Zen Studio Quilt Along - Week 1

Starts Today!! 2/11/19
Zen Studio Quilt Along
Dates: February 11th, 2019 – March 31st, 2019
Duration: 7 weeks
Quilt Size Featured: Lap – 41” x 57”
Instagram Tag: #zenstudioqal
ZEN STUDIO QUILT ALONG
WEEK ONE: FABRIC SORTING, CUTTING, AND ORGANIZING
The two hardest steps in creating this quilt is color planning and keeping the pieces in the correct order. We will go over both items thoroughly. So, breathe, relax, and follow along.
So, if you haven’t already, open up your Jelly Roll and unfurl that beauty! If you’ve never opened a Jelly Roll before, you might not be expecting the “confetti” effect that ensues once you’ve opened the package. It’s a little messy but just pretend it’s a fabric party and you just arrived at the main event. You’ll also notice that the edges have been pinked (jagged cut). This keeps the fabric from fraying and we’ll talk a little more about that next week.
Now that you’ve opened your Jelly Roll, and have finished ogling and fondling it, let’s get down to business
SORTING
Sorting your jelly roll might feel a little overwhelming, so let’s break it down into smaller steps. Most Jelly Rolls have multiples of the same prints and colors and/or variants of a few different colors.
You'll also want to think abouit your inner borders when selecting your color groups. Keep in mind how many strips you'll need for your borders and select those now. The Inner border strips should be very close if not the same color.
(I chose these two prints for the inner border. I'll use one for the sides and one for the top and bottom)
The rest of the strips will either be used for the outer border, or as some back up if the cutting is off for the blocks (mistakes!?!, we don't make no flipping mistakes! LOL)
CUTTING
Alright, now that we've gotten over our "these strips don't match" anxiety, let's get onto the "how am I gonna cut this" apprehension. So, let's breathe, shake it off, and tackle this.
Honestly, the cutting is not that difficult and, like I stated previously, you should have some back up strips. Remember, this is somewhat scrappy, so you won't have exactly the same amount of each print for all the pieces. Only work with one color group at a time and take into account the number of pieces for each size piece (refer to pattern sub-cut section)
I personally (when making the lap size) stack all the strips of one color group on top of each other and cut the largest piece first. I removed and replaced strips to the stacked group as needed to the achieve the desired number of pieces for each size, moving from largest to smallest sized pieces. If a strip wasn't long enough to cut for a certain size, I moved it aside to use for the next largest size piece that would fit.
If you're not comfortable stacking strips to cut, just cut one size piece at a time, changing up the print as desired. Same rules apply in regards to cutting larger pieces first and moving down to second largest, and so on.
Aaaannnd, if you're still apprehensive about the cutting, I've added a cutting diagram to the pattern. You can download another copy and print just that page. After working with a couple people on the pattern, I found this part the most stressful for them, and it was the one thing I didn't include. I can't have you being stressed, so I thought I'd ease everyone's mind. :) Instructions to get the new pattern updated are at beginning of this post.
WRAP IT UP
Alright, that's all we have scheduled for this week. Keep your color groups organized and separated. Next week we'll discuss building your blocks and start piecing!! If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below!
Be sure to check out your emails for this week's contest rules!! And don't forget to share, share, share!! Share those pics and tag them #zenstudioqal.
ZEN STUDIO QAL SPONSORS
Emily Jackson
Instagram: @lemonyquilts
Janine Wallgren
Instagram: @lilbeanquilting
Etsy: www.lilbeanquilting.etsy.com
My cutting is done too! Okay, it’s hard not to start the quilt once the fabric is cut. One block turns into many blocks, and sew on.
My cutting is done. I’m so ready for this!