Making It! A Mini Blog Event - Week 1
I am so glad you decided to join us for our Mini Blog Event!
I'd like you to meet Kate Colleran of Seams Like a Dream Design and Joanne Hillestad of The Fat Quarter Gypsy and Swirly Girls Design. And that's me, Kris Poor (yours truly) of Poorhouse Quilt Designs.
We began this project when we traveled to Houston in October 2019. We saw Marcus Fabric’s line called Soulful Shades of Pink by Laura Berringer and then inspiration struck Joanne – a blog hop was born. This is very personal for her - I invite you to hop over to Jo's blog to read her compelling story. I think you will be amazed by this strong woman that I am proud to call my friend!
Cancer affects every person, family and community. We are hoping our hop will raise awareness about breast cancer in particular, and all cancers in general. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2020, there will be an estimated 1.8 million new cancer cases diagnosed in the United States. As quilters, we always know we can do something!
Our event: Kate and I are have created free patterns for you to provide comfort and support to a friend or family member in cancer treatment. Jo has created a beautiful project that is a pdf download, with all of the proceeds benefitting the American Cancer Society! Here’s how the schedule breaks down:
Feb 7th
Kate will be posting a mini tutorial and a link to the free pattern.
Joanne will be posting about her breast cancer story.
Kris will be posting tips on strip piecing.
Feb 14th
Kate will be posting a mini tutorial to enhance the free pattern.
Joanne will be posting about why she chose this fabric line and show snippets of her project.
Kris will be posting a mini tutorial and a link to her free pattern.
Feb 21st
Kate will be posting a mini tutorial and showing other projects made with the fabric.
Joanne will be showing off her project and a link to the pattern. All proceeds of the pattern sales will go to the American Cancer Society.
Kris will be posting a mini tutorial about sizing the project for kids.
Let’s get started! I would like to share with you some tips for strips. You can use these tips for any strip-based project!
Five Simple Tips for Creating with Strips:
1. Cut accurately with a sharp blade.
2. Leave the selvage on for sewing with strips.
3. Accurate ¼” seams are a must! Visit Kate’s Post here for a full tutorial on this subject!
4. When you piece your strips, alternate the selvages so that the printed selvage is at the beginning for your first strip, at the end on your second strip, etc. This way your strip sets stay straight (say that 5 times fast…. strip sets stay straight, strip sets stay straight, strip sets stay straight!).
5. Press to one side so that you can nest your seams.
As always, keep stitching, and I hope you will join us next week as I reveal my free pattern!
-Kris
