Piece & Joy Quilt Along: Prep Weeks

We’re just over a week away from starting our next quilt along with Piece & Joy! (You can find the quilt along schedule for the year by clicking here). We’re excited to get a head start on the holiday cheer with this oversized Christmas tree. To quilt along with us, you will need either a copy of our Piece & Love book or the Piece & Joy quilt pattern. You will also need fabrics for the tree, background, binding, and backing.

There are a couple of differences between the two versions of the quilt:

• The book quilt is throw sized (58″ x 69″), and the pattern quilt is closer to a twin (70″ x 80″).
• The book quilt is off-centered on the background, while the pattern quilt is centered.
• The QST blocks are cut from larger squares in the book, while the pattern makes use of 5″ squares. (For the book quilt, you sew the bias edges together to make the block, while the pattern quilt is the opposite. Honestly, we haven’t noticed much of a difference between the two methods.)

We thought it would be a good idea to give you a couple of weeks before each quilt along to source fabrics and get everything ready to go. We encourage you to visit your local quilt shop if you need to grab any extra fabric, but this will also give to time to order online if you prefer that route. Here’s what we’re using:

We picked up a fat quarter bundle of Rifle Paper Co.’s Holiday Classics line for the tree. You definitely don’t need this much fabric for this quilt, but we loved the prints so much that we had to get extra. We are still deciding between plain white for the background, or the same Brushed basic we used for the Spring Wreath QAL. We will use some of the leftover fabric for a scrappy binding!

For the book quilt, you would be able to use a layer cake with at least 40 squares for the tree. Be warned that this will leave you with a couple of inches of waste on each square, but it is still an economical way to get a wide variety of coordinating prints. You will also need 2 5/8 yards of backing fabric.

Two charm packs with at least 40 squares in each pack would work perfectly for the pattern quilt, with no waste. You will also need 4 yards of backing fabric.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the quilt along schedule:

• July 11th- Week 1: Cut Fabric
• July 18th- Week 2: Piece Blocks
• July 25th- Week 3: Piece Quilt Top
• August 1st- Week 4: Finish Quilt

We hope you’ll join us for this quick little Christmas-in-July quilt along! We love how quickly it comes together, and it’s a perfect addition to your holiday decor.

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Any questions? Just leave us a comment below. We can’t wait to get started!