Summer quilt-alongs are a long-standing tradition at the Moda Bake Shop. Suitable for new quilters as well as the more experienced, the range of settings and patterns means you can make the design your own.

Our 2021 theme is Summer in the Garden - inspired by the romantic florals of Crystal Manning's Lady Bird collection.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

• The quilt-along begins 5/24 with a blog tour from our hosts, and the first block will be posted Monday, June 21.  The QAL ends with a wrap up on 9/13. Look for posts every MONDAY. 
• We will have three "settings" - 2 for quilts plus 3 different smaller projects for our friends who want to join in but but can't commit to making an entire quilt. The settings and small projects will be posted May 31, June 7, and June 14.
• There are 12 main blocks, 6 bonus blocks, and 1 label block. You will make a variety of sizes and a different number of blocks depending on your project or setting.
• Join our FACEBOOK GROUP for chatting, sharing, and links to the posts each Monday when they publish.

FABRIC REQUIREMENTS

Because of the custom nature of this project, we can only give an estimate of how much fabric you will need. It's always wise to buy a little extra of the solids or prints that you love.

*A note about background fabric - many of you will make a scrappy quilt that doesn't use one single color for the background of each block. We have estimated background fabric for each setting based on the usage of one single color like white throughout all blocks, sashing, borders, etc. You may omit this or just wait to select one once you see all of the settings and the first few blocks. It will give you a better idea of whether you want a classic or scrappy look.

**A note about accent fabric - accent fabric won't be specified in each block but the idea is to choose one medium to dark fabric that "grounds" your quilt. Sprinkle it throughout your blocks to keep things balanced. You can also refer to this accent fabric when choosing your binding. Select something contrasting or complementary, depending on what your quilt needs when you get to the binding stage.

• Setting 1 - Garden Party: 12-16 fat quarters for blocks, 1-2 yards background fabric, 1/2 yard accent fabric
• Setting 2 - Garden Tea: 20-25 fat quarters for blocks, 2-3 yards background fabric, 1 yard accent fabric
• Setting 3 - Garden Gifts***: 3-5 fat quarters; 1 yard background fabric, 1 yard accent fabric

***A note about Garden Gifts - this "setting" is 3 different small sewing projects. You can likely source what you need for background and accent from your stash.

FABRIC SELECTION

Our chosen fabric collection will be available in stores in August. Ask your favorite retailer to reserve some for you! If you're anything like me, you will save all the block designs and then make this quilt in 6 months to 6 years from now! ;) There is a lovely range of Bella Solids that we will also be using for our blocks. These coordinate beautifully with Lady Bird collection.

We cannot wait to share these blocks with you!

See you next week for a sneak peek with our hosts/block designers.

**To receive the Summer In The Garden posts via e-mail - Moda Blog Newsletter Sign-Up. 

Summer In The Garden Announcement PDF