Hi and welcome to the first month of the Quilter's Cove QAL. Kat is organising it but I volunteered to host the party since I have the service. Who doesn't like a party when there's no cleaning up after company leaves? 😁 Let's get on with it. (If you're looking for the I Quilted This linking party, it's here)
Quilter's Cove QAL
Last November, Cathy at CRAZY BY DESIGN and Kat at Scrapbox Quilts decided to organise a QAL - it's very simple. We follow the colours of the month as decided by Angela of SOSCRAPPY of the Rainbow Scraps Challenge (RSC) and we make a house block in that colour. I volunteered to host the party at the end of each month - so below you will find our first linking party.
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| January's Blue house |
When I saw Kat's blue house, I wanted my roof to be scrappy too! The block is pieced except for the appliquéd windows and doors. I was totally winging it and I'm happy with my roof for which I used the flip and stitch technique 😍
I have no idea what I'm doing yet, but I am considering making it an attic window quilt. I've always wanted to try that and it mean that I don't necessarily need to have a cohesive neighbourhood. Anyway, we'll see as we go along. What I do know is that I'm not making 12 identical blocks - you would loose me after the second month!
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| Blue house block - 7½" x 10" |
To link up to A Quilter's Cove QAL, please go to the bottom of the post. 😊 BTW, the February colour is green, medium and dark.
SAHRR Round 2 - Make it a double!
This week's SAHRR round 2 is hosted by Kathleen McMusing. She picked the theme, "Make it a double" and gave us many options and links to find double blocks. Frankly I was tired and they all looked difficult.😕 While I was looking I had a though....yup - it happens! What if I made up my own simple block? Here it is: Double Arrow.
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| Alternate Double Arrow Block |
If it looks familiar, it's probably because you saw the grown up version in Round 1 in Kathleen's post.
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| Kathleen's Chain and Hour-Glass block from Round 1 |
I chose three fabrics and went back to the hour-glass tutorial. Using different fabric for only the arrows, they get accentuated. I did a quick sketch and it looked like it would work...and it did!
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| Sketching a possible double arrow block |
It turns out that there are a few double arrow blocks, so I'm calling it the "alternate double arrow block". Here it is with the others.
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| Blocks are adding up |
I accidentally made extra hour-glass blocks, so I made a couple more and put them together as another block. I thought that this might constitute a double hour-glass block, but it's not at all the same, so it's just four hour-glass blocks together.
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| Centre, hour-glass, and double arrow blocks |
What I learned
- I love playing with scraps and it's really the scraps that helped design the house. I love my scrappy roof - thank Kat for the idea!
- I suspect that it may be difficult to make all of the house blocks the same size. I figure that if I make at least a few in the same size, that I can place them in a row.
- I am going to look into an attic window quilt - that could be really fun and different for me.
- I'm hoping to make each house if a different style. Of course I want to keep in scrappy, small, playful and experimental....and simple!
- I certainly kept those goals in mind when I made the round 2 block for SAHRR. It was pretty experimental and it came out well. Of course it's a lot bigger than the other blocks, so I'll have to consider that. Worse comes to worse, I'll just make another one using smaller blocks.
- I can always add the extra, large blocks on the back of the quilt!
Related links
- A Quilter's Cove QAL, main page on Kat's blog
- 2026 SAHRR Round 2 – Make It A Double with Kathleen McMusing
2026 SAHRR Round 1 – Hourglass with Kathleen McMusing
- SAHRR Round 1 - hour-glass block, January 26, 2026
- Starting Things and I Quilted This!, January 15, 2026
Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties, including the SAHRR Round 2linking party at Kathleen's. Off The Wall Friday, Monday Musings, Oh Scrap!, Patchwork & Quilts,
If you made a house for the Quilter's Cove QAL, please link up below!
Your blue house is really cute. Very fun alternate block. That's the fun part of the SAHRR, you get to make up your own rules and blocks!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kate - and I love making things up as I go....I'm not so good at following instructions :-)
DeleteThat little house is very cute! I love what you did for the SAHRR, too. Clever!
ReplyDeleteThanks Wendy. It's so much fun just playing :-)
DeleteI love your house, Andree! Thanks so much for hosting us. It will be fun to see who's joining in and the different houses they make! Your double arrow block is perfect for the SAHRR prompt - and pretty in purple, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Diann, and I love your houses too! I'm looking forward to making a totally different green house :-)
DeleteI love what you did for your block! Making the other block I featured a double arrow was perfect. Very fun to watch your quillt grow!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Kathleen - and thanks again for the inspiration!
DeleteThe house SAL is a fun idea - your blue one looks great. And clever move for the SAHRR as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Raewyn. It's been a lot of fun all around.
DeleteYour double arrow block is beautiful. Great choice and execution!
ReplyDeleteThanks Yvonne, I really appreciate your comment :-)
DeleteI like your house and that's a great solution for the double block :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Janine, I really wanted to keep it simple....and I was able to!
DeleteLove your scrappy-roofed house--so adorable... nice work;)))
ReplyDeletehugs, Julierose
Thanks so much Julierose. I would never have thought about it if Kat hadn't made her roof scrappy first. It's surprising what we take for granted.
DeleteTa maison est adorable et le projet pour le grenier semble prometteur ! Bravo pour la conception de ce bloc flèche, très joli !
ReplyDeleteMerci beaucoup Frédérique. J'ai hâte de jouer avec les tissues verts ce mois-ci.
DeleteHow pretty your house is, and I love your solution to the "double" prompt. The double arrow block is lovely.
ReplyDeleteLinda at rubymitch12@yahoo.com
Thanks so much Linda. I really wasn't in the mindspace to make anything complicated. I'm really glad that I figured it out!
DeleteWe must both have houses on the brain! Your blue house is charming. And your collection of blocks for the SAHRR are coming along nicely, with the addition of your version of the arrow block. Nicely done!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
DeleteYour SAHRR looks great!
ReplyDeleteThanks Daryl, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone elses - I need to get caught up with my visits!
DeleteI love how your SAHRR is coming along. I really like your blue house and didn't realize they were doing a QAL with the colors of the month for the RSC. Great job! Thanks for sharing with us at Monday Musings. Have a great week!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brenda, it's hard to get the word out about the QAL but since it's once a month, anyone can join anytime.
DeleteI love your double arrow. Anxious to see this all come together!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kristina. I'm looking forward to figuring that out too!
DeleteFun blocks! It will be really cool quilt!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
DeleteYour SAHRR block looks great! Oooh... I would love to join in on A Quilter's Cove.... it looks fun! Do we just make any house or is there a pattern everyone is using? xx
ReplyDeleteHi Joy, please join in the fun. The house design is yours to choose - I'm doing all different ones but you can also make them all the same, just in a different colour.
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