BLOCK PARTY 2023: Prairie Point Quilt Sampler

Prairie Point Quilt Sampler

Block Party 2023

Prairie Point Block Party 2023 begins in September 2022. This program runs for 12 months, until August 2023.

Read on to learn more, then sign up to join us!

Join us for our 20th annual Block Party – a favorite Prairie Point tradition!

Merry Christmas

Gather ‘round the fireplace with this cozy holiday sampler. This beautiful selection tells the story of Christmas Pasts in stunning vintage prints by some of your favorite designers from Moda, Riley Blake, Andover, and more. Bet you just can’t wait to snuggle up with this next winter!

Autumn Leaves

Can you feel the crisp breeze in the air? This selection of autumnal fabrics is the perfect addition to warm up any home come Fall time. Reproduction, Kansas Troubles, and other Autumn fabrics give this sampler a great traditional look.

Cape Cod

Don’t you think it’s time for a little vacation? Come on down to the Marina. This Cape Cod colorway is inspired by the striking blue waters and white lighthouses. A perfect little piece of summer to stay with you all year long.

Here are the Prairie Point Block Party guidelines: You may come in the shop on the second Monday or the second Saturday of each month. The blocks will cost $3.50 for your first block and the following 11 months if you personally bring in your completed block (from the month before) on “Block Party day.” If for any reason you cannot come on Block Party day, the block kit will cost $5.50.

At the end of the 12-month program, setting kits will be available for purchase. The pictures and descriptions of the finished quilts will be shown a couple months before for your consideration and you may sign up for one at that time.

A mail order option is available for out-of-towners. Call the shop for details: (913) 268-3333.

Each month, we will post pictures of the finished block right here in each of the three colorways offered.

Again, to get the special price of $3.50 on kits:

• Come to the shop on Block Party Day (the second Saturday or the second Monday).

• Come you yourself – not friend, spouse or anyone else.

• Have the block from the month before completed and with you.

• Only one kit each month qualifies for the $3.50 price.

This is the first block for Block Party 2023 Prairie Point Sampler Quilt! Isn’t it great?

September — This is an ambitious block for the first one, but isn’t it beautiful! Follow cutting directions carefully and piecing instructions.

Here are a few tips for now — Cut from background fabric: 3-1/4” x 14”; 3” x 14”; and 2-1/2” x 14”; make your sub-cuts from these strips. Be sure that when you make the pinwheel for the center of the block, that your color placement looks like as shown below. Carefully place the Dark and Accent colors accordingly. If you do it backwards, then make the Step 4 unit the opposite of what it should be and you’ll be fine. Pinwheel will be spinning the opposite way!

Join your flying geese unit to Step 4 and with the center pinwheel you get a whole new pinwheel. I have included more images than usual to help understand the piecing of this block. The black and white copy is a little difficult to distinguish color differences.

Here’s month 1 to get you started!

October — It’s a beauty. The video emphasizes the importance of the center star points, that the rectangle units are mirror images. Don’t make them all alike! Look closely at the pattern.

Super simple for such a fun block!

November — You get a break this month with an easy block. Some of you still struggle with half-square triangles and squaring up. I’ll get a video on here soon. Remember to sew with an accurate 1/4” seam allowance throughout. You want those diamond points (they are really hst’s but look like diamonds) to be 1/4” from the edge of the unfinished block. OOPS! The Cape Cod block photo shown below now corresponds to the fabrics in your kit. If you took a photo and it looks different, you will not have the fabric amounts you need. Make it as shown here. If you already cut your Cape Cod block and find out that you don’t have the fabrics you need because of miscuts, let us know. It is my fault. If you sew your block the way you have in a picture you took when in the shop on Block Party Day, that’s okay. Either way looks fine. My apologies for the inconvenience. Bring your half-complete November block in December and we’ll still offer the $3.50 price. How’s that?

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December — This block is awesome! Follow the step-by-step directions carefully and you will be so proud that you made this! Make sure your seam allowance is an accurate or scant 1/4” for precision piecing. I hope the video helps!

January — Love this star block! As you are cutting and piecing, remember for the Merry Christmas block: green is dark, red is medium, light floral is accent. For the Autumn Leaves: barn red is dark, green is medium, and gold is accent. Cape Cod: navy is dark, teal is medium, and gray is accent. Write it down on your pattern. Keep your seam allowance 1/4” and make sure you have 1/4” all around where your triangle points meet. Watch the video!

February — Your friends will be impressed. Read carefully. Watch the direction your pieces are placed. Read twice, cut once.

Block 6 is ready for you!

OOPS! The kits this month did not have the correct amount for the medium and dark fabrics. If you purchased your fabric on Saturday, Feb. 11 or before, you will need more fabric to complete the block. You can:

• Come in and get what you need to finish making your block, or

• Get the extra pieces when you come in to get the March block or

• Substitute with fabric you have on hand already.

  In any case, we will honor the $3.50 price on your block in March, even if the February block is not finished.

  I am so sorry for the inconvenience but we are making up for it by offering your first March block at the $3.50 price.

  If you purchased a block on Monday or later, your kit may have extra pieces placed in it on the other side of the pattern. We did our best to get the kits all fixed up for you; let us know if there is something that still needs to be done. After the corrections were made, some more kits were made complete.

  If you are making the Autumn Leaves block, bring in or take a picture of the medium and dark fabrics so that we can match you up with the correct replacement.

• This replacement applies to all of the blocks you are making. If you picked up blocks for friends, you make pick up their replacements as well.

March — Simple half-square triangles make up this month’s block. It won’t take you long to put this together.