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Traverse BOM: Half Square Triangles
In this month, we will be working with half square triangle (HST) blocks. When I was designing this row, crazily I paper pieced the half-square triangles (I know, I know) because the size of the block was sort of odd to make the row end up exactly 72 inches. I'd like to say I quickly came to my senses, but that was after I'd pieced the whole row! It just seemed so unnecessary to paper piece an HST! So I reworked the size to have the row finish the correct size and not have the HSTs finish at a measurement you would hate (like something with a 16th of an inch in it!). In the end, I liked how the variety of colors added a lot of interest and sparkle to the row. It's the simple rows that always end up being some of my favorites and sometimes getting to something simple is deceptively tricky. Have fun this month! Suggested Schedule: Week 1: Cutting the fabric + Sewing the HSTsWeek 2: Sewing the HSTs + TrimmingWeek 3: Joining the HSTsWeek 4: Sewing the blocks into rows Monthly Sponsor & Prize This month's giveaway sponsor is Quilter's Dream Batting! I've used both cotton and wool from Quilter's Dream and I love it. Using their Bamboo/Silk blend is on my to do list as I've heard it's a lovely thing to hand quilt through! As part of this month's giveaway whey will be giving away a double size batting to help you finish your Traverse quilt or your next one! How to Win: Post progress photos of your diamonds on Instagram using hashtags #traversebom and #artisancottons. You must have a public Instagram profile to participate so we can see your photos Photo must be posted by June 30, 2023. A winner will be chosen randomly in July. Winners will be announced on Instagram and contacted via DM. This month's giveaway is open to United States participants. See you on social media! Part of the fun of a sew-along is interacting with other quilters! There are a couple of places we're loving seeing your BOM progress: Post photos of your progress on Instagram using hashtags #traversebom and #artisancottons Join my Facebook Group to share photos and chat with other BOM and workshop participants. Traverse Block of the Month Sewing Schedule Sew Along IntroMonth 1: Flying GeeseMonth 2: PlusesMonth 3: Half CirclesMonth 4: Square DotsMonth 5: HourglassMonth 6: X's & O'sMonth 7: DiamondsMonth 8: HexagonsMonth 9: Half SquaresMonth 10: TrianglesMonth 11: Finishing the Quilt*links to each month will be updated as they are released. Questions about assembling the block? Post a discussion inside the Thinkific platform to get help from me! My goal is to respond within 3 business days.
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Traverse BOM: Half Circles
I am really excited about this month! I guess I could say that about every month, but maybe we won't talk about that right now. Let's talk about curves instead! You either love them or hate them. I avoided curves like the plague for many years, until a friend showed me the way forward using a glue stick to hold those pieces together like a boss! Using glue rather than pins allows the edges to stay together, reducing pleats and puckers and it makes sewing curves really fun and addictive, I promise. If curves are new to you, do not get discouraged if your first few blocks are less than ideal. Keep practicing on scrap fabrics until you feel confident and your blocks lay flat without puckers or pleats. It may take about 4-6 blocks to get the hang of it. We will also be making these blocks slightly oversize and trimming them down afterwards, so even if things get a bit wonky as you are sewing, you can straighten it out when trimming, it's basically a no fail technique!! Suggested Schedule: Week 1: Cutting the fabricWeek 2: Sewing the blocks Week 3: Sewing the blocks Week 4: Sewing the blocks into rows Monthly Sponsor & Prize This month's giveaway sponsor is Domesticity! Domesticity is fabric shop with a beautifully curated selection of modern fabrics, notions & patterns (I might need to sew myself into a jumpsuit one of these days!) as well as a sewing studio with a wide selection of classes and sewcials in Baltimore. Domesticity is offering a $75 gift certificate as this month's prize! How to Win: Post progress photos of your half circles on Instagram using hashtags #traversebom and #artisancottons. You must have a public Instagram profile to participate so we can see your photos Photo must be posted by December 31, 2022 A winner will be chosen randomly in January. Winners will be announced on Instagram and contacted via DM. This month's giveaway is open to United States participants. See you on social media! Part of the fun of a sew-along is interacting with other quilters! There are a couple of places we're loving seeing your BOM progress: Post photos of your progress on Instagram using hashtags #traversebom and #artisancottons Join my Facebook Group to share photos and chat with other BOM and workshop participants. Traverse Block of the Month Sewing Schedule Sew Along IntroMonth 1: Flying GeeseMonth 2: PlusesMonth 3: Half CirclesMonth 4: Square DotsMonth 5: HourglassMonth 6: X's & O'sMonth 7: DiamondsMonth 8: HexagonsMonth 9: Half SquaresMonth 10: TrianglesMonth 11: Finishing the Quilt*links to each month will be updated as they are released. Questions about assembling the block? Post a discussion inside the Thinkific platform to get help from me! My goal is to respond within 3 business days.
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Traverse Block of the Month Sew Along
The start of the Traverse Block of the Month sew along is just around the corner and we're going to kick this BOM party off with all the details you need to know about your next year of quilting! Read through some of my design process or scroll down to the details (under How to Participate). When I started designing this quilt (see more about the original inspiration here), I worked with Windham to design 25 new cross-woven colors for their Artisan Solids collection. It was a fun collaboration, where I sent colors I wanted to see in the Artisan Cottons, and the folks at Windham sent the specific thread choices off to the mill. We went through several iterations of samples before we landed on the final choices. When I was choosing colors, I looked for a good variety of values, and of course we all need more magenta in our lives so I threw in a few of those as well! It was such a treat to be able to do this again, as this was part of my job when I worked at Michael Miller, and I have dearly missed being able to create fabrics in colors I wanted to see out in the world! If you know anything about me, you will know cutting is my favorite part of the quilt making process, so to start, I threw some HSTs I had sitting around up on the design wall for color inspiration, and then I cut. I just took my rotary to the fabric. I cut fabric. I sewed fabric. I called Windham for more fabric. And so the cycle went. While the quilt you are making takes about 14 yards of fabric, I'm sure I went through at least 30 yards designing the entire quilt. I made big blocks and small blocks, resized blocks, and recolored them until I hit the sweet spot where I knew it was just right. Below are some fun peeks of what this quilt looked like in its infancy. And here's how it ended, far different from the start. I asked for the help of my friends in sewing up the neutral color way, and many many thanks to Liat Roarer and Margaret Glendening for their beautiful quilt!! How to Participate Originally slated for August, we have decided to postpone the start of the BOM until September 1, 2022 due to fabric shipment delays. I do apologize as we know the delay is a bit of a bummer for everyone who has fabric already, but I want to make sure we have a great start to the BOM and no one feels left behind from the beginning! Ok, now on to all the details you need for the sew along! Each month you will head to this blog and Thinkific to get all the details you need to sew up each row. Here on the blog, you will get: The inside scoop on designing the quilt + never before seen photos of the design process A suggested weekly sewing schedule to help you stay on track all year Details on how to enter the monthly giveaway hosted on Instagram All of the video content will be hosted on Thinkific, which is an online-learning platform. Your quilt shop (where you registered for the BOM) will be providing you with information on how to register. On Thinkific, you will get: A new set of videos released each month on how to construct each row that can be watched over and over A forum to ask questions if you get stuck on a part in the pattern Access to video content through the end of the BOM in 2023 See you on social media! Part of the fun of a sew along is interacting with other quilters! There are a couple of places we'd love to see you post photos and cheer on your fellow BOMers! Post photos of your progress on Instagram using hashtags #traversebom and #artisancottons Join my Facebook Group to share photos and chat with other BOM and workshop participants Launch Party Sponsor & Prize Our first generous sponsor for the BOM is Oliso! We're excited to be giving away a full-sized, touch-activated, Smart Iron! I've been using an Oliso for many years and I absolutely love this iron! Do you look for an iron that is hot and steamy? You've got it with an Oliso!! As quilters we all get picky about our irons, and this is my favorite one to use, and of course I chose the orchid color!! How to Win: Post the I'm In! Traverse Sew Along images in your colorway on Instagram using hashtags #traversebom and #artisancottons. You must have a public Instagram profile to participate so we can see your photos Date Extended! Photo must be posted by September 30, 2022 A winner will be chosen randomly on October 1, 2022. Winners will be announced on Instagram and contacted via DM. This giveaway is open to ship in the US only. But other months will be open to all participants! Traverse Block of the Month Sewing Schedule Sew Along Intro Month 1: Flying Geese Month 2: Pluses Month 3: Half Circles Month 4: Square Dots Month 5: Hourglass Month 6: X's & O's Month 7: Diamonds Month 8: Hexagons Month 9: Half Squares Month 10: Triangles Month 11: Assembling the Quilt Top & Basting Month 12: Quilting & Binding *links to each month will be updated as they are released Wishing you'd joined in on the fun? Some online shops are still selling kits! Check out this list of shops selling the Neutral Colorway and this list of shops selling the Multi Colorway. Still have questions? I'd love to help you! Just send an email to info@tarafaughnan.com
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Join the Traverse Block of the Month!
Let's make this quilt together! Join me and your local quilt shop for the Traverse Block of the Month & sew along. Inspiration comes from the funniest places. I'd been thinking on this block of the month for awhile, brewing ideas and waiting for the right spark. Well, one night I was watching Jane the Virgin on TV when inspiration struck! The characters were seated in a restaurant, and there was a blurry out of focus woven fabric on a bench in the background, and it hit me that this was it! I snapped a screenshot and off I went. I recalled the jar of woven ribbons my mom had when I was a child, and how I loved to get them out and look at all the lovely colors and patterns, the way the shapes played with one another and the quiet spaces where there was a block of solid color (kind of like that sashing above). I'll share more progress pictures later, but read on below to get all the details! What’s the Traverse Quilt? It’s a take on a traditional row-by-row. The quilt consists of a series of blocks sewn into rows each month. When completed the quilt will measure 72” x 85”. Block of the Month includes: 10 row patterns 12 month sew-along Monthly video tutorialsTips on quilt time managementKits featuring Windham Artisan Cottons Monthly prizes How do I sign-up? A list of quilt shops offering the multi-color way are linked here. A list of quilt shops offering the neutral colorway are linked here. Don't see your favorite LQS? Join by signing up with one our online shop participants. When does it start? The sew along will start here on the blog in August, with an overview and some preparations before we begin. Then the actual sewing will start September 1st! Be sure to check with your local quilt shop to see their exact dates for fabric distribution and in-person events. Read on for all the details about this exciting year-long experience:This looks complicated. Can I do it? If you are an adventurous beginner with at least some sewing experience and maybe one quilt (or half a dozen unfinished quilt tops!) under your belt, you most certainly can do it! The sew along will be supported by me, online, and supported by shops with either in-person or video tutorials to help you learn and complete the row each month. Video tutorials you say? I've made exclusive video tutorials to support you every step of the way. Each month your shop will distribute these in-depth videos with all the tips & tricks necessary to construct each row. I love video, as it makes it easy to show you the techniques and point out things you should pay particular attention to! What techniques are included in the pattern? I designed the quilt so that each row demonstrates a range of techniques that will build the skills of a novice quilter but also be fun for experts. Techniques include strip piecing, curves, and a brand new way to foundation paper piece! Will I be able to keep up? Yes! I will be providing a suggested schedule each month right here on my blog with guidelines for what should get done each week to keep up. Some months are less complex than others, so there will be a few easy months where you can get caught up if you get behind when life happens. Plus! There will be prizes for participating along the way so you will be motivated! Prizes you say?! Oh yes! I can’t reveal all the sponsors just yet but I have some fabulous prizes from Oliso, Quilter’s Dream, Windham, and Wonderfil to name a few! How can I participate online? Join the Tara Faughnan Quilts Facebook Group to interact with participants from the BOM. Then repost the I'm In badge using #traversequiltsa #traversequilt & #artisancottons. Using the hashtag for all your Traverse BOM Instagram posts enters you to win monthly prizes & may get you featured in participant spotlights on Instagram, this blog, or monthly newsletters. What’s included in the kit? Each kit will include enough Windham Artisan Cottons to make the quilt top (that’s 14+ yards of fabric including brand new colors I designed!) as well as the 20+ page pattern which is exclusive to BOM participants! How much does the kit cost & how is it distributed? Contact your participating quilt shop for details on distribution and cost. What about backing & binding fabric? Backing and binding are sold separately. Can I buy a fabric kit or pattern from you? Not this year! While I am about to start offering some curated fabric bundles (see my shop here), you can only get the Traverse BOM kit and patterns from participating shops. What other tools or fabric do I need to complete the entire BOM? Marking pencils. In colors to mark both light and dark fabrics. I personally love the Sewline Ceramic Lead Marking Pencil. Glue sticks. Confession: for paper piecing I like Elmer’s Washable School Glue Sticks for most things as they’re cheap and they work! For curves it's also nice to have a Sewline glue stick or other fine tip glue stick for precision application. Printer paper. Normal printer paper, not cardstock. Square Acrylic Ruler. This should be at least 9.5” square with 45 degree markings. A Walking Foot. Not just for quilting your quilt but also to help with long seams when sewing together rows. I still have questions! I'd love to help you! Just send an email to info@tarafaughnan.com I am so excited to begin, and I hope you'll join me in making this beautiful quilt. I'm off now to make the version in the neutral color way, as I think I do need both!
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