Last week I made an off-the-cuff comment on an instagram photo which seems to have resulted in the suggestion to start a quilt along (QAL). And I'm kind of jazzed about that!
It's no secret that I have WAY more fabric in my possession than I will ever be able to utilize in projects. And I've also shared that recently I have not been terribly inspired creatively. Now, goodness knows I have plenty of WIPs, UFOs, abandoned class projects and quilt tops galore that need to be quilted, but none of those reignites a creative flame for me (though I have been chipping away at quilting some long overdue charity quilts!).
So when Jessica left a comment suggesting a QAL in response to my charm quilt idea, it gave me pause... and then I kind of got excited thinking about it. So I am hoping that this idea will excite many of you to join us starting in mid to late March for a charm quilt quilt-along, You're a Charm QAL (#YACQAL).
The idea is to use your own stash (or swap pieces if you need to broaden the basket... we might set up a way to facilitate that for those who would like) to make a charm quilt in the traditional sense of the term: a quilt (generally a one-patch) that only uses one piece of any one fabric - no repeats! This pre-dates fabric manufacturers putting together 5" charm square packs and other precuts from their fabric lines. This is the true sense of scrap quilting. Here is a link to a brief, yet informative, blog post on charm quilts by quilt historian Barbara Brackman.
Please excuse the lack of credit here... I thought I had saved the source, but can't seem to relocate it now. :( However, this appears to be an example of a late 19th C. tumbling block charm quilt.
In the coming week I'll put up a post with some examples of various charm quilts, ideas to get the juices flowing, but in the mean time check out this collection of charm quilts found on Pinterest, most of which seem to follow the original meaning of the term. Following that I'll work on outlining the general schedule for the quilt-along. Bear in mind I have never led a QAL before, so things may shift as we go, but I welcome feedback always. And more than anything else, I look forward to trying something new, having fun and seeing what you all come up with!
Stay tuned for #YACQAL!