Dublin Fancy Quilt Along: Week 2

Week 2 of our quilt along starts today! For this week, we’re going to make 5 chain blocks. Those are the nine patch blocks with pinwheels in the foreground. If you haven’t got your pattern yet, you can order it here. You can view the quilt along schedule here. If you’re joining us late, you can still sign up as long as the quilt along is still going.

You’ll make a lot of 4 at a time Half Square Triangles while you make this quilt. You can check out my post on making 4 at time Half Square Triangles HERE.

I posted a lot of videos on instagram to help you with this quilt. Here are the videos that apply to making the chain blocks:
Trimming half square triangles
Keeping your pinwheel points
Spinning your seams
Chain Piecing

Pressing

I’m not a stickler for pressing. Before you throw rotten fruit at me or call the quilt police… let me explain. I do think pressing is important, but I’m not going to say that you have to press the same way I do. I know what I like, and why I like it. I figure you also have a good reason for doing things the way you do.

There are so many different ways to press your seams. It always comes up when I get patterns tested. Even with a small group of quilters like a pattern testing group, there’s no way to keep everyone happy with the pressing instructions. The fact is that different people like different methods, and that’s OK! To be honest, I always feel a little silly including pressing instructions at all because I know that most quilters are going to ignore the pressing instructions and press however they want to anyway. If that’s you, no worries! It does not hurt my feelings, and we can still be friends. So, I always just instruct to press the way I would and add in a line about how it’s also fine to use whatever method works best for you.

Here are a few things to consider about pressing. What’s your motivation for pressing? My big motivation is accuracy and allignment. You’ll get more accurate cuts if your fabric is pressed. Accuracy also helps with alligning the seams. Some people think about reducing bulk with pressing. Most of the time I’m not as worried about this because I make a lot of T-shirt quilts. So, I’m used to quilting through bulk. Some people are concerned with pressing so that the darker fabrics at the seams aren’t showing throught the lighter fabrics. I will follow this when I can, but I’ll prioritize nesting the seams over pressing towards the dark side if I have to choose. I have a page from my Checker Cakes Quilt along that goes over different pressing methods HERE.

Get a custom label for your quilt!

I had some labels made for this pattern! If you want a custom Dublin Fancy label with your name on it, you can get one! I order all of my labels from Melanie at Souther Charm Quilts/Meander and Make. They are great labels. You can get order your Dublin Fancy Quilt label here. Just be sure to select “Dublin Fancy Label” to get the one that looks like the label pictured below. I’ll have pictures of the other labels from that listing soon! Full disclosure: that was an affiliate link meaning I earn commission, but it doesn’t affect the price you pay. Use the coupon code SNUGGLEBUGSTITCHING for 10% off.

Each Week on the Blog

I’ll link to all of the other weeks near the end of each post. I will add each post here as I have them. You can also find this on the Quilt Alongs Page.

Week 1 – Gather Fabrics and Cut Chain Block Pieces
Week 2 – You are currently at the Week 2 Post
Week 3 – Make 5 Chain Blocks – Plus a new tip for half square triangles!
Week 4 – Make 5 Chain Blocks
Week 5 – Make Strip Units; Make 7 Cube Blocks
Week 6 – Make 8 Cube Blocks
Week 7 – Assemble Quilt Tops

Prize for this Week

Our prize for this week is going to be a free PDF pattern. You can choose any of my patterns accept for this one.

To be eligible for prizes:

– You must be following me @snugglebugstitching on Instagram and post progress pictures for the week on Instagram by Tuesday at 5:00 PM Central Time. You must tag me @snugglebugstitching in your posts and use the #dublinfancyqal and #dublinfancyquilt.

-I will announce the winner on Instagram and tag the lucky quilt alonger so that they know they’ve won. The winner will have one week to contact me to claim the prize. Any unclaimed prizes will be forfeited.