Glad Tidings Quilt-Along Day 1: Cutting

  

***The Glad Tidings Quilt-along is now over, but the complete Glad Tidings pattern is available in my Etsy Shop.***

Welcome to Day 1 of the Glad Tidings Quilt-Along!

Today we're going to start with cutting.  Admittedly not my favorite part of the process, but necessary to get to the fun stuff :).  Because there are a lot of moving parts with this project—42 charm squares and 15 different blocks!—we'll be cutting only the background fabric today and cutting our charm squares as we move through the QAL.  To help you stay organized, on the instruction sheet, I've designated the background pieces that you'll need for assembling the quilt with a little †.  You can set these pieces aside until we assemble on Day 7 (12/19).

As I mentioned, we'll cut the charm squares as we go, but before we begin piecing on Day 2 (12/1) you may want to do some planning and decide which charm squares you intend to use for the various blocks.  On the bottom half of the cutting instruction sheet, you'll find a list of how many squares you'll need for each of the blocks to help with your sorting.  One thing to keep in mind—if your charm pack has a lot of light or low volume squares, you may want to reserve these for the pieced border to make sure that your blocks show up against your background fabric.

If you haven't had a chance to gather your materials yet, don't worry, we won't start piecing until Thursday so there's plenty of time to catch up.  Jump in whenever you can—the instruction sheets will be accessible throughout December and the complete pattern will always be available in my Etsy shop.

Good luck with your cutting—you've got this!!  I'll be back here on Thursday with Day 2 and instructions for our first blocks.  So exciting!

—jen

2022 Glad Tidings Quilt-Along Coming Soon!

I'm so excited to announce that the 8^th annual Jen Daly Quilts Christmas Quilt-Along is right around the corner!

Earlier this year, I designed a charm pack quilt called "Flutter By" for the Martingale/Moda Bake Shop book Charmed by Moda Bake Shop. 

"Flutter By" features several different blocks made with 5" charm squares and it was such a joy to make that I decided it would be fun to design a similar quilt for this year's quilt-along—"Glad Tidings" is the result!

"Glad Tidings" is a 28½" x 46½" row-style wall quilt featuring 15 different blocks organized in the shape of a Christmas tree and surrounded by a pieced border.  The project requires only one charm pack—I'll be using the Christmas Stitched collection by Fig Tree & Co. for Moda.

The Glad Tidings Quilt-Along will begin on Monday, November 28th and will continue every Monday and Thursday until December 22nd. Here's the schedule for your reference:

• Monday, November 28th - Intro/Cutting
• Thursday, December 1st - Rows 1, 2, and 3
• Monday, December 5th - Row 4
• Thursday, December 8th - Row 5
• Monday, December 12th - Row 6
• Thursday, December 15th - Rows 7 and 8
• Monday, December 19th - Assembly
• Thursday, December 22 - Finishing

The Glad Tidings Quilt-Along is free to all and there's no need to sign up. As we progress, I'll make each set of instructions available here and on the quilt-along page.  If you're on my mailing list, you'll also receive emails containing links to each day's instructions (sign up for email updates on the quilt-along page).  The instruction sheets will be available through the end of December.

**For those of you who'd like to work at your own pace or finish the project earlier (it would make a great gift!), this year I'll also have the complete "Glad Tidings" pattern available for download/purchase in my Etsy shop on November 16th.**

I'll do regular posts on Instagram and Facebook using the hashtag #gladtidingsqal.  If you post pictures of your progress, be sure to tag me @jendalyquilts and use the hashtag #gladtidingsqal—I'd love to see what you come up with!

Ready to get started?  Here's a link for the materials page for the quilt-along:

 
Have fun choosing a charm pack and gathering materials for the project!  If you have any questions, feel free to email me at jendalyquilts@gmail.com.  Can't wait!

—jen