Hunt Quilt Along: Onward.

Are you ready to dive in?

As promised, I have a little something special to help you in your planning–if you’re in to that type of thing. I love making a plan and setting it in motion. Hopefully this will be helpful to you.

Printable Hunt QAL CAL carolyn friedlander

First, click on the link above to access the calendar. Print it out on regular paper or something fancy (I used something like this), trim the edges at the cut lines, and you’re ready to go.

You’ll find pages for each of the months, as well as monthly reminders for when I’ll be checking in and some extra sections at the bottom to help with the planning and overall experience.

The Goals section on the left is where you can set goals for the month ahead. The Good Stuff section (top, right) can be used to track things you’ve learned, podcasts/movies/shows you might check out and/or good experiences you’ve had during the month with your project. It’s funny, but so many of my handwork projects instantly summon memories of what I was doing or watching and who I was hanging out with. I love that, and I thought this calendar could be a great way to encapsulate some of the memories with your project.

The Next Month section (bottom, right) is good for putting thoughts down that look ahead. When I’m sewing, I always get ideas for future stuff, like fabric combinations, ways I might want to quilt it or even ideas for other projects. This section is for that. Jot anything down that you might want to remember later.

To get back to the Goals for a minute, I thought it’d be helpful to give you some examples of how to break it down. Let’s say I want to make the same size that is on the cover of the pattern. It is made up of 16 appliquéd blocks. This means that over the course of the year, I’ll want to complete 4 blocks every quarter (or every 3 months). I can break that down to needing to finish a little over a block a month, OR I could decide to prep (cut and baste) all 4 blocks in the first month, and then finish 2 blocks each following month–or finish 1 block every 2 weeks. That seems manageable to me, but you can work the numbers in whatever way that suits you.

Of course if you are wanting to make a different amount, you’d adjust accordingly. To make 4 blocks over the course of the year, you’ll need to finish a block a quarter (or every 3 months), OR you could decide to cut and baste your blocks in the first quarter, appliqué them in the second and third quarters and then assemble your quilt top and quilt it in the fourth. I liked this year-long format, because it is super adjustable and can work well with the ratio of blocks in the project. I’m hoping it will make the project feel fun and manageable.

These examples are just a couple of ways to think about mapping out your project. Feel free to do whatever feels best to you, and there’s definitely no harm in adjusting as you go along! Sometimes I like to have all of my blocks prepped and ready to go before I start appliquéing them (like in my Hunt Harriot), and other times (like in the case of my ongoing Liberty Everglade project) I like to set them up and appliqué as I go. The order doesn’t matter, do whichever feels best to you! If you’re burned out on basting, start appliquéing. Or if you feel like you’ll want some creative freedom down the line, leave some blocks undecided for a later step.

You can also think about your project more generally. With my Hunt Harriot, I had a set number of fabrics that I was working with, and so it made sense for me to figure out my overall layout beforehand. With my Liberty Everglade project, it’s scrappy and on-going, which makes it fairly logical to take it one block at a time.

Also on the calendar are some scheduled check-ins each month. I’ll pop in to see where you’re at, and I’ll also be sharing with you where I’m at. Send me questions or comments as we go, and I’ll see about getting them addressed in the check-ins.

As for where I’m at this week, I have more playing with fabric to do. I’m not sure how scrappy I want it to be, so I’m cutting things out and giving them a good audition before fully committing.

And now, a giveaway! I am LOVING how your projects are shaping up. Continue posting your progress (using the hashtag #huntQAL on instagram), and I’ll select a random winner on Thursday, June 6.

I’ve gathered some of my favorite goodies–a pair of Kai 7150 scissors, a mini tin of Sew Fine Thread Gloss in Citrus Sage (this is the cutest mini tin ever!), 4 spools of Aurifil (two 80wt, two 50wt) and finally a dreamy combo of goodies from Soak–their Handmaid lotion and some Soakwash in my Pineapple Grove scent.