Arrow Stone QAL Week 7

It’s the home stretch of the Arrow Stone QAL! It’s Week 7 and we’re sewing together all of our blocks and adding borders. We’ll soon have a completed quilt top! 

If you’re just now joining us, all of the past content for the Arrow Stone QAL can be found below:

• Introduction Post
• Week 1 – Choose fabric
• Week 2 – Cutting and organizing fabric
• Week 3 – Making HST’s and piecing tips
• Week 4 – Making flying geese units
• Week 5 – Making QST’s and center side units
• Week 6 – Assemble blocks and trimming tips

Arrow Stone QAL Week 7

The mission for this week is to assemble the quilt top. All of the instructions can be found on Pages 6-7 of the Arrow Stone pattern. You might remember that I’m making a square quilt using nine blocks. This is in between the baby and throw sizes that are given in the pattern. I wanted my quilt to be a little bit bigger than the baby size, and since I’m using 60″ wide backing fabric (Luxe-Cuddle by Shannon Fabrics) it was a good option for me.

Quilt Assembly Tips

Make sure to give each block a final press and trim the edges if needed.

Pay attention to the seam intersections and diagonal match points when sewing your blocks together. Pin well and use a setting pin to match diagonal seams as we did with the block units from Week 6.

Before adding borders, check the edges of your quilt top. Trim them if necessary, so you have a straight edge to attach your borders to.

Border Tips

I prefer to sew my border segments together with a diagonal seam. I think a diagonal seam looks better, but that’s just my personal preference. If the border is wider than 5 1/2″, I’ll revert to a straight seam.

It’s important to cut the length of your border strips to fit your quilt top. I do this by laying two border strips across the center of my quilt top and cut them even with the sides. This will prevent a wavy border from occurring and keeps your quilt square and even.

Attach the border strips with lots of pins! I like to pin every 4-5 inches. This keeps things from shifting out of alignment.

Repeat that process for the remaining two borders. This step will include the first two borders that were previously sewn on.

TIP: Often, I will add an extra 1/2″ to the border length; this gives me something to square up after they’re sewn on. When attaching the border, find the center of the quilt top and the border strip and mark them. Then match the centers and pin. Pin every 5″ or so, and allow an extra 1/4″ of the border to overhang at the beginning and ending (because of the extra 1/2″ cut.) This will get trimmed and squared after the border is attached.

Week 7 Sponsors & NEW Eligibility Guidelines

There are THREE prizes this week! The first prize is a Binding Wheel and 3rd Hand Binding Folder Clip from Purple Hobbies! The second and third prizes include a gift bundle of fabric and notions from ME! Thank you  Purple Hobbies for sponsoring our quilt along!

I want everyone to have a chance to enter this final giveaway. You are all invited to email me a photo of your finished quilt top to be eligible for the grand prizes! Quilt tops only are fine; they do not need to be quilted. With your permission, I will share your photos on my blog next week and randomly select two winners from those photos. I will also choose one winner from those who post on Instagram using the hashtag #arrowstoneqal (just as before).

NEW Giveaway rules:

• Email me a photo of your completed quilt top.
• OR post a photo of your completed quilt top on Instagram using the hashtag #arrowstoneqal
• Deadline is Saturday, April 16, at midnight (PST).
• Your Instagram account must be public (otherwise I won’t be able to see it).
• One winner will be chosen from Instagram and two winners from email photos.
• Giveaway is open to US residents only due to shipping costs.

Week 6 Winners

The three winners of the Luxe Cuddle Fabric from Shannon Fabrics are

• Lucy Cesar @lucycesar8.
• @clppeterssen
• @txtib

Congratulations to all three winners! If you didn’t receive my direct message, please send me an email so I can get you your prize!

Thank you to Shannon Fabrics for sponsoring our quilt along!

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Looking Ahead

Next week will be the final week of the Arrow Stone QAL! I’m so impressed that so many of you have kept up with the schedule. I will share a few finishing tips with you and hopefully some quilting ideas.

Have a great week!