It’s hard to believe we’ve reached the final month of block-making in the Piece and Quilt Sampler Quilt Along! This quilt along, hosted by Fat Quarter Shop, features blocks from the Celebrate with Quilts book by Lissa Alexander and Susan Ache—a book I’ve grown to love more and more with each passing month. The variety of block sizes in the book makes it easy to mix things up and add a personalized touch to your quilt, and the sampler layout is perfect for using up scraps, especially those low-volume fabrics we all tend to hang on to.
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For December, I made three unique blocks: one 9″ Album Star, one 12″ Building Blocks, and one 12″ Union Square block. Each block brought something different to the table in terms of piecing, construction, and design—and I had so much fun seeing how they each added to the personality of the quilt.
Celebrate with Quilts Book
The Celebrate with Quilts is a brand new book by Lissa Alexander and Susan Ache. Each of the 60 quilt block patterns have cutting instructions for 3 inch, 6 inch, 9 inch, and 12 inch finished quilt blocks. The assembly instructions for each block are so easy to follow either by the text or by the step-by-step pictures. I love a well written pattern, and I know if it’s done by It’s Sew Emma and Fat Quarter Shop, it’s going to be great.
Piece and Quilt Sampler Quilt
Here is a Quick Look at what I came up with for my fabric placement using Electric Quilt 8 to help me.
Related Post: Piece and Quilt Sampler Month 8
Piece and Quilt Sampler Quilt Along – Month 9
The ninth month of the quilt along features three quilt blocks from the Celebrate with Quilts book. The blocks made this month were as follows:
- 1 – 9″ Album Star Quilt Block
- 1 – 12″ Building Block Quilt Block
- 1 – 12″ Union Square Quilt Block
Using my Electric Quilt layout as a guide, I made the quilt blocks in the fabrics I already chose.
Album Star Quilt Block
This month, I returned to the Album Star block—this time in a smaller 9″ size. I previously made this block in a 12″ version earlier in the quilt along, so it was fun to revisit the design and see how it looked scaled down.
The Album Star block is built with four hourglass units, four solid corner squares, and a square-in-a-square unit in the center. I love how the smaller size made the hourglass units feel even more delicate, and it was a great opportunity to play with contrast with the bold red and white print. Even though I’d made this block before, the smaller size gave it a fresh feel.
Piecing Tip: When making hourglass units, I always recommend piecing it larger and trimming each one down to size before assembling the block. Even the tiniest variance can throw off the alignment, especially in a smaller block like this.
Building Block Quilt Blocks
The Building Blocks block was a new one for me, and it has such a clever construction! It’s technically a modified nine-patch, but it brings a lot of personality with its layout.
The corners are made up of classic nine-patch units, which I kept scrappy and playful. The sides of the block are constructed from a square and rectangle sewn together to form a slightly narrower unit than the corners, adding a touch of asymmetry. A solid square sits in the center to anchor the block. I really enjoyed the rhythm of making this one—it felt both traditional and modern at the same time.
Piecing Tip: Press your seams toward the rectangle units on the side sections to reduce bulk where the side units meet the nine-patch corners. Making sure seams that meet are pressed in opposite directionshelps the block lay flat and keeps your points crisp.
Union Square Quilt Block
The Union Square block is a gorgeous star block with lots of motion and visual interest. It’s pieced with a combination of half-square triangle units, hourglass units, and solid squares—everything I love about a good star block!
With so many components, there’s room to play with color and fabric placement, and the result is a striking block that really pops in the overall quilt layout. This one came together smoothly and brought just the right balance of challenge and fun to wrap up the final month of block-making.
Piecing Tip: Lay out all of the units before sewing to keep track of fabric placement—especially in a block like this with multiple types of units. Taking a photo of your layout before piecing can help ensure nothing gets flipped or misplaced along the way.
Piece and Quilt Sampler Month 9 Progress
With these three blocks finished, that’s a wrap on the block-making portion of the Piece and Quilt Sampler Quilt Along! It’s been such a joy to explore a wide variety of blocks, sizes, and construction methods throughout the past nine months. I’ve loved the way this quilt has slowly come together, one month at a time.
Next month, it’s time to assemble the quilt top—starting with the layout of the center blocks, followed by the borders that will frame everything and bring it all together. I can’t wait to see how the finished top looks once all these months of work are sewn into one beautiful quilt!
Until next month, Happy Quilting!
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