Shine Quilt Sew Along

The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #qal #quilting

It's time to Shine! Starting September 23, 2020 we will launch the final sew along of the year featuring the Shine quilt pattern. Shine is the third design in a series of four quilts that represent the four seasons in a year. Grow and Thrive were our previous quilt patterns and quilt alongs (check out the sew along tab for detailed, week-by-week information on those) and in a few weeks I will announce our final pattern release – Gather.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. For now, we are SHINING! The primary skill involved in making this quilt is improvisational cutting. Instead of cutting traditional straight strips, in this design, we vary the width of our strips to create completely unique blocks.

Shine Sew Along Main Points

  • Who: You! Us! Anyone who wants to participate can join. There is no official sign-up, but lots of different ways to participate. Read below for more details.
  • What: We will make a throw Shine quilt. You can purchase the PDF pattern here.
  • Where: Everything is online, which is just sooooo 2020. haha! Updates will be posted on this blog and also on Instagram and in the Suzy Quilts Patterns Facebook group.
  • When: September 23 - November 10, 2020
  • Why: Following along with the hashtag on Instagram and seeing what hundreds of other quilters are making is really inspiring! Plus there are prizes... 😉
The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #qal #quilting
The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #qal #quilting
The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #qal #quilting

And here's one more of my sweet Desi and his baby Shine quilt because I can't help myself...

The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #qal #quilting

What Does a Suzy Quilts Sew Along Look Like?

If you participated in our other community sew alongs, you know the drill. Basically, a SQ sew along is when a group of the coolest and most talented people in the world get together virtually (a.k.a. online) and sew the same pattern (Shine) over a set amount of time. We have weekly "assignments" and post our progress online for everyone to see! Oh! And prizes! We've got some amazing prizes for you!

The really exciting thing is that with an out-of-the-box pattern, like this improv design, nobody has to muddle through alone. There will be lots of support via Instagram, Facebook and through this very blog.

Trending patterns!

The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #quiltedpillow #quilting

The Shine Sew Along Includes:

  • Prizes! Every week by posting your progress to Instagram and using #ShineQuiltSA you will be entered into that week's giveaway. Each week is sponsored by an amazing company, hand picked by me, to award one lucky person a free prize! You must have a public Instagram profile to participate.
  • Skill sharing. I sew strips a certain way, but someone else may have another way. The great thing about sharing knowledge is that you can gather everyone's opinions and then form your own! I bet we'll all come out on the other side with new skills.
  • Support. My fellow strip sewers...no, that won't do. You need a nickname. I think you know where I'm going with this...My fellow strippers, I’m here for you – in mind, body, and quilt. Here’s what support for this sew along will include:
  1. A weekly blog post explaining your "homework assignment," any helpful tips, and what I’m working on. A new post will go live every Wednesday morning around 8:00am Central (I'm in Chicago...so that time zone). 
  2. A weekly newsletter will go out the following Saturday morning reminding you about that week's prompt. If you're not already signed up for the SQ newsletter, sign up here!
  3. A Facebook group for any and all questions that we can answer as a team or I can answer myself. Ya’ll know how obsessed I am with the Suzy Quilts Patterns FB group. The group dynamic is positive, uplifting, helpful, and I am always learning from the other members. This group will remain a forum for all SQ patterns, but during the Shine Sew Along it will be a great place for questions about the pattern and sew along specifics. I will also be posting videos and Live Q&A sessions in both the FB group and on Instagram.
  4. Live video events on both Instagram and Facebook. These will be on Thursdays at 7:30pm CST for the duration of the sew along.
The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #quiltedpillow #quilting

Shine Quilt Sew Along Schedule

  • Week 1, September 23Pick fabric, gather supplies and choose your pattern layout (if different from the original)
  • Week 2, September 30: Extra time gathering fabric and cut background fabric
  • Week 3, October 7: Cut and sew 4 blocks
  • Week 4, October 14: Cut and sew 4 blocks
  • Week 5, October ​21: Cut and sew 4 blocks
  • Week 6, October ​28: Cut and sew 4 blocks
  • Week 7, ​November 4: Assemble the quilt top
The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #modernquilt #quilting

When you don't have time to hand quilt all by yourself, you bring in your friends to help! My friend, Caitlyn, spent an entire weekend listening to audiobooks and watching movies while helping me hand quilt. Isn't she the best!?

Hand quilting is such a beautiful way to finish a Shine quilt. For a full tutorial with video, check out this blog post - How to Hand Quilt.

The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #modernquilt #quilting
The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #modernquilt #quilting
The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #modernquilt #quilting

How to Participate

By signing up for the Suzy Quilts newsletter you will get updates on the sew along. After that, your level of involvement is completely up to you.

The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #modernquilt #quilting

Sew Along Supplies

The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #modernquilt #quilting
The Shine quilt sew along includes lots of added tips and videos to help you make this modern quilt pattern. This fat quarter quilt pattern is beginner friendly and focuses on improv sewing. suzyquilts.com #modernquilt #quilting

Sponsors & Prizes

Each week we will go into more detail about these prizes and our wonderful sponsors, but here's a taste of what to look forward to!

  1. September 23: Sewing Arts Center
  2. September 30: Cottoneer Fabrics
  3. October 7: Needle and Grain and Jillian Kate
  4. October 14: DuckaDilly
  5. October 21: Lavender Fields and Finch Knitting & Sewing Studio
  6. October 28: Fabricworm
  7. November 4: Fabric Stork

22 thoughts on “Shine Quilt Sew Along

  1. Denise Newman says:

    Hello
    Oftentimes the competitions are not open to quilters outside the USA. Is this true of your sew along?
    Although, for me its all about the sense of belonging and connecting with other quilters, it is disappointing to find out after the start of a sew along that you cannot win a prize if you are not in the States.

  2. Pam says:

    Looking forward to the shine quilt along. Getting my fabric ready.
    You have such a gift for selecting fabric. I am new to this creativity outlet – could you recommend resources that can help me with how to select colours and pattern sizes?

  3. Mary Ann says:

    This is my first sew along and first experience with an improv pattern. I love your completed projects and the examples that others have posted using this pattern. I hope my ideas translate well to this pattern. I’m ready to give it a whirl!

  4. Elizabeth McCoy says:

    Looking forward to giving this a try! By the way, trying to purchase the pattern and getting Chinese characters on the credit card payment page on paypal. Haven’t completed the transaction yet, but will keep trying.

    • Suzy Quilts says:

      Definitely! You will need more than one jelly roll, and you also may want to mix in some scraps, but if you cut the strips to the lengths mentioned in the pattern, you can then stack a few on top of each other and make them wonky. I hope that makes sense!

  5. Phyllis Prom says:

    Hi Suzy. I purchased the Shine pattern but cannot find the video where I can watch you make the block. I Google the website given but got a lot of other people’s information. Could you please send me the info for the tutorial. Thanks Phyllis Prom

  6. Carolyn Seubert says:

    Once again your “alluring arts” (remember that phrase from Lady Catherine de Berg in “Pride and Prejudice”?) have really tempted me, Ms. Suzy. But, my project “to do” list is just getting seriously out of control. However, I’ll definitely “star” this one as I’m really into improvisational style quilts and this one looks especially awesome.

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