October 2020 Block of the Month - Chunky Plus Blocks

OMQG October 2020 Block of the Month

Chunky Plus Blocks

(psssst! #ottmqgBOM is our hashtag if you want to share your blocks on social media!)

For October’s Block of the Month we’re making 12.5” x 12.5” chunky plus blocks. These are very simple to make and they’re great for batch-sewing so you can make a few at a time!

Background colour is low volume scrappy (white, grey, cream, solids or prints), and the Plus colour is single-colour scrappy (solids or prints), maker’s choice!

Cutting Instructions:

Scrappy Low Volume Background:

Size	How Many?
2.5” x 4.5” strips	4
4.5” x 4.5” squares	4

Scrappy Plus Fabric (any colour!):

Size	How Many?
2.5” x 4.5” strips	4
4.5” x 4.5” squares	1

 

Directions:

Stitch together 4 background and 4 coloured fabric strips along the long side of each strip using a 1/4” seam allowance. Press towards the darker fabric. You will now have 4 finished 4.5” x 4.5” squares.

 

Arrange the blocks into a 3x3 grid as shown above and sew it all together. Tip: you can nest your seams by pressing the top and bottom row in, and then pressing the seams for the middle row out.

Your completed block should measure 12.5” x 12.5".

OMQG Block of the Month Lives On!

Hi everyone! Leslie Stobbart here with a bit of Block of the Month/Block Lotto logistics for the upcoming OMQG season.

In the Beforetimes, we would all meet up at the Kanata Recreation Centre for our monthly guild meetings and folks would bring their block of the month entries, and then we'd do the draw (we might hug each other and share food and stand closely in a large group indoors), and then the winner would take their blocks home right away. Well, things are going to be a bit different this year. But we have a plan!

Here's how the draws will work:

• I will introduce the next month's block during our monthly online meetings. 
• Instructions will be posted on the OMQG blog on the day of the meeting.
• The blocks won't be complicated (I kind of feel like life is complicated enough as it is these days?) and you will have the month to make as many as you like. Post about them on social media if you want to share your progress (hashtag is #ottmqgBOM) 
• "Bring" your completed blocks to the monthly zoom meeting and I'll take notes on everyone's entries and will do the draw live during the meeting. 
• One block is one draw entry, and the winner gets all the blocks! 
• Instant quilt!

BUT THEN HOW DOES THE WINNER ACTUALLY GET THE BLOCKS IF WE'RE NOT MEETING IN PERSON???

Ah yes. Good point.

So here's where we've gotten creative. 

We've identified a few members' houses (one is east, one is south, one is central, one is west - actual addresses will be shared at our monthly meetings or via email) where you will be able to drop your completed blocks off in the week following the meeting.

You can also just pop them into an envelope and mail them to me if that's easier for you - I love getting mail!

Once everyone has dropped off their blocks, I'll zip around one evening after my kids are in bed to collect all the blocks from the drop off points.

Then, I'll deliver all the blocks to the winner's house. If the winner is rural, I'll probably just mail the blocks to you (see note above about my love for getting mail). But if you're in the city somewhere, I'll swing by your place to drop them off. Cool, hey? It's a bit more legwork, but I think it'll be worth it!

Anyway, we'll see how it all goes for September's meeting, and we can always tweak the process for October if it's a total mess. :)

Looking forward to seeing everyone at our first meeting on Monday!

September BOM

We are excited to have Leslie leading our BOM this year!

Spooky Houses                 

For our first meeting of the 2020-2021 OMQG season, we're going to make a Halloween quilt! This has been on my quilting to-do list forever, and the timing is just right to get something done for this Halloween this year.

We'll follow Allison Harris's tutorial for her "Stay Home" block from her excellent, long-running blog, Cluck Cluck Sew. This quilting blog was my first real introduction to modern, fresh quilting design and I still go back to Allison's work all the time! And house blocks seem like a good kick-off to our At Home OMQG meetings, too!

The link to Allison's free tutorial for 7.5" x 8.5" unfinished blocks (and the whole quilt!) is here: https://cluckclucksew.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Stay-Home-Quilt-Pattern.pdf

Instructions for block assembly are on p. 4 of this pattern.

Our colours are as follows:
- Houses: Halloween colours, prints or solids (such as orange, purple, grey, green, white, or Halloween prints)
- Background: Black, or black with white; prints or solids - it's your choice!

You can find a printable version of the instructions here