Diamond in the Rough - Final Week

Hello my friends!

Let me explain why this is so late (supposed to have been posted on April 19th).

When I first laid out the weeks for this quilt along I had originally allowed three weeks for the final step of putting the blocks together and then I changed it to two.  For whatever reason I had in my head that I would post the final post on April 26.  I was gently reminded by a participant (thank you!!!) and I scheduled the post.  Apparently I thought it was May because I scheduled it for May 26.  Ugh.  Seems my ginkgo baloba isn't working so well..hahaahah!!

So I realized that this hadn't posted still and here I am with an explanation.  I do apologize for all the confusion and lateness.

On to the final week!!!

If you are just joining us, I've linked weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4 below.  Feel free to join us if you haven't already!! 

Week 1 : Choose Your Quilt Size ~~ Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Week 2 : Cutting Instructions ~~ Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Week 3 : Begin Piecing Blocks ~~ Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Week 4 : Sewing Blocks Together ~~ Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Week 5 : Completing the Quilt Top ~~ Saturday, April 19, 2014

By now you should have some or all of your blocks put together.  If you have all of them completed, all you have to do is lay them out to your liking, sew them into rows, and then sew the rows together.  Please refer to the images in Week 1 to assist with your layout. 

I chose to do the 9 block layout which is a nice lap quilt.  At the moment it is with my dear quilter, Darla Padilla, who is going to pebble quilt it for me!! I am sooooo excited to see this quilt after its quilted!!! 

Thank you for sharing your quilt along progress over in the Flickr group!! If you haven't already, please add your photos!! I'd love to see them!! Here is the link to the group! Flickr Group..

Here are some photos of my quilt top completed...

I really love how this turned out!! It still amazes me how fabrics that I would never in my life put together work so well in a scrappy quilt.

I hope you enjoyed this quilt along!!!

If you haven't completed all your blocks, thats OK!!! Keep working at them and don't forget to show me!!! There is no hurry to complete this.  Just go at your own pace!! That's the beauty of this pattern and I won't be taking this down.  In fact, I'm working on putting a PDF together to put on Craftsy so it will be out there for anyone to enjoy!

Much Love!!!

Diamond in the Rough - Week 4

Welcome back!!! 

Today I am going to go over the next step in the quilt along!! 

But first, just a few reminders...

1 - You can join at anytime! There are no sign ups and no actual deadlines! 

2 - Work at your own pace.  I have dates listed, but its ok if you get behind or maybe you are on vacation.  It's ok.  Just pick back up when you can.  The instructions will ALWAYS be here on my blog! 

3 - I created a FLICKR group for you to post any picture related to this QAL.  Add photos of your fabrics, progress photos, and of course completed projects! I can't wait to see what everyone is doing! Click HERE to go to the Flickr Group :) 

If you are just joining us, I've linked weeks 1, 2, and 3 below.  Feel free to join us if you haven't already!! 

Week 1 : Choose Your Quilt Size ~~ Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Week 2 : Cutting Instructions ~~ Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Week 3 : Begin Piecing Blocks ~~ Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Week 4 : Sewing Blocks Together ~~ Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Week 5 : Completing the Quilt Top ~~ Saturday, April 19, 2014

How did you do on your HST's?? Did you get them all done? Kudos to those of you who did and if you didn't, no worries! This QAL isn't a race and there is plenty of time to get them all done.  :)

Now that you have your 3 1/2" squares and your 3 1/2" HST we can start assembling our blocks!! Yay!! 

Step 1 :: First lay out your pieces like the below photo.  You will need 16 squares and 20 HST to complete this layout.

Step 2 :: Start sewing your rows together.  Use a 1/4" seam throughout. 

Make sure as you sew you keep your pieces exactly as you laid them out.  ( PS  - I forgot to rotate this photo so I do sew my rows horizontally first, not vertically as this photo appears)

Step 3 :: Press!  Here again I suggest pressing the seams open! Press each row. 

Step 4 :: Now sew your rows together into your block!! Take care to match your seams, pinning if necessary. 

Press these seams open, then press the front of your block.

 One down.. and how many more to go? :)

This is the best part in my opinion..watching each block come together and see how different they really are.

Please don't forget to post pictures in the Flickr group (linked above) so I can see your progress!

We will meet back here on April 19th and hopefully we will have some quilt tops/pillows to show off!! :)

As always, please let me know if you have questions!!

Much Love!!!