Oh, Happy Day! Sampler Sew Along Week 2
Oh Happy Day!…it’s time for the release of Block #2 of our Oh, Happy Day! sampler quilt.
Today, we are going to be making a block from the Friends Forever quilt in the Oh, Happy Day! book.
If you’re familiar with this quilt, you’ll know that Friends Forever is a two for one quilt. Meaning, as you are making the main quilt, a second bonus quilt is made without a lot of extra work on your part. You’ll find the same to be true for our block today. As we are making the block we will be using in our sampler, you will end up with a second block that you can use for whatever you’d like.
Sampler block on the left, bonus block on the right
The block on the left in the picture above is the block that we will be using in our sampler.
This is the block we are using in our sampler quilt.
Cutting and Piecing Instructions for today’s block:
Turn to page 26 in your Oh, Happy Day! book. Under the “Materials” section, cut the print pieces listed under “Assorted Prints” and cut the background pieces listed under “White solid”. I am using the white on white print from Buttercup & Slate for my background.
The written, piecing instructions can be found in the book starting on page 22 (steps 1-5). In step 1, you will end up with 6 half-square-triangle units. You will only use 3 of them. From looking at the above picture you might be surprised about that!…but as you continue piecing the block, you will see how that works. =) In step 2, you can see how to piece together the pieces that you cut along with (3) HSTs. You will make one block in Step 2.
I have put together a piecing video for this block on my YouTube channel that you can watch here. Since we just need the one block (rather than all of the blocks for a quilt), I’ve changed the pressing instructions because the seams don’t need to be pressed open. I much prefer pressing seams to one side if I can!…I go over the updated pressing info in the video.
All of the blocks we are making for the sampler quilt will be 12 1/2″ unfinished just as they are in the book. Note: the bonus block you make today (NOT the one we are using for our sampler) will finish at 11 1/2″ square. Extra quilt blocks like this can be used for so many things. Single block projects include: patchwork bags, potholders, mini quilts, journal covers etc. Or, you can save all of your extra blocks and test blocks from your quilt making to make into a larger quilt at some point in time. This is the only quilt in the book that gives you two for one so we won’t have anymore bonus blocks going forward. =)
Here are the two blocks we have made, so far, for our sampler:
I’ve kept these first two blocks nice and simple so as people are jumping in they will not have a lot of piecing to catch up. =)
I know there were quite a few newcomers to this sew along who just found out about it within the last week or so and I saw a few questions popping up. If you missed the announcement post that included the fabric requirements as well as a general overview of how this sew along works, you will find that here. You can join in anytime you’d like to!
I wanted to take just a moment to answer some questions I saw pop up over the last week. Additionally, if you leave me questions in the comments of my YouTube video I’ll be answering those as quickly as I can today & responding to any comments. It’s easiest if any questions are asked in one spot. Also, the people in my Facebook group are very helpful in answering questions and it’s a great spot to share your blocks as you complete them. Hopefully, I’ve covered things thoroughly and have already answered most questions you might have thought of!
Recent Questions I’ve Seen:
Question: Do I have to have the Oh, Happy Day! book to participate?
Answer: Yes.
Question: Where can I buy the book?
Answer: It’s carried in quilt shops locally and online. I love supporting our quilt shops if we can but it’s also available on Amazon if you are in a pinch. I will have more signed copies of the book in my shop by the beginning of the week. They can be purchased now to ship as soon as I have them.
Question: What blocks are we making?
Answer: We are making blocks from the book Oh, Happy Day! We are making a total of 9 different blocks from the book (the exact ones are a surprise). I’ve designed a fun setting for our blocks that will be shared in weeks 10-12 of this quilt along.
Question: How do I participate?
Answer: Stop by this blog every Saturday. I aim to have the blog post up as well as the video up (on YouTube) at 8am EST.
Question: Where can I buy your fabrics?
Answer: My fabrics are carried world wide in quilt shops (locally and online) that carry Moda Fabrics.
Happy Sewing! Corey
Oh, Happy Day! Sampler Sew Along Schedule
September 24: Block 1, Generations of Love (cutting/piecing instructions on page 32)
October 1: Block 2, Friends Forever (cutting instructions on page 26/piecing instructions on page 22-23)
October 8: Block 3
October 15: Block 4
October 22: Block 5
October 29: Block 6
November 5: Block 7
November 12: Block 8
November 19: Block 9
November 26: Finishing Instructions 1
December 3: Finishing Instructions 2
December 10: Finishing Instructions 3
hi Corey! Working on Block 2 for the Oh! Happy Day QAL! YEAAAA 🙂
Have fun sewing!
Awesome, can’t wait to get home and caught up! I managed to get block 1 cut out before leaving home last week, so I’m not too far behind! We ate at Mrs. Yoder’s last night, and of course I thought of you!
Yum…Mrs. Yoder’s! =)
Repeat request…I won’t be able to sew along right now, but I have your book and the fabric. I want to be able to read your blog posts and then print the cutting/sewing instructions. Is there another way to have that information rather than in this long post that can’t be printed? Thanks
At the bottom of every blog post for the sampler sew along, you will find a running list of which block to make as well as on which page to find the piecing/cutting instructions within the Oh, Happy Day book.
This will be my first actual sew along. I’m going to my local quilt store to pick up your line of Buttercup & Slate tomorrow. So lucky the quilt store in the nearest town has Sunday hours, so I will be able to catch up on the first two blocks.
Have fun shopping and sewing!
So excited for this next block but I have a question. What’s the best method for cutting the background yardage off the bolt? Just block by block or should we cut certain size strips?
Corey thank you for putting the information about each block on here – in one place!!! I get behind sometimes and this keeps me from searching everywhere for the info. This was such a brilliant idea / using the pillow patterns for a sampler quilt!! Thank you for all you do- you make my world happier and brighter!!