Destination: Quilt Along - Block 1

The "Destination: Quilt Along" starts today! Take a trip with us as we travel around the world from our sewing rooms! There will be one new FREE quilt block released each week during the quilt along for a total of 12 blocks!

The pattern and tutorial for Block 1 is on Sandy's blog HERE. It's a canyon!

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking the links, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

If you're new here, hello! I'm Laura! I design quilt patterns, and I'm a self-proclaimed deal hunter! Be sure to join the popular Quilting & Sewing Deals Facebook group where I post sales, deals, and coupon codes from all around the web!

Sandy's Canyon block reminds me of when my husband and I visited the Grand Canyon back in the BC times! (BC = Before Children) We rode the train from Williams, Arizona to the canyon. If you have never been, I highly recommend taking the train! 

Grand Canyon photo taken by my friend, Laura Hromsco

I'm really undecided on a color palette for this quilt. My previous quilts for the Partners in Design quilt alongs have had limited color palettes, but this one keeps telling me not to limit the colors. So, I'm going with it for now. (See my previous quilts HERE and HERE!)

I'm going to try to stick with solid colors only from my stash. That was already put to the test on this very first block because I wanted to use shades of brown for the canyon walls. Brown is likely the color I have the least of in my stash, so I had to cheat a bit and use a solid brown flannel for one of the fabrics! (It's the second darkest one in the photo above.)

This block also allowed me to use two of my favorite quilty gadgets to make it! First, my sewing machine laser! No drawing lines for any of the half-square triangles! (I have the green Velcro one, but the red Velcro one is just as good!)

My Oliso mini iron and wool pressing mat made quick work of the pressing too!

I loved watching how this quilt block came together! I used a white foam core board to lay out all my pieces before sewing.

The foam core board made it easy to keep everything in its proper place until it was time to sew!

The second quilty gadget that I got to use was my Olfa Circle Rotary Cutter! I use this every time I need to cut a perfect circle. It makes it so quick and easy! I pressed Lite Steam-A-Seam 2 on the back of the fabric first.

I used a straight stitch and Aurifil 50wt #2105 Champagne to applique the circle onto the block.

I used Aurifil 50wt #2326 Sand for all the piecing on this block. You can see some of the thread when you peek behind the seams!

This was a fun block to make, and such fun remembering the trip my husband and I took to the Grand Canyon!

The QAL is divided into three segments. Complete all four blocks from Segment 1 by 7:59am ET on August 10 to be entered to win prizes! Be sure to share a picture of your finished blocks in the Facebook group! If you're posting on Instagram or Facebook, you can use #destinationQAL when you post a photo!

Segment 1

July 6 - Block 1 - Sandy at Sandy Star Designs

July 13 - Block 2 - April at JANDA Bend Quilts

July 20 - Block 3 - Abbie at Sparkle On!

July 27 - Block 4 - Jennifer at Inquiring Quilter

The Segment 1 prize is a six-month subscription to Make Modern Magazine and a free PDF pattern from the Inquiring Quilter!

Be sure to check out all the different versions of Block 1 made by the QAL hosts!

Karen at Tu-Na Quilts

Jennifer at Inquiring Quilter

Sherry at Powered by Quilting

Abbie at Sparkle On!

Join the fun! Let's quilt along!

__________

If you liked this post, you may also like these:

QAL By The Sea - Block 8

12 Days of Ornaments - Day 2

I Wish You a Merry QAL - Block 2