One Down, Two To Go!

August 22, 2012 Leila

The school year has started here and it is amazing how much more calm and focused I feel with only half as many kids at home. ;) I managed to crank out Skill Builder Sampler quilt top #1 Monday morning while the two smallest played. Only two more to go!

I have to admit that putting together the blocks and sashing is not my favorite part of the quilt making process. However, it is rather necessary if one wants a quilt and not a pile of blocks. ;) I am not feeling so calm and focused that I think I will be able to write my own tutorial on sashing, so I will refer you to these two great tutorials which give two different methods of adding sashing.

Sashing Tutorials:
Adding Sashing the Easy Way
Learn How to Make Quilt Sashing With Cornerstones

However I won't leave you totally on your own. Here are the fabric and cutting requirements for a layout like the one above::

1 1/4 yards of sashing material cut into forty-nine 2.5x12.5 inch strips
Forty-nine 2.5 inch cornerstone squares. (You can get 48 out of a quarter yard, so you will need a quarter yard of fabric plus one 2.5 inch square. Or you can use scraps.)

I am going to leave you with some inspiration and a challenge. Here are three We Can Do It! Skill Builder quilts that are all finished!!!

Cassie finished quilting her quilt last week! Love the colors and layout!

Mamma Thomps made three throw quilts using the Skill Builder Blocks. This is her third and final quilt. I love how the blocks seem to float on the dark background.

Vanessa was the first to finish her quilt and she hand quilted it!!! I love the borders as sashing and the hand quilting is Amazing! Great job!

To give everyone a bit of motivation to finish their quilts, we will have a We Can Do It! Skill Builder Quilt Show and giveaway the first week of October. That gives us all just over a month to finish up our quilts. We Can Do It! Post pictures of your finished quilts in the flickr group. Leave a comment here in the flickr group and a link to your finished quilt to participate in the Quilt Show and to be entered into the final giveaway.

If you didn't finish all of the blocks and know that you aren't really going to make anymore, that's ok. Take what you have and make a quilt out of it. I don't want any blocks cluttering up your home and making you feel guilty about starting other projects. ;)

Thank you all for such a great skill building year!

(For a complete list of all the Skill Builder Tutorials go here.)