It is officially week three of the Aftershock sew along! I have really enjoyed seeing all of your progress over on Instagram. This week is the fun part: sewing blocks and seeing the top come to life!
If you’re just joining in, welcome! Click here for the week one blog post, and here for the week two blog post.
The Aftershock quilt pattern can be found in the Wren Collective pattern shop. Click here!
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you choose to click through and make a purchase.
BLOCK ASSEMBLY
This will be a pretty short and sweet blog post this week, since the pattern goes over how to assemble blocks and it is pretty self-explanatory. One thing to be mindful of is keeping a scant ¼ inch seam allowance.
The pattern instructions lay out how to test a scant ¼ inch, so I will spare you here. Below you can see my personal sewing machine settings when sewing a scant ¼ inch (please keep in mind that these will be different for different machines. I sew on a Janome Memory Craft 6600).
Not to sound like a broken record, the pattern instructions tell you how to make sure you are sewing with a scant ¼". One of the tools I find very useful for this is my measuring gauge.
This measuring gauge is inexpensive, very useful (I also use it every time I bind a quilt), and it makes a great stocking stuffer for any quilter/sewist in your life!
Below you can see that my middle strip measures exactly 1.5" and that the measuring gauge is the perfect sized tool for this task.
Block Assembly Tip for directional fabrics
I purposefully chose this pear fabric for this sew along so that I could demonstrate how to work with a truly directional fabric.
When assembling C2, C4, and C5 pieces, be mindful if you are working with a fabric that you want facing the same direction.
Below are my B1 - C2 - B2 blocks as an example. You will notice that I have sewn the B1 piece on the right side of one C2 piece and the left side of the other.
Block assembly tip: chain piecing
Chain piecing is your friend when making these blocks. Chain piecing is where you start sewing one block, don't cut the thread, and immediately start sewing the second block. Keep doing this and then cut the threads in between each block at the very end.
Below you will see what my chain piecing process looks like. I just keep going until I'm to the point where I need to press things to move onto sewing the next piece. I sew everything in one line, then snip threads and press them all together. I repeat that until my blocks are done!
Week three prizes
When you post to Instagram using the hashtag #AftershockSA, you will be entered to win a shirt of your choice from Noodle and Bee and a PDF pattern from Ruth and Esther to make the pouches seen below.
Entries are counted until 11:59 CST on August 22, 2021. Winner will be announced in my Instagram stories on Monday, August 23, 2021.
HAPPY sewing!
I hope you have a wonderful week–thanks again for joining in on the Aftershock sew along! I am loving seeing all of your progress photos on Instagram. Keep them coming!
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