Fancy Swooning Along with Us?

Last year, it seemed like everyone in the blogging universe too part in Katy's Swoonalong except me. I just couldn't fit one more thing in when it was all going on. I would see these beautiful Swoon quilts popping up all over blogs and Flickr, and be pea green with envy! Fast forward more than a year, and in a photo challenge I was taking part in over on Instagram, I had to post something I had missed out on - and of course, I posted my regret at missing out on the Swoonalong, and my determination to make it this year. To my surprise, it turned out that I wasn't the only person who missed out, and after a little bit of chat with Rhonda, Cindy, Fiona and Erin, I decided that maybe it would be fun to another Swoonalong. Round 2, so to speak, or Swoon 2013 as I've christened it :-)

This will be a leisurely type of quiltalong. No pressure! As a rough guide I'm thinking pattern purchase and fabric pull this week, then maybe a block a week after that would be do-able for most people. That would bring us up to the start of September and after that its sashing, basting, quilting and binding for which maybe another 2-3 weeks is a good generous estimate. As with any quiltalong however, some people will be ahead of this pace, and some people won't be able to manage a block every week. And, of course, the summer holidays are almost upon us! I'm aiming to have my Swoon finished and on my bed by the end of September at at the latest - sooner if I can manage it (and if the weather smiles on me and allows my kids to play outside during the holidays instead of hanging out of me looking to be entertained!) But really, whatever pace works for you is fine and I hope that the group will remain active for the rest of 2013.

First up - you'll need to buy your pattern. You can buy it from Fat Quarter Shop  here or from Camille Roskelly's own site.

Next you'll need to pull your fabric - you need 18 Fat Quarters and 4.25 yards of background fabric for the quilt top. And those FQs need to be full FQs, as you will be using almost every single bit of them. That's assuming you're making the full quilt - which is a whopping 80" x 80" size. If you're making less, you need 2 FQs per block plus background fabric.

Here's some of my fabric pull:

I'm making Swoon for my own bedroom, and I'm going with an aqua/teal, navy and yellow palette against a white background to tie in with my room decor with is an aqua/duck egg blue and champagne. I've ordered a couple more navy and aqua prints from Cindy and will make my final decision as I go along!

Then all you need to do is to get started on your blocks! These are massive blocks - 24.5" square. I've made my first over the weekend and would say that they are pretty straightforward sewing - half square triangles, and flying geese units, with good pattern instructions. So I think this pattern is very achieveable for less experienced quilters. The biggest challenge is going to be keeping your seams and points precise so everything goes together nicely, and we can share tips and advice over in the Flickr group for this. I used a scant seam and took my time, and mine went together beautifully:

I just LOVE this block. It is labour intensive, lots of cutting, piecing and pressing, but it is so, SO worth it! I can't wait to get started on my next one, I think they might be a little bit addictive. 

So. Have I convinced you? Are you going to join us? You know you want to!! If you have an unfinished Swoon from last year, now is the perfect time to get it out and get it finished. Or you could make a smaller version if you don't fancy the full size.  4 blocks would make a lovely lap size quilt.

If you are, head over to the Flickr group and join. I also have set up a hashtag on Instagram for your pics over there #swoon2013 - if you're not already on Instagram, you should check it out! I love it, so instant and I've met so many new quilters over there.

Even though I had most of the fabric I needed for the quilt, I still needed a few extra FQs to get my palette exactly how I wanted. If, like me, you need to buy fabric for your quilt, my good friend Cindy over at Fluffy Sheep Quilting, is very generously giving a 10% discount to Swoon 2013 participants until 7th July - just enter the coupon code SwoonLove at the checkout, and the 10% will be removed from your order :-) Thank you Cindy!

 

Cindy has lots of loveliness in stock at the moment (some Happy Go Lucky might just have sneaked into my basket over the weekend!) so be sure to check her out, she also has loads of Kona if you need solids for background.

And, I think that might be it for the moment! Oh - one last thing. A button!  Here it is:

<div align="center"> <a href="http://fairyfacedesigns.blogspot.ie/" title="FairyFace Designs"><img src="http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j433/FairyFaceDesigns/90fff96c-09b4-4363-b0e8-6c58654bd017.jpg" alt="FairyFace Designs" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Please please, join in, and spread the word!