Welcome to the Tenth block reveal

for the Destination QAL!

This QAL is brought to you by Partners in Design: Where Friends and Fabric Meet.

Presenting: Follow Your Arrow

This 12.5″ (unfinished) block pattern was created by Becca of Pretty Piney Quilts. You can download it free from her post. The patterns in this QAL are available free now until November 16th, 2021 at 7:59 am Eastern time. After then, the patterns in this QAL may not be available anymore or may be available for a small fee through the designer.

Tips and Tricks to Constructing this Block

1. Make This Block Your Own. I decided to use the words for Tu-Na Helper’s favorite place to be-lake, and my favorite place-quilt shop, and our favorite spot to visit together-museum. I also used a different fabric and color for the post than the arrows. You can choose your favorite places to visit, too, as long as the word fits on the sign and allows for the 1/4″ seam allowance on the sides. Embellishing my blocks helps make my quilt unique.
   

   I used some leftover Lite Steam a Seam II for the letters. I kept them in chunks and adhered the chunks to the fabric.

   Reminder: If you are entering our giveaways for the section prizes and for the grand prizes, we allow for creative additions, such as embellishments, but your blocks should still be recognizable as ones made by using the given patterns for this quilt along. However, this is your quilt and if you don’t like something, you are free to use whatever you want. Just be aware that block substitutions won’t count as an entry.

2. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. Sandwich your block in between two clean, Teflon pressing sheets. Wipe your pressing sheets with a damp cloth after you use them to prevent putting the gunk on your iron. Another good tip is to use a very sharp, clean, scissors to cut out your pieces. I have a medium Karen K. Buckley scissors which I only use for applique. When it get’s gunky or when I am done with the project, I use an alcohol soaked cotton ball to clean the blades. I then use the cotton ball to wipe the needle on my sewing machine because it too builds up with adhesive gunk.
3. Strive for the Clean-Shaven Look. I’ve been noticing that some of the applique pieces in previous blocks were developing beards-little hairs that stick up around the edges. I see them when I’m doing the machine applique stitching. I’ve been wondering why that happened. In an effort to reduce the bearded look, I decided to check out the directions on the Lite Steam a Seam II and discovered it says to use pre-washed fabrics. Yikes! I don’t prewash my fabrics. Is that why this has happened? I also read to use steam. I never put water in my iron because I’ve never met an iron that hasn’t become incontinent. I am not sure why the word “steam” in Lite Steam a Seam alluded me.  So this time I sprayed a mist of water on top of the applique pieces and then pressed it. I hope that counts as steam. I also was more conscious of the length of time I left my iron on the applique pieces. Finally, I am extra careful, when stitching around the pieces and stitch very close to the applique piece but not so close that I cause split hairs – (stitching between the edge and first row of fibers). I am not sure I’ve solved the beard problem or not.
   

   You can see that one leg of the S is showing a bit of beard growth. Grrr!

4. Waste Not. Want Not. Good fabric is expensive. I don’t like to waste it. When sewing the flying geese units, I sewed another row of stitching 1/2″ away from the diagonal drawn line and then cut between the two seams. I now have 6 extra HSTs that are 2″ that could be cut to 1 1/2″ if needed for some project in the future. I’m gathering all my extras or wrong cuts or HSTs because I never know when a brainstorm to use them will hit.
5.  March—left, right, left, right. To keep my applique letters marching in somewhat of a straight line, I used a small ruler as seen in the middle arrow in the picture below to keep my letters 1/4″ from the bottom of the arrow. I just eyeballed the space between the letters. Just remember to keep all letters at least 1/4″ away from the edge so they are not lost in the seam allowance.
6. Keep It Tidy. If you’ve read any of my applique hints before, you know that I don’t backstitch or knot the thread ends while I am machine stitching. After stitching, I pull my top threads to the back and then knot and weave the ends under the stitching for about 4 stitches. I try to do this after each piece I’ve just stitched around but sometimes I like to live dangerously and wait until I’m completely finished with the block. I pay attention to where my bobbin thread is and hold my top thread tight for a couple of stitches. Here’s a sneak peak of how I corral all those loose ends so they don’t become a tangled nest on the back. This allows me to keep on stitching and tidy up later.
   

   I clip the threads to the side to keep them out of the way.

   
   

   Nice and tidy!. Bonus Tip: I pressed the post pieces (G) on the middle arrow towards the outside so they would nest with the posts above and below them and press neatly. Bonus Tip: Read Becca’s detailed link for trimming the flying geese units. In my haste, I didn’t read far enough to get to that section and tried trimming without her hints. I lost a few points on the tops and bottoms. Oh, well, some signs have more than that missing.

See These Hosts for More Construction Tips

Karen @ Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats — Thanks for stopping by.

Becca @ Snowy Days Quilting — The designer of this block.

Sherry @ Powered by Quilting

Laura @ Slice of Pi Quilts

Jennifer @ Inquiring Quilter

Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing

Join this QAL

You can join in anytime. Find the complete schedule here. Every Tuesday for four weeks, a new block is released until all 12 blocks have been released. This QAL is divided into three segments each containing four blocks with a two week break between segments for a chance to catch up.

When you finish a block, share it on our Facebook group or post a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #DestinationQAL. We enjoy seeing and commenting on each person’s finished blocks.

Segment 3: September 14 to October 19

• September 14 – Block 9: Karen Thurn @ Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats  — Find Block Nine There
• September 21 – Block 10: Becca Fenstermaker @ Pretty Piney Quilts — Find Block Ten There
• September 28 – Block 11: Sherry Shish @ Powered by Quilting  — Find Block Eleven There
• October 5 – Block 12: Bobbi Bridgeman @ Snowy Days Quilting — Find Block Twelve There
• October 5 — Segment 3 Wrap-up and linky provided for segment prize and linky provided for Grand Prize
• October 19th 7:59 am Eastern time — Deadline to enter picture for Segment 3 Prize
• October 19th – Segment 3 Winner Announced

Segment Three Prizes

At the end of this segment, a prize package will be offered. Make all four blocks and follow the directions on the Segment wrap-up post to enter to win. We allow for creative changes and embellishments but each block must be made using the given patterns to be eligible. A grand prize giveaway will be held for making all 12 blocks. More details coming on the Segment wrap-up post.

Six Month Subscription to Make Modern. An online magazine for quilters, by quilters, filled with beautiful patterns and articles to inspire quilters like us to make more modern quilts!

And a pattern from each of these designer’s shops!

Becca Fenstermaker of Pretty Piney 
Sherry Shish of Powered by Quilting $10 shop credit 

Don’t Miss Out on My Previous Destination QAL Posts

Segment 1:

Tu-Na Quilts: Announcing the Next Quilt-a-Long with Partners in Design —Introduction and a look at my fabric selection.

Tu-Na Quilts: Destination QAL Block 1 — Canyon Block

Tu-Na Quilts: Destination QAL Block 2 — Camper Block

Tu-Na Quilts: Destination QAL Block 3 — Fair Block

Tu-Na Quilts: Destination QAL Block 4 — Turtle Beach

Segment One Wrap-Up

Segment 2:

Tu-Na Quilts: Destination QAL Block 5 — Ferry

Tu-Na Quilts: Destination QAL Block 6 — Covered Bridge

Tu-Na Quilts: Destination QAL Block 7 — Cityscape

Tu-Na Quilts: Destination QAL Block 8 — Lake

Segment Two Wrap-Up 

Segment 3:

Tu-Na Quilts: Destination QAL Block 9 — Road Trip designed by me. I sewed three of these.

What I Learned Today:

1. I like my man as well as my quilt blocks clean-shaven.
2. I do have will-power! This week I savored unwrapping my fabric orders limiting to one per day.
   

   One yard cuts of good blenders and some solids.

   

   One-yard cuts of Kaffe for my Kaffe collection. Two yards of an Art Gallery floral and some stripe for binding. But wait, I think it’s just what I’ve been looking for…

3. I’ve found the binding for my next quilt.
   

   I’ll use solids for the 4 1/2″ paper pieced blocks. I’ll be adding more to make the quilt larger. My granddaughter is three. She’ll have fun with this quilt. Hopefully, I’ll get it done before she graduates.

4. Finally, I can never have too many coneflowers.
   

   I showed three coneflower fabrics on last week’s post. Here’s two more that arrived this week.

5. Ordering fabric online is too easy.

Question: Where would your three arrows direct you? Tu-Na Helper and I’ve been on hiking trails and have come upon signs that look similar to the pattern, but usually they say, “Danger, falling rock.” Or “Caution, Watch for Rattlesnakes. Or “Flash Flood Area.”

Thanks for stopping by and do come again.

Karen, Tu-Na Quilts

At this time I am not affiliated with any of the products, shops, or services that I mention here on Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats. I just happen to like them.