Quilters' Playcation Adventure Sewalong 2024 - Getting Started

It’s back!!!

The 2024 Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong starts next Tuesday, January 9. Weekly, for 49 weeks, I will lead you through a free, live improv quilt block tutorial. Like 2023, this year’s instalment of the Adventure Sewalong has a theme. Rainbows will be our inspiration, our guide, our joy on this playful adventure. Seriously, who doesn’t love a rainbow?!

DETAILS

Tuesday

10 AM Mountain

Starts January 9

Live on Instagram @cheryl_arkison

Saved to You Tube each week

COLOUR SCHEME NOTES

With a rainbow theme the colour scheme seems kind of obvious. That doesn’t mean you have to go with the obvious though. Not all rainbows have to be deeply saturated. Those are gorgeous rainbows, for sure, but you have a lot of other options.

• Pastel or low volume in rainbow order

• Neutrals

• A colour combo you love, not even in rainbow order

• A favourite fabric bundle that deserves to be used

• Monochromatic in value gradiation

• Analogous colours like red, pink, and orange, for example

• Use your scraps as they come to you

You will need a background colour as well. It doesn’t necessarily have to be white or black, either. Think about this background as a good complement or highlight to your rainbow.

Solids or prints will both work, you always have that choice. I would simply recommend that you use one or the other, not both. The exception being that your background can work as the opposite, as strong frame for your rainbows.

FABRIC REQUIREMENTS

The total fabric needed will depend, in large part, on your block size. The bigger the block you make, the more fabric you will use. We will take advantage of any scraps as much as possible, so know that you will be maximizing your fabrics.

Start with 1-2 meters/yards of each of your rainbow fabrics. Mix and match, as needed. Same for the background.

If you buy fabric for this sew along, as I did for one of my versions, take note of any fabric colours or names. Save them somewhere you won’t lose them. Then, if necessary, it will be easier to repurchase fabrics.

SIZING

One of the reasons I went with 49 weeks this year is that 49 blocks gives us a nice 7 x 7 quilt block layout if you make square blocks. You don’t need to make all the blocks, but if you do, then this is what you will end up with.

How big you make your blocks is up to you. As you will hear me say many times, you will want to make at least a handful of blocks before you decide on a final size. But if you want to aim for a certain size finished quilt (at some point) then here are some sizing suggestions for you:

6.5” blocks = 42” square quilt

8.5” blocks = 56” square quilt

9.5” blocks = 63” square quilt

10.5” blocks = 70” square quilt

12.5’ blocks = 84” square quilt

Simply use this as a guide. It’s pretty easy to do the math, or even ignore the math, no matter what size you blocks end up being!

Like I always say, come to play without the expectation that your make HAS TO BE SOMETHING. So come, have fun, make a block or not. You are under no obligation to turn what you make into anything.

This is what I am going to play with for version 1 of my own rainbow. I’m already working on a different saturated rainbow quilt so I decided to go pastel. After a survey of my stash I realized that I didn’t have what I wanted on hand so I went shopping. I had a stack of solids in my hands, I did, then I got distracted. First I went to a tone on tone mix. Then my fear of the fabric running out got strong so I changed gears slightly. I picked out all the Grunge options in the store and made myself a pleasing pastel rainbow. Yes, I took my own advice and took note of the colour names just in case I run out. My background is this fun, creamy terrazzo print. I debated a denim, but decided to lean in to the fresh and soft look of the pastels instead.

The second version I am going to make all comes from my stash. My one and only fabric collection - Tag - came out back in 2017. I keep using the fabrics, but when you get a bolt of each, you have to work to use it all! So I decided to make a monochromatic gradiation with the fabrics. The bold, large scale print on top will be the background.

These are going to give me two very different rainbow themed quilts. I am very excited to see where I end up! That’s improv for you: starting without knowing where you are going to end up. So let’s have fun on this year’s Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong!

Scandi Village Quilt Top!

This quilt is a total escape. It was in the making of it and now when I look at it. Dreams of snowy villages in Sweden, mountain forests in Norway, and fairytales of Scandinavia. One day I will plan a trip and this quilt will come with me for an extension of the magic.

Over the last year and a bit I’ve spent moments playing with these blocks. Like most of my quilts, they started with an idea and a willingness to experiment. With early successI was motivated to both keep going and offer this as a Party through the Quilters’ Playcation. Loads of other have made their own Scandi Villages, all with an individual twist. Each block is improvised - free hand cut and sewn - and unique. Because each block ends up a different size putting it together becomes a puzzle. Thankfully, it is an easy puzzle to do. Seriously, there is no math, nothing fancy, and 99% of the time nothing but straight seams.

It is surprisingly hard to get a good picture of this quilt top. The scale of the houses means there are a lot of blocks. So it is see the overall quilt top or details. The largest house is about 4” and the smallest is less than 2”. None of the trees are bigger than 3”. I LOVE working small! That being said, I have a handful of blocks blown up big that may be its own quilt or become the back of this one.

To take pictures my son came with me to my favourite spot of urban forest to throw rocks on the ice, climb trees, and snap a few pics. We try to get outside everyday, even in the winter. But when we come home, we can still have the forest with us!

These little houses are so easy and so addictive to make. Yes, I started another version. This next one will have a dark background, so it looks like a village/forest at night. When we were having the last party someone suggested we add Northern Lights and now you know I am going to be hunting down my best greens to do that!

But first! I need to figure out how I am going to quilt this one…

Flying Geese Exploration

I was just doodling, I promise.

After doing some computer work that required notes my mind was wandering. I had the computer open and a pad of graph paper next to me. Ignoring technology I picked up a pencil and started doodling on the paper. That night I started sewing some quilt blocks.

There isn’t anything fancy or revolutionary about what I doodled or the play I started, but it was relaxing. Knowing my solids scrap bin was overflowing I started there with my fabric. My doodle required contrast so I chose to explore warm/cool contrasts rather than any specific colour. And it’s just play, not a quilt, so I could try different combos and see what happens, right?

The only really shocking thing about this is that I chose to play with precision piecing. Definitely shocking with me. I’m making 2.5” x 4.5” flying geese blocks. Accurate cutting and piecing required. Still mindless, but definitely not improvisational piecing. I’ve got improv in the colour play, so I am still left satisfied.

As is usually the case with play rooted in experimentation it may not always go how you thought. When pairing fabrics to make the flying geese blocks I paid more attention to warm/cool contrasts than value contrasts. It totally works. But then the overall effect isn’t the same as what I initially sketched. My original idea was to effectively have one giant medallion. Without value contrast, however, it was looking like a mess of triangles only, no design visible. So I started sorting the blocks by the cool values. This has potential.

Like most of my quilts this one started with a “let’s see what this does” kind of attitude. If you are a little kid with a stick and a light socket, that means danger. But an adult with some fabric, it only means fun.

Quilters' Playcation Adventure Sewalong Update

The Quilters’ Playcation Adventure Sewalong is back after the summer break. Our map is growing. This is the point where I can really see the blocks coming together as a map. I went out recently and added more beige fabrics to the stash so I could complete the island part of the map. Now I can see that I will have it as an island surrounded by water.

Like most of my quilts, this one started without really knowing where it was going to end up. I just committed to making the components. Really, this is about committing to the process more than anything. Being willing to play, experiment, and relax about knowing the end result. To me, this is the ultimate freedom. I know, however, that to others this is absolutely scary, terrifying even. Many folks want to know exactly what is coming and how the whole thing will come together. That is their comfort zone. Meanwhile, that sounds boring to me. We are each different quilters and that’s okay!

The second version of the quilt is also progressing. This is the more abstract one. Each row definitely references the inspiration, but it is far from a literal interpretation. (Is it really literal when it is an improv quilt block?) I can see that the next few rows need to do some things composition-wise, and I will have to think carefully about the colours I use. These two things will help the overall quilt feel balanced.

If you are new to the Adventure Sewalong, you can find all of this year’s videos on You Tube.