Women’s Voices

Women’s Voices Block of the Month

General tips, fabric keys and suggested accessories.

Posted by me..Tracy B.

This is a quilt that I have wanted to make for quite some time and it has been a good challenge for me. I will use this page to post tips, fabric keys and any accessories that I think would be helpful to you. Sort of like a bulletin board for those of us working on this quilt. If you have any tips that you would like to share you can send me an email here and I will add your tips or images to this page. Check back here often for updates.

Jan. 2010-I finally finished my Women’s Voices quilt top! You can read my post here.

Be sure and save all of your scraps from your blocks each month to use as cornerstones in your sashing, which you will receive in month 13.

Women's Voices block

Women’s Voices Block of the Month
General tips

Months 1-12 you will make 2 blocks each month. Month 13 your receive fabric to make one block and your sashing fabric. (tan or black)

Save all of your scraps each month and at the end of the program you will cut your 36 corner sets for the sashing from the scraps.

The pattern has templates for you to trace if you want to use templates for cutting your pieces. I prefer rotary cutting so I just measure the templates with my acrylic ruler and cut the measurements from the fabric pieces.
This does require a bit of planning. Think about how many pieces you need to get our of your fabric strips before you start cutting so that you don’t fall short. It’s helpful to draw yourself a small diagram of your fabric size and how the pieces will fit within the measurements.

Each month you will receive a background fabric, corner sets and 4 fabrics that I have numbered in the Fabric Keys (available to download below). These are only our suggested use of the fabrics. If you prefer to use your 4 fabrics in a different order that is up to you. You could paste a small snippet of your fabrics on your pattern to remind you of your fabric numbers.

Every month the first step I took was to cut my 8 surrounding strips from the background fabric and set them aside.

General Sewing tips
Always a good idea for any project…

Don’t forget to replace the blade in your rotary cutter occasionally. A fresh blade makes cutting easier, more precise, extends the life of your cutting mat and helps to alleviate strain on your wrists and hands.

Microtex Sharp sewing machine needles are great for sewing precise seams. Replace your sewing machine needles often, not just when they break! Damaged or worn needles result in broken or shredded threads, skipped stitches, puckered fabrics, damaged fabrics and uneven threads. Replacing your sewing machine needle is the easiest way to improve your stitch quality.

Fabric Keys and Tips