Block 1 of the Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL

Hi! I hope that you are all well 😊. The winter storm is over and it looks like Spring is finally here 🌞 Yeah!!!

Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL

I can't believe that I'm doing another QAL! I've been looking at Sandra's Rainbow Neighbourhood pattern for a while, so why not join? Who knows, I just might make a whole quilt, now that I've done the first block. Here's hoping 😁

First house - blue!

I chose my fabric for the whole quilt, which is pretty unusual for me. They are mostly Alison Glass fabrics that I bought a few years ago. I'm using the ones with the white drawings over the various colours - her Sun Print collection.

Mostly Alisson Glass fabrics

I must say that I love these huge blocks! It was a little scary cutting up the fabrics for the roofs and sky - I don't think that I'll have enough of these, but I'm sure that I'll be able to find others. I'm really going to try to make the whole quilt from my stash. We'll see how that goes!

This is the finished roof section

This was my first attempt at putting the roof together....oops!

If I'm going to make this whole quilt, I have to find ways to amuse myself, so I've decided to have fun with the windows and the grass. I'll be using hand-dyed fabric for all of the doors and windows. I also want to add something in each window - probably something whimsical like these.

Going for a whimsical feel 😍

For the grass in front of each house, I'm going for an interesting lawn or garden. For the first block I've added some garden fabric and a path leading up to the door.

Each house will have it's own grass or garden in front.

What I learned

• I'm really not used to quilting this big. The whole house block is 16½" square! For me, that's huge!!!
• I mentioned in my last SAHRR post that working with larger blocks seems to be easier....and many of you agreed with me. Well I now have the proof! This could be the beginning of a new era for me, as far as traditional quilting goes.
• I've decided to use a matching Kona cotton for the star blocks. I'd be very surprised if I don't have something that will match all of the house fabrics.
• You probably saw my one big oops moment above. Next time I need to look at the block before I stitch two parts together! I was so concerned about accuracy that I didn't notice that they were in the wrong place....but my seams were accurate 😁😂!
• It took me most of the day yesterday to make one block! I'm hoping that each block will be faster to make. 
• To help me along, I originally cut 2 of the sky and roof pieces. After I finished the first house yesterday, I took the time to cut out the pieces for the second house. It will be sort of the reverse of this first house, so the house will be plum and the star will be blue. I wrote myself a lot of notes so that I'll be able to, hopefully, whip it up, and prepare a couple more blocks next week.
• I'm thinking of making a variation of Sandra's larger quilt, but with yards or fences between the houses. At this time the plan is to make as many houses as I can, and then figure out how to put them together.

Sandra's twin size quilt - isn't it gorgeous?

Related links

• Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL Kickoff with Sandra of mmm quilts.
• Details about the Rainbow Neighbourhood QAL
• Link to the Rainbow Neighbourhood pattern
• Alison Glass - Sun Print collection

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to Sandra's first week link-up on Monday, as well as many other fun linking parties. Why not check them out? Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?, Finished (or Not) Friday, Put your foot down, Peacock Party, Patchwork & Quilts, Oh Scrap!, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2023, Sew & Tell, Design Wall Monday, Tips & Tutorials on the 22nd,