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

The Great Rollin' Along Giveaway - Enter Today!

I’m so excited to be the next stop on the Great Rollin’ Along Giveaway!! My fellow Moda Bake Shop chefs and I are hosting a giveaway on Instagram to celebrate the release of the latest Martingale/Moda Bake Shop book, Rollin’ Along. Rollin’ Along was compiled by Lissa Alexander and features a dozen quilts made with jelly rolls (2½” strips), including my Backcountry Cabins lap quilt!

On to the Giveaway! I’m giving away two prizes this week:

The grand prize is a copy of Moda Bake Shop Rollin’ Along AND a kit to make my Backcountry Cabins quilt! The kit includes a jelly roll of super cute Home Sweet Holidays by Deb Strain as well as background, border and binding fabric – you’ll just need to add your own batting and backing.

Second prize will be copies of both Rollin’ Along AND the recently released Did Someone Say Cake? That’s two books with 24 pre-cut friendly quilt patterns—woohoo!!

For more giveaway details and to enter, check out the contest post on Instagram.

And if you'd like to see the quilts featured in these beautiful books, check out the Martingale Trunk Shows for Rollin' Along and Did Someone Say Cake?

Good luck!

—jen

Homespun Holiday Quilt-Along — Day 7: Assembly

Happy Monday!  I hope you enjoyed your last weekend before Christmas.  Here in New Hampshire, we got six inches of snow, I finally put ornaments on the tree, I baked two kinds of Christmas cookies, and I'm feeling hopeful (wishful thinking??) that the rest of my online shopping will show up on time.  Five days until Christmas?  Bring it on!

It's Day 7 (and the final day) of the Homespun Holiday QAL and today we're assembling and finishing our table runners! 

The assembly for this project is super simple — just adding sashing between each of the blocks and all of the rows, always pressing towards the sashing. 

Then it's on to finishing.  In the interest of time, I chose to quilt my table runner with an all over quilting pattern (Holly Hop by Apricot Moon Designs), but I think this project would look great with custom quilting that accentuates the shapes and elements of the different blocks.  And if you wanted to do some very simple quilting that underscores the homespun look of the project, you could big stitch quilt by hand down the center of all of the sashing strips using perle cotton.  Yum!

Ready to get started?  Here's the link for today's pattern sheet.  Please note that there are two pages again today.

The pattern sheets for the Homespun Holiday table runner will remain available through the end of the year.  In January, I'll make a complete pattern for the project available in my Etsy shop.  I'd love to see your finished runners, so please feel free to share with me via email or social media (Instagram or Facebook/@jendalyquilts).

And that brings the Homespun Holiday QAL to a close.  It's been a joy to quilt along with you and I hope you have a happy and healthy holiday!

—jen

Helpful QAL links:

• QAL Page
• Materials Page
• Day 1 - Cutting
• Day 2 - Star Blocks
• Day 3 - Holly Blocks
• Day 4 - Poinsettia Star Blocks
• Day 5 - Tree Blocks
  
• Day 6 - House Blocks

Homespun Holiday Quilt-Along — Day 6: House Blocks

Happy Friday!  It's Day 6 of the Homespun Holiday Quilt-Along and we've finally reached my favorite block of the QAL—houses!

I love the look of these simple, but graphic little houses.  And with straightforward piecing and stitch-and-flip corners, they couldn't be easier to make!

Ready to jump right in?  Here's the link to today's pattern sheet. 

Have fun making your house blocks and have a great weekend!  Assembly on Monday!!

—jen

Helpful QAL links:

• QAL Page
• Materials Page
• Day 1 - Cutting
• Day 2 - Star Blocks
• Day 3 - Holly Blocks
• Day 4 - Poinsettia Star Blocks
• Day 5 - Tree Blocks

Homespun Holiday Quilt-Along — Day 5: Tree Blocks

Happy Monday!  I hope you had a festive weekend and found some time to sew.  Our QAL blocks are starting to pile up!

Today is Day 5 of the Homespun Holiday QAL and we're moving on to one of my favorite blocks of the quilt-along — trees!

Pine trees, Christmas trees, whatever you want to call them, I love these graphic blocks and I think they're especially charming made with plaids.  In fact, one of my favorite finishes of the year was made entirely of plaid trees. 

 

If it looks familiar, you're right!  This cozy quilt was a big part of the inspiration for our Homespun Holiday project.  North Woods is a 60½" x 64½" lap quilt made with one bundle of 42 - 10" squares and background fabric.  I made my quilt for fall using a layer cake of Homemade Homespun fabrics by Kansas Troubles Quilters for Moda, but I think it would be amazing made with Christmas prints.  You can find the downloadable pattern for North Woods in my Etsy shop.

And now back to the QAL!  Here's the link to today's pattern sheet.  Please note that today's pattern is two pages long.

Have fun making your tree blocks and have a great week!

—jen

Helpful QAL links:

• QAL Page
• Materials Page
• Day 1 - Cutting
• Day 2 - Star Blocks
• Day 3 - Holly Blocks
• Day 4 - Poinsettia Star Blocks

Homespun Holiday Quilt-Along — Day 4: Poinsettia Star Blocks

I cannot believe how quickly December flies by!  December 10th already, and to be honest, I have lights on the tree, but no ornaments, and the Thanksgiving quilts are still out.  Maybe I need to spend less time working on Christmas quilts and more time on Christmas decorating.... nah!!

It's Day 4 of the Homespun Holiday Quilt-Along and today we're making Poinsettia Star blocks!

These cute little 5" blocks are a variation on a Sawtooth Star, one of my all-time favorite quilt blocks.  By substituting a pieced center square with a gold diamond, I was hoping to achieve an abstract poinsettia look.  I realize it's a stretch, but I love how the block looks anyway!

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

Have fun making your Poinsettia Star Blocks and have a great weekend.  Next week we'll be moving on to my favorite blocks of the QAL, can't wait!

—jen

Helpful QAL links:

• QAL Page
• Materials Page
• Day 1 - Cutting
• Day 2 - Star Blocks
• Day 3 - Holly Blocks

Homespun Holiday Quilt-Along — Day 3: Holly Blocks

I hope you had a great weekend filled with holiday cheer and, of course, some time to sew!

Today is Day 3 of the Homespun Holiday Quilt-Along and we're moving on to holly blocks.

These little 3" x 5" (finished) blocks are simple to make, but so festive!  We'll be making eight holly blocks total, two from each green homespun/print.

Ready to start piecing?  Here's the link to today's pattern sheet:

And just in case, here are some helpful QAL links:

• QAL Page
• Materials Page
• Day 1 - Cutting
• Day 2 - Star Blocks

Later this week I'll be hosting a giveaway on Instagram.  I'll be giving away a copy of the January/February '22 issue of Quiltmaker magazine.  Inside you'll find patterns for ten colorful quilts—including a scrappy Valentine's Day lap quilt designed by me—as well as part 1 of a 6-part mystery quilt-along called "Ruby Jubilee."  Designed by Denise Starck to celebrate Quiltmaker's 40th anniversary, Ruby Jubilee features blocks from Bonnie Hunter's Addicted to Scraps column.  If you'd like a chance to win this copy of Quiltmaker, look for the contest post this week on Instagram.

In the meantime, enjoy your week and have fun making your jolly holly blocks!

—jen