15 September 2014

Chocolate Marshmallow Sampler Month 1

Here we go Blocks 1 and 2  

These are traditional blocks and where possible I have simplified the piecing.  This month I introduce connector corners (which is a technique devised by Mary Ellen Hopkins many years ago).  For my beginners this is a new technique to add to your growing skills.  Some people don’t like this technique because there is a bit of waste but if you are careful with your trimming you can keep the offcuts and make small half square triangle units to use in another project so then there is no waste.

What you will need for the whole quilt

All blocks are 12" finished.  You will need approximately 16 fat quarters or 4m/yards of fabric, with a good mixture of light, medium and dark values.

I plan to sash my blocks for a finished quilt size of 48" x 63" (121cm x 160cm) and I will probably want to add a border as well.  If you decide just to make the blocks the finished size will be 36"x 48" (91cm x 121cm).  

If you are adding borders and sashing allow extra fabric (1m or 1 1/8yard for sashing) and at least 6 strips of your chosen border size for the border.     

To make it simple I will refer to brown fabrics and pink fabrics in their various values throughout but replace these with your chosen colour scheme.  If you are making a scrappy quilt, brown and pink can be different colours in each block.  It will all work as long as you are careful about your value (dark, medium and light).

If you want to make your quilt bigger, think about making a negative of each of the blocks by swapping the lights with the darks or simply add another colour variation.  Each month I will add to the virtual version of the quilt below.  Block placement is not fixed and I won't decide where blocks go until I put the real quilt all together.  

For the first week of the month the link to the file will be on the months blog post then I will remove it and leave it on the Samplers page which you will find in the tabs above.  There will also be a link to my etsy shop where you can purchase any of the months that you may have missed.  If you remember to follow along the sampler is free.  


If you have any questions just leave a comment under the post and I’ll get back to you.  If you find an error do the same and I will make some changes.  Anyway its all about having fun and for the beginners out there stretching your knowledge and learning new skills. 

Head to the Chocolate Marshmallow Sampler Page for the Month 1 Link
Don't forget to save the instructions to your computer.

4 comments:

Shay said...

Oooh - If I didnt have to head off to work today I'd be starting this right now. Looks great and I cant wait to jump right in and learn some new block styles and pick up some new skills and techniques.

Thanks so much for sharing this with us Amanda.

Pip said...

Thanks for making this available for us Amanda. I'm hoping to make a start on this today, I'm interested in the connector corners, always good to learn a new technique.

Larri said...

Rain is forecast for the next 3 days...perfect excuse to stay indoors and sew! Thanks for sharing, Amanda. Off to grab light & dark greens & stitch!

Kate said...

I'm a bit behind, but I'd like to sew along. The blocks look like lots of fun.