Simply Stars Quilt-Along and Simply Half Yards Book by Fat Quarter Shop

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Do you love quilt-alongs?  Do you love star blocks?  Do you love sampler quilts?  Do you like to buy just a few half yards of your favorite prints instead of a full fat quarter bundle but then don't know what to do with them?  

If you answered "yes" to any of the those questions, you will want to be sure to check out the upcoming Simply Stars Quilt-Along from Fat Quarter Shop!  And if you only answered yes to the last question, you'll want to keep reading anyway! 

Did you know that Fat Quarter Shop has a publishing division called It's Sew Emma?  Their publishing business has lots of patterns and books.  The newest book to be released is called Simply Half Yards.  It is full of patterns that use half yard cuts of fabric.

 

To celebrate the book's release, Fat Quarter Shop is hosting a quilt along for a sampler quilt that uses some of the blocks from the book.  I'll go into more detail on that in a minute, but you may want to check out the book anyway, even if you have no interest in a quilt along.

The book has 16 quilt patterns in a variety of styles, including some quilts that are made up of one giant quilt block!  There is sure to be something for everyone. 

One thing that I really like about this book is that it is spiral bound.  I know that a lot of quilters take their quilt books to a store like Office Depot or Staples and pay to have the book made into a spiral bound book.  That takes time, money, and the risk that the holes punched into the book could obscure important information if the margins aren't wide enough.  With Simply Half Yards, that is already done for you!

 

Now on to that quilt along I mentioned!  It begins November 16th and ends December 21st.  If you keep up with the schedule, you'll have a quilt by Christmas!  You can download the fabric requirements and the full schedule for free at Fat Quarter Shop.  I believe the specifics for each week will be made available as the quilt along progresses.  Be sure to check back on the Quilt-Along supplies page when the quilt-along kicks off next week.  You should be able to find each week's free download there.

The quilt will be a sampler that uses blocks from four of the quilts in the book that feature star blocks. You can see the final quilt layout on the fabric requirements download.  The quilt along will tell you how many pieces to cut each week but you will need the book to know what size to cut each piece and how to assemble the blocks.  You can grab your copy of the book now.

 

Fat Quarter Shop invited me to help promote the quilt along so I will be sewing and sharing my progress on social media each week. I already have my fabric and I can't wait to get started!

I'm using half yards of a few of my favorite colors of Ruby Star Society's Hole Punch Dot basics collection.  You can see my fabric choices below.  I will list the exact colors and SKU numbers under the picture.  

 

Each fabric is from the Hole Punch Dot collection.  From left to right in the photo above:

Gem - SKU# RS3025-29

Turquoise - SKU# RS3025-21

Honey - SKU# RS3025-13

Cotton Candy - SKU# RS3025-28

Polar - SKU# RS3025-22

Peach - SKU# RS3025-27

Bananas - SKU# RS3025-26

Watercress - SKU# RS3025-23

You only need 7 half yards and one fat quarter.  There is a half yard minimum at Fat Quarter Shop, so I got 8 half yards.  I'm using the yellow (Bananas) as the fat quarter fabric.

I mocked up the quilt in EQ8 when deciding on my fabric choices.  I'm sharing that below in case you want to make a quilt like mine.  I'm reusing Watercress for the binding so I bought a total of 1.25 yards of that color.  For the background, I'm using Bella Solid in White (SKU# 9900-98).

I hope you'll join us on this quilt along!  Head to Fat Quarter Shop, get your copy of the Simply Half Yards book, choose your fabrics*, and get ready to start sewing on November 16th!

*You can choose individual half yards, but if you prefer to buy a half yard bundle (and use the extra fabrics for other quilts in the book!), Fat Quarter Shop has a big selection of half yard bundles.

I'll be posting my progress on social media so make sure you are following me on Instagram or Facebook and check in each week!  You can also check out others' progress by checking the hashtag #SimplyStarsQAL

 

Until next time!

Amanda