Sew Along

Prizes for the Fractured Skull Quilt Sew Along 2021

Fractured Skull Quilt, Sew Along

Well every sew along needs some prizes and with the number of sign ups I have been able to bag some amazing ones!

I am extremely grateful to all of those supplying prize and helping make this sew along to be as amazing as I know it will be. I especially want to thank the small companies/ designers for whom doing this is no small fry. Please do me a favor and go support them with a purchase or follow on social media if you can.

So first up but last to be won will be:

I used all Aurifil Thread to construct and quilt my Fractured Skull Quilt so tag them in some of my posts. Imagine my excitement when they reposted the photo of my quilt on the road bridge to all of their social media. I was super cheeky and asked if they might provide a prize. To my surprise they agreed!! Aurifil will ship direct to 1 lucky winner a choice of 3 of their Color Builder collections. You can pick from both the 2020 and 2021 collections.

The winner of this prize will be selected by me at the end of the final week of the Sew Along and announced on Sunday 31st October.

I have long admired Jenny of PapperSaxSten‘s curvy work and style. While contemplating if I could squeeze in one of her online workshops I thought I would like to share her work with you guys, and reached out to see if she would be interested. In case you don’t know of Jenny’s work please go and check out her courses and patterns. Very kindly Jenny will send one lucky winner her Paper Round Quilt Pattern and a complete 11 piece set of her Drunkard’s Path Templates.

The winner of this prize will also selected by me and announced on Sunday 31st October.

Sew Hot is a UK based company, with a huge range of fabric, notions, haberdashery and bag hardware, I have recently become a brand rep for them and they are incredibly supportive. The winner will receive a Libs Elliott ‘The Watcher’ Panel and a fat 8th bundle of the 12 ‘Phosphor 21’ textured rainbow & 12 watcher skull prints fabrics that all coordinate.

The winner of this prize will be randomly selected and announced on Sunday 24th October. This coincides with the end of my first ‘Rep of the Week’ project at Sew Hot. Hint: I might be making something with some some of this myself for my challenge project.

The very kind Kim, owner of Young is Modern, who is participating in this sew along, is offering a half yard bundle of either Cotton & Steel Lagoon or Macrame collections for 1 lucky winner to choose! If you are based in the US please go check out the lovely stuff she has for offer on her website and give her a follow.

The winner of this prize will also be selected at random and announced on Sunday 24th October.

The lovely ladies at SewTites have agreed to send one extremely lucky winner a pack of Libs Elliott’s Watcher SewTites as soon as they arrive in stock! The winner will be among the first people to get their hands on these super useful and cute notions. Useful for so many different applications including FPP the winner won’t be disappointed even if they don’t like skulls!

The winner of this prize will be selected at random and announced on Sunday 17th October. **** Winner is Katie Yaokum @karmawillow

Patterntrace is another company I work with in partnership with because I love using their foundation paper for my projects. It is semi-transparent, strong enough to deal with unpicking as well as tearing off easily and recyclable. Patterntrace ship internationally and ordering a multi-pack is very efficient. One lucky winner will get a pack of foundation paper 100 A4 sheets and a Makers Workbook for quilting.

The winner of this prize will be selected at random and announced on Sunday 17th October. ***Winner is Judy Broadhurt @hobo_bunny

I insta-met Natalie from Sew Hungry Hippie while helping publicize Liza Flowers Rebel Girl fabric at the beginning of the year. When she got her Candy Crush skull pin badges I suggested a pin swap between ourselves! Well she knew about this sew along and threw in a bundle as a prize! These include her epic Candy Crush 2.0 pattern, Candy crush pin badge, some super soft vinyl and a few other goodies. Natalie is running a sew along at the moment so go check out her feed and try and check out a few bits from her shop – I love the deep space vinyl.

The winner of this prize will be randomly selected and announced on Sunday 10th October. *** Winner is Sharon Copley

Sally from Chasing Tigers is a personal friend who designs lovely quilts, cases and purse patterns. An inspiration for me starting to write patterns. Her new pattern the ‘Coney Island Quilt‘ will be released very soon. One lucky winner will be able to pick their favorite pattern and it will be emailed directly.

The winner of this prize will be selected at random and announced on Friday 8th October. *** Winner is Alix P @hexenweib

Brianna of Sew Cute and Quirky, who designs mainly bag patterns, signed up to the sew along and is offering one lucky winner two pdf patterns. I really love the support designers give each other, please give her feed some love and maybe some fabric or patterns a home. These are my two favorites!

The winner will be selected at random and announced on Thursday 7th October. ***Winner is Lindsey McManus

Sarah from Lazy Cozy Quilts , another participant in the sew along, has kindly offered her 2 Patterns; Sonic Bloom (which I have had my eye on for a while) and Mod Cabin as a prize. Please go check out Sarah’s feed and website. For a bit of early fun I thought I would do this prize before the sew along even started.

Our first winner was picked at random and announced on 19th September as Connie Creekmore @dandelionquilts on IG.

The majority of prize winners will be selected at random using a number generator and spreadsheet of participants. The final few prize winners may be selected by myself for effort and or creativity if a quilt blows me away. Last year, I struggled very hard to select a favorite as a winner so I may resort to the number generator if there are a few which stand out.

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Don’t forget everyone participating will receive a FREE pattern (before general release) from me at the end of the sew along! As if I had not taken enough on this month the pattern needs some tweaks, a full work up and the instructions but I know you guys will love it!

Helen xxx

Fractured Skull Quilt Pattern – Common Questions + Answers

Fractured Skull Quilt, Sew Along

Here are a few questions I have either received or expect to get. I will add to this list during the course of the Sew Along. If you have an issue please check here first!

Q. I’ve bought the pattern but am having difficulty downloading it. Help?

A. There is a separate blog post to help you.

Q. Does the pattern have a colouring page?

A. Yes, well it actually has 6. Two for each quilt size, one with the fabrics notes as I have used them and a second blank one so you can design your own colour placement.

Q. Why do I have to print the pattern pieces at a copy shop/prints and not do it at home on my printer?

A. I explain why I decided to only provide a large format file at the beginning of this blog post.

Q. I have not printed large format files. Where can I do this?

A. I appreciate this maybe new for you and have tried to provide infomation to help you where ever in the world you are from mid way through this blog post.

Q. Have I lost one of my sections? I can’t find section I

A. No not lost, section I doesn’t exist in this pattern to avoid confusion with the number 1 used to show the order of areas to sew. Sorry I normally have this in my pattern instructions and must have edited it out!

Q. Do I have to trace the pattern onto specialist foundation paper? How much will I need?

A. No not at all! I certainly didn’t do this. I checked the weight/thickness of the paper I got my pattern printed on and it was 80gsm (lower number for thinner, higher number for thicker) this is the same as standard copy paper. Some people use standard copy paper normally and it perforates well if you have a small stitch length so when it comes to remove the paper it comes out pretty easily. Top tip – pull along the seam and not straight up to avoid breaking thread.

Q. I want to make the background all one colour how much fabric do I need? I’m making the throw size quilt.

A. I have not made one like this so these are my best guesstimate and will also depend on how much fabric you use when you FPP. This assumes you still sew all the seams as if they were different fabric. I actually think this this could look amazing and give a more subtler look to the fracture. It would also look good with a print. If you combine all of the areas within a section into a single piece you would probably need less fabric but you might not be able to be as efficient with the fabric.

  • Throw – 3.5yards (3.2m) Width of Fabric – WOF (assumed 42″)
  • Single Bed – 4.8yards (4.4m) WOF
  • Double Bed – 7.7yards (7m) WOF

These amounts also apply for the totally amount of fabric you will likely need if you are making

For reference you will likely need to total of 2 yards (1.8m) WOF for the skull.

If you do this please let me know how you get on with these amounts so I can note it here for future makers.

Q. I am making the Single Bed Quilt (60″ x 80″). Do I still need to print the pattern the same size?

A. Yes. To try and make the pattern as simple as possible I made it so you print the pattern the same for all 3 sizes. For making either of the two smaller sizes you then don’t use some of the pattern or you trim the blocks down. This is covered in the instructions.

If you are being super clever you can make any of the 3 sizes smaller by printing the pattern pieces on smaller pages. So for example if you print on A1 paper (not A0) the pattern will be 71% smaller (just under 60″ square for the largest size using all the pieces). On A2 paper the pattern will be 50% (40″square for largest). If you do this there are a couple of things you will need to remember:

  • increase the seam allowence when cutting back to quarter inch
  • Fabric guidelines will not reduce the same amount as proportionally the seam allowance will be larger
  • Bulk in the seams will increase and the finish won’t be as good as a result

Q. I have run out of fabric but I bought the amount in the pattern!

A. I’m truly sorry this has happened. I have tried hard to provide the best information possible. In the pattern I have a table called “fabric guideline” and these can only be guidelines as everyone does FPP differently. I know I try my best to be as efficient as possible to make my fabric and money goes further. I have seen others cut large rectangles and trim away lots of fabric. I have not wanted people to be short on fabric or avoid making the quilt as the have been put off by generous amounts specified.

To get the amounts I specified I first tessellated every pattern piece with seam allowance electronically onto a solid fabric. Then I purchased this amount and used only this to sew my sample quilt – I had reasonable amount left of each (except 2 where I had loads left over. My pattern testers used the same amounts and fell short on a couple and again had too much on the 2 colours I did. I made a few adjustments and tried to make it as clear as possible but you may need more fabric depending on your style of FPP or the type of fabric you are using.

Q. How much time will I need for this sew along/ make the quilt top?

A. I tried to keep track when making my version (largest size) and I think it took me about 36 hours.  This sound like a lot but spread over 6 weeks it is not too bad with 6hrs a week.  Some weeks will be more and others less, realistically I imagine spending a couple of evenings and some time each weekend.  I am not the fastest sewer either but equally it could take you longer if you are in experienced.

Q.  I saw I purple/ red and yellow version of the quilt in the listings.  What colours are these?

A. That is Sarah (@Edwardandthewhitebear on Instagram) one of the pattern testers versions.  She used kona solids; Lemon Ice, Citrus, Duckling, Papaya, Orange, Tangerine, Sangria, Berry and Eggplant (lightest to darkest).

Q. Do I need to cut the pattern out exactly on the line?

A. Nope! I don’t initially just cut the sections apart roughly .. then I sew the fabric on and trim on the line once the section is finished. 

Q. Do I work on the skull sections for just one quadrant at a time?

A. I suggest working the skull section for both halves at one time.  If you cut the fabric for the 2 sections the same (but mirror image) you will speed up the process.  Sew ones with #1-#7, then set aside and work through all the colours and then assemble each quadrant. 

Q. I can’t work out a solid colour gradient as I can’t visit a fabric store. Help?

A.  Look at premade bundles by the manufacturers of your favorite solids and look the colours they put together then replicate this. 

Q. If I print the pattern at 50% will I need half the amount of fabric?

A. No you will need more than half , i would allow 3/4 of the fabric. This is because the sections are smaller but so is the seam allowance so you will need to make this 1/4 inch (not 1/8 inch) so will be proportionally more fabric.

Q. On the pattern I want to check I’m reading the labels correctly. The big AX is the section, the big numbers are the order they are sewn, and the # is the color?

A. Correct

Q. On Block A is piece number 7 only added if doing the 60 inch quilt? If I’m making the full version (double) piece 6 (of Block A) would extend all the way out to cover 7. Do I have that correct?

A. Yes correct! Ignore the section 7 if you are making either of the 2 bigger quilts.

Large Format Pattern Files & Printing

Fractured Skull Quilt, Sew Along

Why is this quilt pattern in a large format and I can’t print it at home?

Designing and releasing the Fractured Skull Quilt pattern has been a real dilemma.  I knew I wanted to make my Fractured Skull panel into a pattern for several quilt sizes. The sections as I designed them are much larger than a single sheet of paper you can print on at home.  I didn’t want to compromise my design and aesthetic adapting the pattern to fit single pages or be obvious as pages sewn together.  I investigated printing the sections on to multiple pages, which would mean printing over 120 pages, sorting out how they go and sticking them together.   Generally a huge waste of time, sanity and energy in my opinion. Using multiple pages to make up sections could very easily not match up accurately meaning key points in the quilt will not match.  Though my “fractured” design will hide a multitude of sins, when everything lines up it looks much much better.

I knew I could produce a document which could be printed on a plotter like building drawings (I trained as an architect) or modern dressmaking patterns. This is completely different for some of you but don’t be put off I promise it’s easy once you know how.

This is how my print outs arrived and the size of one of the pages in comparison to me.

Where can I get large format pattern files printed?

UK

USA

  • http://www.pdfplotting.com – US$19.98 (6xA0) total with shipping
  • FedEx/kinkos (in Portland, Oregon) – US$40 (6xA0)
  • If you want to support a small independent sewing business – www.brooklymotifprinting.com – US$17.50 (6xA0) not including shipping or tax but they only do a print/ post run once a week.
  • local print shops seem to be about $30 and have it done in minutes

DON’T USE – UPS Store.  They charged one SAL participant £52 on blueprint paper

Canada

  • Staples CAD$48 on engineering paper and collected
  • “Cindy-rella’s sewing & quilting” in Regina, Saskatchewen $5 a page collected

Australia

Sorry if your country is not listed here.  If you know a place to recommend, please email me on andsewiblog@gmail.com and I will update this list as soon as possible.

How to get the pattern printed online?

All of these online places will be similar.  The amazing Lauren @lovevernhandmade did a little video for using www.pdfpotting.com.  

I also managed to do a video using www.netprinter.co.uk you can see they are very similar processes!

Purchasing an Electronic Pattern and Downloading it

Fractured Skull Quilt, Sew Along

I have shops on both Etsy and Payhip and don’t have paper copies of my patterns for sale (except at Festival of Quilts).

Both of these platforms send you an email (to the address you have entered or is registered with them) with a link for you to click on to download the files. Please check your junk email box and log into your Etsy account and see the address you have registered (it could well be your partner’s email address).

If you have any issues do look at Etsy’s help or Payhip(bottom 3 articles) for assistance. 

On Etsy if you have the app downloaded on you phone you may have issues if when you click the link in your email you select for it to open the link in the etsy app. You should select the option for it to download using a web browser.

If neither of these work do email me on andsewiblog@gmail.com and I will endeavor to assist but I may not be able to respond immediately. As long as I can identify your purchase I will email you direct the file you can’t download and trust copyright laws will be adhered to.

As noted on both of these site I can not issue refunds on electronic files.   

Fractured Skull Quilt Sew Along

Fractured Skull Quilt, Sew Along

To celebrate the release of my new pattern the Fractured Skull Quilt I’m hosting a super friendly, fun, fpp-y and chilled sew along in time for Halloween!  Last year’s Fractured Skull Panel Sew Along was amazing and I made so many new friends through it, and I hope this year will be even better.  With the basic aim of making the top over 6 weeks you will have loads of time to catch-up or speed ahead and finish the quilt.  Scroll down to see the schedule.

A sign-up will be at the top of this page if it is still open. Once you have signed repost this image and let the world and me know you are joining in, and follow #fracturedskullquiltsewalong. Then look out for my emails…

If you sign up you will get:

  • A discount on the quilt pattern
  • A short weekly email/ video outlining the aims, relevant tips or updates
  • A NEW block pattern totally FREE before general release
  • PRIZES – so far from Aurifil, Pappersaxsten, SewHot, PatternTrace – Check out the final list of prizes Here & contact me if you would like to offer anything…
  • Help from me if you need it during the 6 weeks*
  • Access to a Private Facebook group
  • I hope to do some zoom social sewing sessions where we can chat and chill but can’t guarantee I will be able

*Unless you are a confident sewer or have someone to help who can FPP I don’t recommend joining if you are completely new to FPP.  I’m afraid I won’t be teaching the complete FPP technique only troubleshooting any issues you may have. 

Pattern is available from Payhip and Etsy shops.

The quilt, unlike other large scale FPP patterns, can be made in 3 sizes – 80”sq, 60”x 80” or 60”sq

The pattern pieces (like dress making patterns) are on a large-scale paper format so will need to be printed at a copy shop.  Cost and more information about large format patterns can be found in this new blog post.  

I can’t wait to get started and see all your versions!

Helen xxx