Sew Out Loud

When Julianna and Kirie asked me to join the SewOut Loud quiltalong, I got very excited. Then I got butterflies in my stomach. I saw the caliber of the other contributors, and I felt a little bit queasy. I put on my thinking cap about Sew Out Loud’s theme. The challenge was to use text and sewing themed fabrics to create 12” finished blocks in clever or witty ways. The blocks could be words, scenes or combinations of both.  If you’ve been following along with the flickr group, you’ve seen all sorts of sewing goodness - pincushions, dress mannequins, zippers and more.

After aimlessly wandering for a bit, I stumbled into my calling. The humble foot pedal…

Vroom, Vroom. The puns just started to roll…

 If you’d like to try this block for yourself, I’ve posted a PDF on my website. It has margins suitable for both Letter and A4 printing along a test square to check printing size. The final block will be marginally over 12” finished allowing you to square it up once you finish piecing. The pattern is designed for foundation piecing, but could also be created using English paper piecing or the freezer paper method. It assumes prior experience with one of these piecing techniques. The pattern is challenging due to the number of pieces but there are no difficult y-seams or curves.

I hope it provides a lot of room to use your text prints. I think they’d look great along the darker portion of the boot or along the sole and heel.  From there, you can choose the phrase that suits you best and add decorative embroidery or stamped details.

A big thank you to the quiltalong sponsors. In particular, thanks to the Fat Quarter Shop who provided prizes as well as fabrics for the quiltalong contributors. They stock a great range of prints including perfect basics like Timeless Treasures sketch and Cloud 9 Basics.

 So what are you waiting for? Let’s rev up those motors and get sewing.

** This post was autoposted while I am holidays. I will be checking in periodically to answer your questions and feedback! Cheers Amy