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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: Hexagons
In this month, we continue working with my favorite tear-less method of foundation paper piecing. When I was originally designing the block, I started with much smaller hexagons that were traditionally pieced. I quickly realized it was much harder to make a traditionally pieced hexagon accurately and that most normal people wouldn't want to make so many tiny ones! I hope you enjoy the version that made it into the final quilt. I'm so in love with the colorway for this row from the mutli colorway. Give me hot pink and ochre any day! Have fun this month! Suggested Schedule: Week 1: Cutting the fabricWeek 2: Sewing the blocksWeek 3: Sewing the blocksWeek 4: Sewing the blocks into rows Monthly Sponsor & Prize This month's giveaway sponsor is Quilter's Dream! They will be giving away a package of batting to help you finish up your quilt! The batting I currently use is their 80/20 cotton/poly blend. I love this batting because it's easy to hand-quilt through (when I want to) and doesn't hold a crease when your quilts are folded (which a lot of mine are!). I've heard a lot of great things about their Dream Bamboo batting, so I'm thinking about giving that a try soon too! 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 May 31, 2023. A winner will be chosen randomly in June. 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 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: Diamonds
When I was developing this block for the Traverse BOM, I originally wanted to paper piece it with the traditional, sew through the paper type foundation paper piecing, but I didn't want folks to have to print a lot of copies and I didn't want to give you a 100 page pattern! I had always used freezer paper piecing in the past. If you took any of my earlier in-person classes for foundation paper piecing, you will remember that I made everybody draft their own freezer paper patterns with a ruler and a pencil. And while it totally works, it wasn't everybody's favorite thing to do! The other issue with freezer paper these days, is that over the years the formula changed and it doesn't really stick very well to fabric anymore. I wanted the BOM to be really technique heavy and so through playing with different methods of paper piecing, I found my new most favorite method, the one included in this pattern, foundation paper piecing with reusable templates! There is a little bit of prep with the foundations when using this method, but the initial minor fuss is such an improvement over painstakingly ripping out all the papers. This block is a really just a mini set from one of my first quilt patterns, Diamonds Quilt. I have always really loved this block because it has so much movement and once you get the technique down, you can get precision points with minimal effort! Have fun this month! Suggested Schedule: Week 1: Cutting the fabricWeek 2: Sewing the blocksWeek 3: Sewing the blocksWeek 4: Sewing the blocks + sewing the blocks into rows Monthly Sponsor & Prize This month's giveaway sponsor is me! This month, I'm giving away one of my Little Gems Thread Packs. This is one of two packs I put together with Wonderful for my upcoming on-demand Hand Quilting class. These threads are just the right weight for hand quilting. I can't wait to see what you quilt up with them! 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 April 30, 2023. A winner will be chosen randomly in May. 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 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: Xs & Os
I am so excited for this month because this is the first month in the BOM where we use my favorite technique for foundation paper piecing! When I was designing the quilt, I tried to construct the O Blocks with just traditional piecing and they just weren't fun or accurate (for me at least!). In the past, I had always used freezer paper piecing, but the manufacturing of freezer paper has changed over the years, making it more resistant to sticking to some fabrics when ironed. My new method is a marriage between freezer paper piecing & traditional foundation paper piecing with reusable templates. This process made me fall in love with paper piecing again, so I hope you will too! Suggested Schedule: Week 1: Cut fabric Week 2: Sew the X blocks Week 3: Sew the O blocks Week 4: Sew the row Monthly Sponsor & Prize This month's giveaway sponsor is me! I will be giving away a pair of some of my favorite Kai scissors! How to Win: Post progress photos of your pluses 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 March 31, 2023. A winner will be chosen randomly in April. 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 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 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. Having technical difficulties logging in to Thinkific? I'd love to help you! Just send an email to info@tarafaughnan.com
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Traverse BOM: Hourglass
This is one of my favorite blocks in the whole quilt. Do I say that every month? It feels true every month! I came up with this block quite a few years ago when I was making a quilt for Color Collective and I couldn't quite figure out how to piece it without it being overly complicated. Finally, I realized that if I trimmed an hourglass block, it would give me exactly the look I wanted! I spent a fair amount of time messing around with the design on the computer and getting really excited about how if you offset the blocks when sewn into rows, you got the interesting shape interaction that we now have in the Traverse Quilt. I had actually used this block in a quilt I still haven't finished, so now that I'm here thinking about it, I better add that to my 2023 to-do list! I know many folks can just follow along in the pattern and make many of the blocks in this quilt, but I really encourage you to watch the videos first this month because I go over my preferences for pressing open or to the side & how to trim (carefully!). Once you see it, you'll get it! Suggested Schedule: Week 1: Cut fabric + sew HSTs Week 2: Sew HSTs into Hourglass blocks Week 3: Square + trim blocks Week 4: Square + trim blocks & Sew the rows Please note there is one pattern correction this month. See any pattern updates here. Monthly Sponsor & Prize This month's giveaway sponsor is Wendy at The Next Stitch who is providing a $100 gift card to her shop in Australia! The Next Stitch is a full-service patchwork shop specializing in fresh & modern fabrics. Wendy has a huge range of project ideas and kits to keep you sewing in-between each month's row or after your Traverse quilt is all stitched up! Check out the Next Stitch on Instagram or shop their online store. How to Win: Post progress photos of your pluses 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 February 28, 2023. A winner will be chosen randomly in March. Winners will be announced on Instagram and contacted via DM. This month's giveaway is open to International 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 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: 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. Having technical difficulties logging in to Thinkific? I'd love to help you! Just send an email to info@tarafaughnan.com
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Traverse BOM: Square Dots
Happy New Year! This month in the Traverse BOM Sew Along, we are creating several rows of little square dots. When I was designing the quilt, I wanted to add rows that would sparkle and compliment the overall design, rather than be the star players. We already made the flying geese in Month 1 and now we are adding the square dots to the mix. These rows are also the only ones where there are multiple rows in different colors, again to add sparkle, but also to act as a unifying element throughout the quilt. You can see from the progress pictures that I tried several different colors before I landed on the final iterations. This is a great little not too fussy block, perfect for after the holidays because we've all probably gotten a little behind on our sewing...and once you make the first set, the others follow pretty quickly. I hope you have fun with this little rows! Suggested Schedule: Week 1: Cut fabric + sewing row 1 Week 2: Sewing row 2 Week 3: Sewing row 3 Week 4: Catch-up from past months Monthly Sponsor & Prize This month's giveaway sponsor is Oliso with a mini project iron in the color of your choice! During a studio clean-up my Operations Assistant, Chelsea, put away her her full sized ironing board (what a concept!) and loves being able to quickly pull out a wool mat and her mini project iron when working on a project or heading off to a sew day! How to Win: Post progress photos of your pluses 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 January 31, 2022 A winner will be chosen randomly in February. Winners will be announced on Instagram and contacted via DM. This month's giveaway is open to international 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 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: Finishing the Quilt 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. Having technical difficulties logging in to Thinkific? I'd love to help you! Just send an email to info@tarafaughnan.com
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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 BOM: Pluses
Hopefully by now, everyone has gotten their fabric! I know the fabric delays for some shops and participants was such a bummer and maybe even kind of anxiety inducing. "How will I get caught up? Will the videos still be available?" I'm here to tell you on this, the beginning of the second (or third-ish) month of the BOM: Do not worry! There will be several months where the row is pretty easy (including this month!) and will allow time to catch up on past rows. Video content will be available through the end of the BOM, so there is plenty of time to get back on track. When I was designing this quilt, these blocks were in there from the beginning. As I worked out the design, they changed in size and color, but you can see from this early picture of the quilt that they were one of the few elements that didn't change too much! Though now in looking at this, I sure do miss some of those rows that never came to be... Suggested Schedule: Week 1: Cut the fabric + start sewing the Plus blocksWeek 2: Sewing the Plus blocksWeek 3: Sewing the rectangle blocksWeek 4: Sewing the row Monthly Sponsor & Prize Windham has kindly sponsored this month's giveaway prize, a gorgeous bundle of Ruby and Bee solids! I love these fabrics, as they have a beautiful hand, a lovely drape and come in an assortment of gorgeous colors! How to Win: Post progress photos of your pluses 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 November 30, 2022 A winner will be chosen randomly in December. Winners will be announced on Instagram and contacted via DM. This month's giveaway is open to international 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: Pluses Month 3: Half CirclesMonth 4: Square DotsMonth 5: Hourglass Month 6: X's & O'sMonth 7: DiamondsMonth 8: HexagonsMonth 9: Half SquaresMonth 10: TrianglesMonth 11: Finishing the QuiltQuestions 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.Having technical difficulties logging in to Thinkific? I'd love to help you! Just send an email to info@tarafaughnan.com
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Traverse BOM: Flying Geese
Timeline update: As many of you know, we have hit the dreaded manufacturing delay, and some folks do not have fabrics in hand for the September 1st start date. Don't worry, we have you covered. We will basically extend month 1 of the Sew along through October, so whenever you get your fabrics, you can dive right in, and you will have plenty of time to sew! We will resume a regular monthly schedule with Row 2 on November 1st, and post new content on the 1st of every month thereafter. On to the fun stuff! If you know me, you know I love a good traditional quilt block, and Flying Geese are one of my favorites. The possibilities with this humble block are many, and they are easy enough to make too, though they do require some trimming. When I was creating the Traverse quilt, I thought a lot about scale and complexity from row to row. I wanted some rows to read as simple and bold, and some rows to add that little zingy detail. This first row we are making with Flying Geese fills the latter role, with a lot of small repeated units that bring sparkle and interest to the quilt design (and that's why there are actually 2 of these rows in the quilt). They act as a little filler to enhance the design, but it's the type of block that stands on its own too. There are so many ways to make these blocks, and while in the end they look very precise and polished, I like to make them oversize and trim them down afterwards. This makes the sewing easy, and allows for some wiggle room to get them to always finish to the correct size. So as we set about on our first month (although we are stretching it out a few more weeks than that!) it might be nice to pace yourself. I am making two more Traverse quilts (in both color ways), and I decided to make and trim all the geese by breaking it down into manageable chunks. So I have outlined a schedule for you all below, but feel free to go at the pace that works for you! Maybe you are like me and can't stop once you start, or perhaps you steal away 10 minutes here and there to sew as you find time. The sewing becomes a little mindless, which lends itself to listening to a podcast* or audio book but the trimming should be done carefully and without rush. In any case, enjoy the process of watching all these little gems pile up as you go. Suggested Schedule: Week 1: Cut & Sew the Geese for the first set. Week 2: Cut & Sew the Geese for the second set. Week 3: Trim those Geese! Week 4: Sew the rows together Then celebrate your beautiful rows, take pictures and dazzle your friends with your Flying Geese prowess. don't forget to post on Instagram or Facebook, because we all want to cheer each other on! While there is some extra fabric in your kit to allow for miss-cuts, it's no fun to have to re-sew something because you've trimmed it too small. Additionally, like we'll talk about in the videos over on Thinkific, we do have some wiggle room when geese end up too big or too small, but our goal is just right, like Quilty Goldilocks. *right now I'm loving the Lore podcast with Aaron Mahnke (it's about dark history and is super fascinating). Monthly Sponsors & Prizes Giveaway #1: We are doing a bit of a different thing for the start of the BOM, due to the fabric delays. We have our kickoff giveaway with Oliso running until September 30th, so there is still time to participate in that! I truly love the Oliso iron, and it's the one I use everyday. It gets hot, the steam function is just right, and I love the auto lift feature. How to win: Post the I'm In! Traverse Sew Along images in your colorway on Instagram using hashtags #traversequilt,#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! Giveaway #2: We are excited to also be partnering with Sewtopia for our second giveaway! Amy runs the show over there and I first met her about 5 or 6 years ago when I taught at one of the retreats. Let me tell you- she is a gem of a human being. If you don't know about Sewtopia already, here's a bit of their story. Sewtopia was born in 2014 from an idea of taking the online sewing community and connecting in person. Sewtopia’s first creative retreat was held in Salt Lake City, Utah. The twice yearly retreat features a Fall open sew style retreat and a Spring educational, teacher hosted retreat. Now Sewtopia has traveled all over the country with over a dozen locations under its belt. In 2018, Sewtopia branched out from events and opened an online shop selling notions, patterns, and an ever-growing collection of fresh, modern fabrics. We love teaming with extraordinary and influential designers from the modern quilting and sewing world to offer customers a unique selection. Sewtopia opened its brick and mortar location in Murray, Utah in the Summer of 2020 and with the support of its wonderful customers and attendees will continue to grow. Sewtopia is generously offering a $75 gift certificate to the online shop, which will definitely come in handy in the following months!! How to Win: Post progress photos of your flying geese on Instagram using hashtags #traversequilt and #artisancottons. You must have a public Instagram profile to participate so we can see your photos Photo must be posted by October 31, 2022. A winner will be chosen randomly on November 1, 2022. Winners will be announced on Instagram and contacted via DM. This month's giveaway is open to international 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 #traversequilt 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 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: Finishing the Quilt Have not received your login info for Thinkific? Please contact the shop you purchased the BOM from for your registration information. 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. Having technical difficulties logging in to Thinkific? I'd love to help you! Just send an email to info@tarafaughnan.com
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