Join our Fireworks Finale Sew Along! Getting Started...

[Applause] Hi everyone. Welcome to the fireworks finale sew along. I'm Audra from So Dreamy Studio. And I'm her mom Bonnie and we're excited to sew this heritage inspired quilt with you celebrating America's 250th birthday. This is our first time hosting a quilting block of the month and we are so excited to take you along this journey and make this beautiful quilt. We want to make it fun and approachable and maybe a little firework worthy. Over the next 6 months, we will be walking you block by block through the stunning quilt. And month six is actually two blocks. You'll have your final block as well as a optional border that you can add to your quilt. Each month, the video tutorials will walk you through each block and so it won't be overwhelming for you. We'll also be sewing along with you this whole time. We've sewn the blocks that we need for our tutorials, but we also have complete quilts to finish as well. So, we will be posting in the Quilt and Stitch America 250 Facebook group and I'll also be posting on my So Dreamy social channels, all which are listed below. To get started, first and foremost is fabric choice. You can choose the fireworks finale fabric pack or you can choose to make a scrappy version. So mom did the fireworks finale fabric pack. I'm doing a scrappy version which we'll talk about in a little bit. And then also gathering your preferred sewing notions. We are using all the Missouri Star cutting tools as well as rulers and also using the clearly perfect slotted trimmer which is an absolute game changer on this project for half square triangles. It's important right from the beginning to get your fabric cut and sorted by color and or by month. In my case, I sort them all by month. And you can see I've got them in bags labeled 1 2 3. Also on your fabric key, I'm using the kit and you can see that the reds, the blues, and the whites are very similar, but have a slightly different design. So, I even made notes about which one was fabric A or B or C just to avoid any confusion later on. For my quilt, I am doing a scrappy version with compilations of scraps from my own stash, as well as a fat quarter bundle from Robert Kaufman Picnics and Parade and a 10-in square pack from Maywood Studios called Star Spangled Beauty. Because my fabric key is different than the fabric key that comes in the pattern itself, I have to take a little bit of time and sort along color values. And I also switched the background from a dark to a light which meant I changed my whites to a different more tealish color and made sure to note that in my fabric key. Also, similar to mom, I sort all my things in bags per month. So, all my months are sorted once I've completed everything per the cutting guide. And then also because I can never let a good scrap go to waste, I actually keep a Ziploc bag of additional scraps from when I'm cutting that I really loved and want to turn into something else that might go with a quilt. Maybe a pillow, maybe a bag. I honestly don't know, but I just couldn't let these fabrics go to waste. So, I also have a little bag set to the side for those as well. The last thing to do is make sure your machine is all cleaned and ready to go and it's threaded with a neutral color thread. We are using Orurafhll white. Hey mom, remember when we first learned how to quilt? Oh, I sure do. We both have been sewing for many years and decided we needed to take a quilt class cuz we had never tried that. And little did we know few years later we'd be teaching someone else to do it. We really love how sewing brings us together. And we really hope that this brings your family together, especially during the holidays. Whether it's America's 250 or any other holiday in your family, we hope that you make this quilt and enjoy picnics and hang it from your porch and really enjoy quality time together and learn along the way. And don't forget to post your progress on the Quilted Stitch America 250 Facebook page where we will also be sharing our progress as we go through each month. Our next video is month one, which is the Mrs. Smith's favorite block. We'll see you there. Happy sewing. Happy sewing. [Music]