It’s the final week of the Funshine Quilt Along 2020. We’re quilting Funshine and previewing April’s quilt!
For 2020, we’ve collected 12 of our most popular quilt patterns. We’ll make a quilt a month and cover the creative process from selecting colors and fabrics, piecing and assembly tips, and quilting ideas to help you finish your quilt. Click Here  to check out the quilts so you can pick which ones you want to make in 2020! March’s quilt is Funshine.
Funshine Schedule
Over the next few weeks, we’ll make our Funshine quilts. Check out the schedule below.
Fabric Pull & Cutting – Click Here
Units Construction – Click Here
Quilt Assembly – Click Here
Quilting Ideas – See Below!
Giveaway Announcement – April 1st
And you can click here  to find all of Quilt Along 2020 in one place.
Next month’s Quilt Along starts April 1st , no foolin’, so mark your calendars now!
Making a Quilt Sandwich
Lay the backing down on a flat surface, wrong side up. Place the batting in the center of the backing. Center the quilt on top of the batting right side up. Baste with spray, pins, large stitches, or any other method you prefer.
Check out this video on how to spray baste a quilt!
VIDEO
Select a Quilting Design
As you select or create a quilting design, it’s important to keep your machine in mind. Straight lines and gentle curves lend themselves to a walking foot.
Quilting designs with dramatic curves and fluid lines lend themselves to freemotion quilting. If your machine can drop its feed dogs and you have a hopping foot, you can freemotion quilt on your home machine.
Here’s a video on setting up your home machine for freemotion quilting.
VIDEO
And of course, hand quilting goes great with quilt as you go. Traditional hand quilting brings elegance to every design, and more modern big stitching brings a lot of whimsy and playfulness. Click here for a big stitch quilting tutorial!
Big stitch quilting by Sarah Fielke
Factor these options into your creative choices for your quilting designs. Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s take a look at some ideas for quilting Funshine.
Funshine Quilting Ideas
A simple grid is one of the easiest designs to quilt and great for quick finishes. Use a walking foot and be sure to change directions from line to line, so if you start top to bottom, quilt the next row bottom to top. Try marking the quilt with painter’s tape, following the tape’s edge for your straight line while quilting. The piano key border and sashing in Funshine are fun to accentuate with two lines of quilting for an extra twist.
Quilting an X and echoing it is a youthful option that can be produced on the sewing machine or with hand quilting. Try different distances between echoes for unique patterns.
Orange Peel
This design uses all straight lines to create flow from one area to another. The quilting pushes and pulls the eye to focus on different parts of the quilt.
Vertical wavy lines are a fun, easy all-over design for quilting Funshine. Depending on the height of the waves, it’s totally possible to quilt the design with a walking foot.
The Pattern
If you like to have the pattern at your fingertips before starting, we’ve got you covered.
Click Here  for the FREE Funshine pattern.
In addition to the free pattern, we’ve written a special Funshine ePattern  you can purchase and download instantly!
Funshine ePattern  features a 60″ x 60″, 87″ x 87″, and 87″ x 99″ version of the quilt with easy-to-follow instructions. There are more ways than ever to make your quilt special with the Funshine ePattern .
And while you’re at ShopAQS , why not grab batting batting purchase !
March Giveaway
Each month you’ll have the opportunity to enter to win a fun quilting prize. The month the prize is a fat quarter bundle from P&B Textiles.
Enter below!
 Having trouble with the survey? Click here for the web version.
Enter by the end of the month! The winner will be announced April 1st.
Join the fun!
Get involved with a community of quilters in the AQS Project Parade Facebook group  to show off your creations and chat with fellow quilters. Use the hashtag #QuiltAlong2020 and tag us @aqsonline on Instagram  so we can share your quilts!
April’s Quilt is… Down Home!
Down Home is 72″ x 72″ finished and full of that Down Home charm! Check out the schedule below.
Fabric Pull & Cutting Instructions – April 1
Unit Construction – April 8
Quilt Assembly – April 15
Quilting – April 22
You can check out the free pattern here buy the pattern here Â
Join the fun!
Get involved with a community of quilters in the AQS Project Parade @aqsonline on Instagram
Use this badge to tell the world you’re taking part in Quilt Along 2020. Right click to save.
Members get even more…
AQS Members can access hundreds of patterns and digital issues of American Quilter at any time!
Find quilt along series like Forever & A Day, 30 Days of Birds and more.
Not a member? Join today!
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