Winter's Walk Quilt-Along — Day 1

Welcome to Day 1 of the Winter's Walk Quilt-Along!

I'm so excited to kick off the Winter's Walk Quilt-Along!  I always love hosting a quilt-along at Christmas, but this year in particular, I think we could all use a little bit of fun and a chance to connect with other quilters.  I hope you'll join us and share your progress on Instagram and Facebook—it's a joy to see your creations!

Before we get started, let's take care of a few housekeeping details:

• Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in December, from now until the 21st, I'll be posting the next stage of our quilt-along here on the blog.  In the interest of keeping blog posts short, I won't write out each day's instructions, but I will include extra info for making the blocks.
• Links to downloadable pattern sheets for each day will be available both here and on the quilt-along page.
• Pattern sheets will be available throughout the month of December and in January I'll make a complete pattern available in my Etsy shop.
• If you haven't yet had a chance to gather your materials, no worries—here's a link to the quilt-along materials page—jump in and join us whenever you can!

My favorite part of the Christmas quilt-along is actually quilting along with you.  To that end, I've chosen a second batch of fabrics and I'll be making a variation of Winter's Walk during the quilt-along.  Some of the photos that I post here on the blog and on social media may look a little different from the original quilt, but while the fabrics are different, the blocks are the same. 

All set?  Here we go!

Day 1:  Shoo Fly Blocks

I just love this simple and classic block—and it makes perfectly sweet snowflakes for winter quilts!

Here's the link to today's pattern sheet.

First we'll do some preliminary cutting of background pieces and border strips—set these aside for later use as instructed—and then we'll make our first blocks.

We'll be using an 8-at-a-time method to make the half-square triangles that we need for the blocks.  I like to make my half-square triangles a little bigger than necessary and then trim them down to size for accuracy.  

To trim your half-square triangles, you'll need a quilting ruler with a 45° line.  Lay the ruler atop the half-square triangle that you are trimming and align the 45° line with the diagonal seam as shown below.  

Trim the right and top sides of the half-square triangle, then turn the half-square triangle 180°, realign the ruler, and trim the remaining two sides.  The completed half-square triangles should measure 1½" square including seam allowances.

And there you have it!  Perfect little half-square triangles to use in your Shoo Fly blocks.

Have fun making today's blocks!  And don't forget, if you post on IG or Facebook, please tag me @jendalyquilts and use the hashtag #winterswalkqal.  Any questions?  Email me at jendalyquilts@gmail.com.  I'll see you back here Wednesday!

—jen