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::Ready… Set…Value Quilt Along::

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I’ve been brewing a while on an idea of a quilt along for my Value Quilt Tutorial.  I think the time has come.

And because even the longest journey begins with a single step (or steps in this quilt), I thought I’d give you all a heads-up and some planning time before we all jump in.

What you’ll need:

* Quilting Wall: You will need to see your work from a distance on this one.  Value is best determined from a distance.  Vertically seeing your work will help a lot.  Buy one or craft yourself one.  Blair of Wisecraft does it well here.  I suppose you could make do without, but try for one.  It will be indispensable to you once you’ve used it.  Even a flannel sheet will work.  I just tack mine to the wall.

*Mass array of fabrics: Lights, medium and dark in value.  Cut into squares (I’m doing 6-inch).  Take a good look at your stash.  You most likely have a lot that are medium in value. This is the time to hit the fabric swap groups, or buy those FQs you’ve always wanted!  Try to fill in the gaps by buying the values you don’t have much of.  Start cutting!

*Amount of fabrics: I will be doing 12 rows up and 12 across for a family sized quilt.  Two squares will make two identical squares.  For less of a commitment try a baby quilt.

*Square template (6-inch or smaller).

*The rest is the usual quilting stuff.

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There are some examples on the  Values Quilt Flickr Group.  Some are less “distracting” in their use of print and use a solid as the light.  For those of you with less stash this might be a good start.

You are also not stuck to the diamond shape of my example.  By switching the squares around you could easily create a different look.  Maybe light and dark lines?  I was thinking of perhaps making a bunch of squares and then sashing them.  Similar to these I made for the Ten Make Two Bee:

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Let me know if you want to jump in with me!  Join here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  3. amanda says

    Hey Katie,
    I’m in! I’ve been wanting to make one of these for a while.
    I’ve never managed to get a design wall set up but I find that laying proposed designs out on my bed and photographing different options gives me a similar effect. When I look at the photos on my computer, I can generally see where there is too much of a color or too little. I think it’s a good option for those of us who are space challenged.
    Need to start sorting fabric for this!

  4. Tacha says

    I think I´m in. When are you starting? It might take me a while as we have lots going on over the next few weeks but I so want one of these quilts.

  8. wren says

    oh… crud. maybe next time. i am in over my head right now with the house and trying to get stuff together for the little shop. Next time i am so in.

  11. Melissa says

    I’m so excited! I’ve been meaning to do a quilt like this for a while – and it might use up some of my scraps

  12. Wendy says

    Hi there Katie!
    Yes Please!
    I’ve organised with a friend of mine to do this as it were!
    We’re going to make the blocks & then swap some with each other so that way we have lots of different fabrics.
    How exciting!
    In fact I was wondering if you would like to swap some with us!
    A kind of mini international block swap of sorts! Please!
    http://www.hartylittlepeaces.blogspot.com

    Thanks, Wendy
    PS – I just LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog!!

  13. Bekhy says

    I love the idea, especially since I think I will learn a ton…but I’m scared! This probably means I need to join in even more so that I get over my fear. 🙂

  19. amandajean says

    what a fun quilt along! i might try to do this in a doll quilt size. which would mean that it will probably end up being a baby size. cuz that’s how things work around here.

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