Freefall QAL - Fabric Requirements

In order for you to begin planning for the start of our Freefall quilt along on March 20, here are the quilt stats, photo of the flimsy, fabric tips and requirements.  This quilt could most likely be done entirely from your scraps and stash; you could even go super-scrappy with the background fabric as long as the fabrics all read one value, probably light if your leaf is a medium or a dark.  I would recommend keeping the shadow leaf all one fabric.

Quilt Stats:

Finished quilt: 38" square
Finished block:  7.5" 
Number of blocks: 25 total.  20 of these blocks are small leaves, 3 blocks make the big shadow leaf's point and there are 2 blocks that are plain.
*The quilt has no borders; you are welcome to add some if you like, but there is no yardage for this in the requirements.
Steps:  will be released bi-weekly with a full month allowed to quilt your top.

We will be making a wallhanging in Spring colours.  Of course, you may make yours in Fall colours if you wish and get a jump on Fall.  You could go totally modern and wild!  Maybe totally scrappy.  Patriotic for Canada's birthday!

Fun and poignant anecdote:  When I was planning out the dates for this QAL, I realized I should allow a full month for participants to finish up flimsies and hopefully quilt their quilts.  The final step will be given May 15, so that meant June 15 is the final reveal and parade of quilts.  June 15.  This is an auspicious day for me, because it was my dad's birthday.  He would have been 91.  Each year, he would flip ahead in our family calendar on the wall and write on the square for that date, "Birthday of a famous Canadian."  All us kids would love it, my mum giving a wry grin and eye roll with an, "Eee, I don't know."  Yet it made an impression on me. He was a very proud Canadian.  Birthdays were special days, happy days, a reason to celebrate.  So I feel he's had a hand in this, my first QAL  Thus, our parade of quilts will be held on the birthday of that famous Canadian. 😄

Fabric Tips

Think of this quilt as having three colour 'families': 

• the background (BG) fabric--mine is the mottled pink/yellow/turquoise
• the big shadow leaf fabric--mine is the green.
• the various leaf colours

The photo below shows how I laid out my fabrics.  I had 18 colours altogether; because there are 20 leaves, I cut two leaves out of two of the fabrics.

The fabrics (two are missing in this photo oops) on the far left float on the green big shadow leaf.  The fabrics on the far right float on the background fabric.  Those in the middle will float on half background/half shadow leaf blocks, so that is why I laid them over both green and BG fabrics.

Fabric Requirements

Background Fabric:   3/4 yard
Shadow Leaf Fabric:  3/4 yard
**Remember that you want good contrast between these two fabrics.  Also note that these yardages are minimal and won't leave much left over; if you prefer to allow extra for error or to add to your stash/scraps, then getting a yard of each will be more than plenty.

Individual Leaves:  There are 20.  Each leaf can be made from scraps; you only need an approximately 7" x 11" scrap for each leaf.  If you prefer yardage or precuts, either 1/8 yard or a fat eighth is enough for two leaves, so you would require 10 fat eighths, but if you want all 20 leaves different, then you need 20 fat eighths, since that is the smallest amount one can buy.  You could also use a layer cake, which is a stack of 10" squares.

So gather your fabrics and I will see you here on Monday for Step 1 Cutting! I have started a hashtag on Instagram, so feel free to post your fabric pull there:  #freefallqal  To see the original quilt, in Fall colours, Windfall, click here.

Any questions, just ask in the comments or email me. 

I am super duper happy that I have three more wonderful sponsors.  Three more prizes! 

First is Cindy of Stitchin At Home who contacted me to offer a copy of her just-released pattern, God's Eye, which is available in her  Craftsy store. I met Cindy in the New Bloggers Hop in 2015.  It was such fun to discover another quilt blogger who lives only a couple of hours away from me, also in a little town, also on Lake Erie!  Cindy and I have cooked up a few things together over the past couple of years.  She has quite a few patterns in her store, lots of freebies...

Second, I also am so pleased to announce another fabric gift certificate! This one is from Fat Quarter Shop, probably the first online shop I patronized regularly, and still do!

They have the BEST Flash sales which have had me cave on many occasions...and of course one adds more yardage because well, it would be rude not to right?  They are generously offering a $25 gift certificate to one winner.  They just might have a Riley Blake roly poly on for 70% off today, March 14, only...

Third is another Canuck, my good friend Joanne of Canuck Quilter Designs.  Joanne and I have been friends for a couple of years now too; I've pattern-tested for her a few times (fantastic designs btw) and participated in her Snow Along two years ago.  She is offering a free PDF pattern (check out all her beautiful designs here) from her Craftsy shop.

 This brings the prizes total to 12!  Woo hoo!

Linking up:
Freemotion by the River
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Fabrication