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Monday, November 26, 2018

Star Patch Quilt Along: Week 5

 Hey hey, friends!  It's week 5 of the Star Patch Quilt Along!  How's it going for everyone?  Where is everyone at with their blocks?  I'm so curious!  I wish I could be right there sewing along with each one of you!  There would surely be lots of laughs, chocolate, and thread covered clothes!


Week 5 means it's the last week of making blocks!  Can you believe that?  Just make fifteen 9-Patches this week.  If you're behind, it's a great time to get caught up because next week we start constructing the quilt top.  If you feel like you don't have time, I want to tell you, you deserve some sewing time!  It's the week after Thanksgiving and surely you've earned some downtime at your sewing machine LOL!  


By Sunday you should be done with sixty 9-Patches (15 for each of weeks 2-5).  If you're entering the weekly giveaways on Instagram, post a picture of the 4 stacks of blocks on your feed by this Sunday, December 2nd at noon MST.  Be sure to use the hashtag #starpatchqal.  I'll pick a winner from the hashtag pool Sunday night who will win a notions goodie bag and a 10" stacker from Riley Blake Designs.  Your photo should look kind of like this:


Last weeks winner was Barb Brooks (@bbrooksgram on Instagram).  She won a tablemat kit from Sweet Treasures Quilt Shop.  So fun!  Congrats Barb!

Have a great week you guys!

PS. If you're not getting the emails, you may have entered your email address incorrectly on the sign-up page.  Click HERE to resubmit your info.

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Gigi's Thimble Shop Sale

Happy Thanksgiving friends!  I just wanted to pop on here to tell you thank you!
Y'all are so good to me.  I've made so many good friends during the past several years of pattern designing!  I'm constantly amazed at all the sweet comments and reviews you guys leave me!   It's because of your kindness and enthusiasm over my patterns that makes this job one that I continue to love!


As a little way to say thank you I am having a sale starting right this very minute and it ends Cyber Monday at midnight.  No coupon code is needed.  Just click HERE to visit the shop and enjoy a 30% discount on everything!

Thank you for all your support.  Thank you for purchasing patterns.  Thank you for enjoying my free tutorials.  Thank you for your friendship!  Happy holidays!

PS. the photo above features a sneak peek of my newest pattern, Sweet Kisses.  It's available in PDF form now in the shop.  I'll do a full post here on the blog soon when the paper pattern is available as well.

Monday, November 19, 2018

Star Patch Quilt Along: Week 4

Is "quilt-alonging" a thing?  Because it should be.
This quilt-alonging thing is fun, don't you think?
This is my first time EVER to be in a Quilt Along, let alone to host!
I hope you guys are having as much fun as I am.
Can you believe it's already week 4!?!  
You're going to start seeing your 9-Patch pile growing nicely this week!


This week you need to make another fifteen 9-Patches.
I've suggested chain piecing them in the past and recently had a few people ask how to do that.
So today I have a quick tutorial for you on how to chain piece.

First, a  definition of chain piecing from www.creativeglossary.com.
"Chain Piecing is a method that joins many pieces of fabric together by inserting them through a sewing machine one after the other while continuing one's pressure on the presser foot and not cutting the threads between the pieces."  

Chain Piecing is an accurate and time-saving technique that every quilter should know how to do!

The following instructions are for chain piecing fifteen 9-Patches 
but you can adjust the numbers for any amount of blocks. 

First, make two piles of your background squares.  The first pile should have 45 squares in it (because three rows in each of the fifteen 9-Patches = 45).  The second pile should have 15 squares in it (because one of the rows in each of the fifteen 9-Patches has two background squares in it).  You should also have a pile of all your scrappy bright squares.


(I like to do the math ahead of time so I know how many pieces of each I should sew together so I don't end up with the wrong pieces at the end).

Set aside the pile of 15 background squares.  You will use those in the next step.

From the pile of 45 background squares, sew together 1 background square with 1 bright square to make 45 pairs.  Do not clip your threads between pairs.

(Viewpoint from behind my sewing machine.)


After you've made all 45 pairs remove the chain from your presser foot and clip the threads between each pair.  


Then, using the pile of fifteen background squares sew a second background square onto the end of fifteen of the pairs to make fifteen background-bright-background rows.  Then sew another bright square onto the remaining pairs to make thirty bright-background-bright rows.  Do all of this without clipping the threads in between each row.  


After all of the rows are sewn you can clip the threads between the rows and press the seam allowances toward the bright squares.


 Chain piece together one of each kind of row (a bright-background-bright row and a background-bright-background row) to make 15 pairs.  Remove the chain from your presser foot and clip all the threads between the pairs.  Then add on the remaining bright-background-bright rows to the pairs using the chain piecing method.  Remove the chain from your presser foot and clip all the threads between the blocks.  Press the seam allowances open.


You will now have fifteen 9-Patches.  
And, you will have saved time and thread during this process by using the chain piecing method.
I hope that helps any of you who have not heard of or tried the chain piecing method!

After you have made your 9-Patches for this week, post a picture on Instagram using the hashtag #starpatchqal.  For this weeks photo, please arrange your fifteen 9-Patch blocks on point (like this) to be entered into the weekly drawing:


Be sure to post your photo by Sunday 11/25/18 at noon MST.  I will draw a winner from the hashtag pool to win a tablemat centerpiece kit in Swell Christmas fabrics from Sweet Treasures Quilt Shop.  It's a really cute quilt shop in Keizer, Oregon but they also have an online store as well.  Be sure to check them out!  And thanks to Terri at Sweet Treasures for her generosity!

As for last week, Sharon Brennan (@sharonb54 on Instagram) won a set of darling pins from Susan (@quiltypie on IG).  I love Susan's pins!  Be sure to follow her on IG and give her some love!

Happy quilting friends!

Monday, November 12, 2018

Star Patch Quilt Along: Week 3

Hello!  Welcome to week 3 of the Star Patch Quilt Along!
How are all my quilt along buddies doing?


This week we are making 15 more 9-Patches.  Easy Peasy!  
Are you chain-piecing yours?  It makes them come together so fast!


One thing I need to clarify:

[IMPORTANT, Please Read]
For the scrappy back, you will need eight 9-Patches which are included in the amount of 9-Patches we are making over the next few weeks.  If you aren't going to do the scrappy back you will only make seven 9-Patches during week 5 (not 15).  I will remind you of that in the week 5 blog post.  But I forgot to mention the extra cutting you'll need to do for those eight 9-Patches.  You may as well cut the extra squares now if you're doing the scrappy back.  So cut an extra 40 bright print 2" squares and 32 white solid 2" squares.  I'll remind you of that too, during week 5.  I just wanted to clear up any confusion if you did the math and wondered why we were making a total of sixty 9-Patches when the pattern only calls for 52.


For the next few weeks, I'm going to have you post specific pictures of your 9-Patches 
for the weekly giveaways, just to mix things up and make it a little more fun.  
To enter this weeks' giveaway, take a photo of all your 9-Patches on a cake stand 
(or a plate will be fine if you don't have a cake stand).  Like this:


Post your photo to your Instagram account using the hashtag #starpatchqal by noon (MST) on Sunday, 11/18/18.  I will be drawing one winner from the hashtag pool and announcing it Sunday night.  Please note, your account must be public so I (and everyone else) can see your photo.

This weeks' winner will receive a set of pins from my friend Susan (@quiltypie).  
Check her out on Instagram.  Her pins are sooo adorable!!!

Also, congratulations to Michelle Mack (@mackmt on IG) for winning the Week 2 giveaway.
She will be getting her very own copy of Emily Dennis' new book, Modern Quilts, Block by Block.
And thanks again to Emily for sponsoring that giveaway!  So fun!

I love seeing your progress on the Star Patch quilts!  They're going to be stunners for sure!

Happy sewing!

Monday, November 5, 2018

Star Patch Quilt Along: Week 2

Welcome to week 2 of the Star Patch Quilt Along!


I hope you all found week 1 fun!  Picking the fabrics and planning is one of my favorite parts of quilt-making!  I have been checking the #starpatchqal hashtag on Instagram daily and have been loving what I've been seeing.  You guys are inspiring me!  I hope you'll visit the hashtag too and take the time to leave comments and encourage each other.  It's such a great opportunity to make some new quilty friends!

The winner for the week 1 drawing is Barb Brooks (@bbrooksgram) who won a Perfect 10 book and ruler combo pack from The Fat Quarter Shop!  This book looks so fun!  Click HERE to check it out.  Just a reminder, to enter each weekly drawing you must post the required picture on Instagram using the hashtag #starpatchqal.  I pick the weekly winner from the hashtag pool and announce the winner on my Instagram feed and stories.

Speaking of prizes, I want to give a HUGE thank you to all of our Star Patch Quilt Along Sponsors!



They've offered some really fabulous prizes including fabric, books and even long-arm quilting!  I can't even believe their generosity.  Visit the Star Patch Quilt Along Home Page HERE for all the specifics.

Star Patch Quilt Along
Dates: October 29 - December 22
Duration: 8 weeks

It's not too late to join though! 
Register and sign up for the weekly emails HERE
You can purchase the Star Patch PDF or paper pattern HERE

Fabric Requirements:
260 bright print 2” x 2” squares
(OR a total of  ⅞ yard of assorted bright print fabrics)
2⅞ yards of white solid fabric
2¼ yards of yellow solid fabric
(OR 1-2/3 yards for the star and ⅝ yard for the binding)
3¾ yards of backing fabric
Batting, 67” x 67”

How to participate:
- The Star Patch Quilt Along takes place on Instagram.  Follow me @gigis_thimble on there.
- Use the hashtag #starpatchqal when posting pictures on Instagram so we can all see each other's progress.
- A new blog post will be up each Monday for the QAL.

Week 2

Week 2 is the first week of block-making.  Just make fifteen 9-Patches.  I chose to chain piece mine and they came together really fast!  Or just do a few each day and you'll be done in no time!  


Post a picture of your finished fifteen 9-Patches by Sunday night 11/11/18 to be entered into this weeks drawing.  All you have to do is post the picture on your Instagram feed with the hashtag #starpatchqal.  The winner will receive Emily Dennis' new book, Modern Quilts Block by Block.  This is a beautiful book by an extremely talented woman!  Emily is actually the one who inspired me to host this Quilt-Along!  So a huge thank you to Emily for sponsoring this prize and just being an all-around awesome human, businesswoman and designer!  This drawing is for US residents only.

Have a fabulous week you guys!  Can't wait to see your progress!