in on a weekly basis on Fridays are the Fat Quarter Shop blog and LANDING PAGE (and this landing page has specs on how much fabric you should have and lots of information) and their youtube channel. There is also a facebook group called the Sewcialites Lounge and I just joined in. I will be posting my progress each week there and on instagram. Speaking of instagram, share your progress there using the hashtag #sewcialitesQAL and you will have a chance to win some prizes each month from sponsors like Moda Fabrics, Aurifil, Martingale Publishing, Creative Grids and more! 

See you on Fridays for a little sewing along!! Thanks Fat Quarter Shop for including me in this lovely project!