Last month board was a checkerboard that can be used to play several games.
We made the Checkers game piece, but what about Chess?
Here some ideas how to make cute chess pieces!

If you didn't hear about the QAL before, please visit the Play with Me QAL page! 
This is a wonderful Skill Builder, because every month I will be featuring a different technique and we will have step by step instructions to walk you through the entire process, from cut to finishing.

Visit the QAL page to find all the quilt layout, all the future boards and rules to participate.
I recommend you to subscribe to the QAL announcements via email, so you don't miss out on future posts! You find the subscription form on the same QAL page.

Now let's take out the cross stitching material, and let's put together these pieces!!

Remember that the pattern for the boards are shared for free via email to the people that completed and shared last month pattern.

If you didn't, you have two options:
  1. you can buy the Nine Men's Morris pattern from my shop and get back in the QAL free patterns list
  2. you can buy the Checkerboard pattern from my shop, complete the board, share that with me in the linky/email and then I will send you the Nine Men's Morris for free and you can get back in the QAL free patterns list

Next week I will share the new board so enter your finished boards in the linky if you want to get the next patter for free!

So are you excited about this QAL?
I surely am!! Grab my button and share the love (button on the side bar)!
The more people join in, the more fun it will be!!

I am adding the linky to every post so it's easy to find. It's the same linky in every page!



Until next week,
Happy Stitching!!


Remember: all the details about the series are collected in the QAL web page.

It's finally time to make those pieces and start playing with the game board!!!

If you didn't hear about the QAL before, please visit the Play with Me QAL page! 
This is a wonderful Skill Builder, because every month I will be featuring a different technique and we will have step by step instructions to walk you through the entire process, from cut to finishing.

Visit the QAL page to find all the quilt layout, all the future boards and rules to participate.
I recommend you to subscribe to the QAL announcements via email, so you don't miss out on future posts! You find the subscription form on the same QAL page.

Now let's take out the crochet hook, and let's put together these super easy pieces!!


TIP: if you don't like this technique, or you want pieces done with different techniques, I suggest you to wait :) several future boards have pieces that are round and of similar sizes. I will share different techniques for each board pieces so you could make checker pieces with the technique presented as Go pieces and viceversa. All those future posts are secret, so I cannot tell you what they are :) but if you don't like this one, just don't feel obligated to make the full set now.

Remember that the pattern for the board is shared for free via email to the people that completed and shared last month pattern.
If you did that, you should get the pattern by the end of today!

If you didn't, you have two options:
  1. you can buy the Nine Men's Morris pattern from my shop and get back in the QAL free patterns list
  2. you can buy the Checkerboard pattern from my shop, complete the board, share that with me in the linky/email and then I will send you the Nine Men's Morris for free and you can get back in the QAL free patterns list

Next week I will share some ideas on how to make Chess pieces and the following week I will share the new board!

So are you excited about this QAL?
I surely am!! Grab my button and share the love (button on the side bar)!
The more people join in, the more fun it will be!!

Until next week,
Happy Stitching!!


Remember: all the details about the series are collected in the QAL web page.

Let's play with quilting, on our new game board!!

If you didn't hear about the QAL before, please visit the Play with Me QAL page! 
This is a wonderful Skill Builder, because every month I will be featuring a different technique and we will have step by step instructions to walk you through the entire process, from cut to finishing.

Visit the QAL page to find all the quilt layout, all the future boards and rules to participate.
I recommend you to subscribe to the QAL announcements via email, so you don't miss out on future posts! You find the subscription form on the same QAL page.

**IMPORTANT WARNING**
Please read carefully these warnings, as I am struggling with several people not following these rules. I don't want anyone to be disappointed, but I make rules to be fair and to keep myself sane as managing a group with about 300 people is not so easy!

* as mentioned several times before, if you post your picture on FB, your blog, Instagram, FlickR or anywhere on the web, I cannot count that as entry for giveaway or to send you the next pattern, because I cannot hunt down your email address!!! YOU have to either add your link to the linky, or YOU have to send me a direct email with the picture and you need to give me permission to post it in our linky. The LINK PARTY is the ONLY place where I draw winners from and where I get emails for future patterns. I can help you with that (I did it already for several people, it takes me about 15 seconds to do it) but YOU have to send me an email for that.

Now... let's get back to today's post and let's talk about quilting!

Download my quilting ideas for the board HERE


Remember that the pattern for the board is shared for free via email to the people that completed and shared last month pattern.

If you didn't get the pattern, you have two options:
  • you can buy the Nine Men's Morris pattern from my shop and get back in the QAL free patterns list
  • you can buy the Checkerboard pattern from my shop, complete the board, share that with me in the linky/email and then I will send you the Nine Men's Morris for free and you can get back in the QAL free patterns list

If you need more information, please send me an email at tweloq(at)gmail(dot)com.
For the full list of rules and explanation on how/where to share your projects, please refer to the post listing all the QAL rules!

Next week I will give you some ideas on how to build your own game pieces, so you can start using the board to play!

So are you excited about this QAL?
I surely am!! Grab my button and share the love (button on the side bar)!
The more people join in, the more fun it will be!!

I am adding the linky to every post so it's easy to find. It's the same linky in every page!


Until next week,
Happy Stitching!!



Remember: all the details about the series are collected in the QAL web page.

Let's share our blocks, cheer each other up and inspire the quilting community!

If you didn't hear about the QAL before, please visit the Play with Me QAL page! 
Visit the QAL page to find all the quilt layout, all the future boards and rules to participate.
I recommend you to subscribe to the QAL announcements via email, so you don't miss out on future posts! You find the subscription form on the same QAL page.

Now let's get down to some details.

This month game board is the Nine Men's Morris, 
and the skill used to make it is Foundation Paper Piecing!


Read carefully the tips in the instructions... there are some ideas about how to pick colors that may help you being even more successful with PP!

Remember that the pattern for the board is shared for free via email to the people that completed and shared last month pattern.
If you did that, you already received your pattern in your inbox!

If you didn't, you have two options:
  1. you can buy the Nine Men's Morris pattern from my shop and get back in the QAL free patterns list
  2. you can buy the Checkerboard pattern from my shop, complete the board, share that with me in the linky/email and then I will send you the Nine Men's Morris for free and you can get back in the QAL free patterns list

If you need more information, please send me an email at tweloq(at)gmail(dot)com.
For the full list of rules and explanation on how/where to share your projects, please refer to the post listing all the QAL rules!

And if you need an extra incentive, we are going to have THREE winners for this month. 
So this what you are playing for:

Winner 1
Fat Quarter Shop: $25 gift certificate for a lucky winner each month!
Winner 2
Mad About Patchwork: $25 gift certificate for a lucky winner each month!
Winner 3
Aurifil, designer collection (shipped by me, to everywhere in the world!)

Yummy thread to quilt your boards! 
Moonshine Strawberry (by Tula Pink)
50 weight 

I will draw the random winners between all the people entering a pieced Nine Men's Morris board (or a Checkerboard not entered in previous drawings).
I will announce the winners when I share the next month pattern.

-- FOUNDATION PAPER PIECING: IMPORTANT WARNING!
If you don't want to run into problems of printing your pattern pieces to a wrong size, I highly advise you NOT to print the patterns (or any PDF) from your browser. 
You should download the pdf to your computer and use a third party software (like Adobe Reader, which is free) to open and print the pattern.
Setting the scaling to "None" or to "100%" may NOT be enough for browser printing because browsers are not designed to be accurate in printing, they are designed to be good for browsing the web :) yes, of course they CAN print, but that doesn't mean they do it properly.
Would you go in an Italian restaurant and order a Spring Roll? Well, of course the Italian chef can make it, but would it make it as good as a chef from an Asian restaurant?
So PRINT from ADOBE READER (or similar program) and BROWSE from the BROWSER. :)

Note: Of course that doesn't mean that all browsers have problems, as not all Italian restaurants are bad in preparing Spring Rolls. But why risking it!?! Plus browsers change and get updated all the time so maybe now it is working fine, but in the next version it won't (or viceversa). Adobe Reader is a program designed to deal with PDF viewing and printing, so that is always going to be more reliable than a browser for these tasks!

Final note: if you make the block and it is the wrong size, just adapt the sashing to fix the issue. In my patterns we never require a super exact measure. As long as the boards end up of approximately the same size, the trimming will be minimal. We aim at fun, not at accuracy!! :)

So, let's link up our game boards, friends!
** You just need to have the board pieced, no sashing, quilting or finishing is required **



Next week I will give you some quilting ideas for the board, and the following week we are going to work on Nine Men's Morris game pieces and the following one Chess game pieces!

So are you excited about this QAL?
I surely am!! Grab my button and share the love (button on the side bar)!
The more people join in, the more fun it will be!!

Until next week,
Happy Stitching!!


Remember: all the details about the series are collected in the QAL web page.

Life has been crazy today!
Sorry for the delayed announcement...

Here is what Mr. Random decided:
From left to right, winner of prizes 1, 2, 3.

Winner 1: Kathy S.
Fat Quarter Shop: $25 gift certificate for a lucky winner each month!
Winner 2: Carla
Mad About Patchwork: $25 gift certificate for a lucky winner each month!
Winner 3: Marlene
Green Fairy Quilts: $15 gift certificate for a lucky winner this month!

Congratulations ladies!! I already sent you an email and as soon as you will confirm me that I can share your email addresses with our wonderful sponsors, I will forward it to them and you will be soon be able to enjoy some cool online shopping!!

For all the ones that didn't win: congratulations anyway! Your boards are beautiful and if you keep up the wonderful work, you will have plenty more chances to win!!




The QAL is in full swing! Today I share the second board game of the QAL!

If you didn't hear about the QAL before, please visit the Play with Me QAL page! 
This is a wonderful Skill Builder, because every month I will be featuring a different technique and we will have step by step instructions to walk you through the entire process, from cut to finishing.

Visit the QAL page to find all the quilt layout, all the future boards and rules to participate.
I recommend you to subscribe to the QAL announcements via email, so you don't miss out on future posts! You find the subscription form on the same QAL page.

Now let's get down to some details.

This month game board is the Nine Men's Morris, 
and the skill used to make it is Foundation Paper Piecing!

Do not run away screaming!! Paper piecing has a bad reputation but this pattern is basically a log cabin, so you will have it together in no time!!!

Read carefully the tips in the instructions... there are some ideas about how to pick colors that may help you being even more successful with PP!

Remember that the pattern for the board is shared for free via email to the people that completed and shared last month pattern.
If you did that, you should get the pattern by the end of today!

If you didn't, you have two options:
  1. you can buy the Nine Men's Morris pattern from my shop (available in few days) and get back in the QAL free patterns list by sharing the picture of the finished block in the linky/email;
  2. you can buy the Checkerboard pattern from my shop, complete the board, share that with me in the linky/email and then I will send you the Nine Men's Morris for free and you can get back in the QAL free patterns list

If you need more information, please send me an email at tweloq(at)gmail(dot)com.
For the full list of rules and explanation on how/where to share your projects, please refer to the post listing all the QAL rules!

I will announce the winners of the first month prizes in a second post later today!
This current post is posted automatically on Feb 1st morning, but I need some extra time to draw the random winners and get in touch with them. :)
ETA: winners have been announced in this post!

Next week I will feature the link party where you can link up your boards.
The following week I will give you some quilting ideas for the board, and the week after that we are going to work on Nine Men's Morris game pieces!

So are you excited about this QAL?
I surely am!! Grab my button and share the love (button on the side bar)!
The more people join in, the more fun it will be!!

Until next week,
Happy Stitching!!


Remember: all the details about the series are collected in the QAL web page.

It's finally time to make those pieces and start playing with the game board!!!

If you didn't hear about the QAL before, please visit the Play with Me QAL page! 
This is a wonderful Skill Builder, because every month I will be featuring a different technique and we will have step by step instructions to walk you through the entire process, from cut to finishing.

Visit the QAL page to find all the quilt layout, all the future boards and rules to participate.
I recommend you to subscribe to the QAL announcements via email, so you don't miss out on future posts! You find the subscription form on the same QAL page.

Now let's take out the crochet hook, and let's put together these super easy pieces!!

TIP: if you don't like crochet, or you want pieces done with different techniques, I suggest you to wait :) several future boards have pieces that are round and of similar sizes. I will share different techniques for each board pieces so you could make checker pieces with the technique presented as Go pieces and viceversa. All those future posts are secret, so I cannot tell you what they are :) but if you don't like this one, just don't feel obligated to make the full set now.

Remember that the pattern for the Checkerboard is shared for free, in January, via email.
If you subscribed for the updates, you already got it!
If you didn't, please send me an email at tweloq(at)gmail(dot)com.
I will send you the pattern and add to the list of subscribers.
To get the next pattern for free you need to share a picture of the current month block.
For full rules and explanation on how/where to share your projects, please refer to the post listing all the QAL rules!

Next week I will share the next pattern, so get your checker boards done if you want to get the pattern for free!!!

And if you need an extra incentive, we are going to have THREE winners for this month, because Mad About Patchwork joined our fabulous line up of sponsors! So this what you are playing for:

Winner 1
Fat Quarter Shop: $25 gift certificate for a lucky winner each month!
Winner 2
Mad About Patchwork: $25 gift certificate for a lucky winner each month!
Winner 3
Green Fairy Quilts: $15 gift certificate for a lucky winner this month!

Winners will be randomly drawn from all the entries in the link party entered before Sunday, January 31st, 11:59 PM EST.

So are you excited about this QAL?
I surely am!! Grab my button and share the love (button on the side bar)!
The more people join in, the more fun it will be!!

I am adding the linky to every post so it's easy to find. It's the same linky in every page!



Until next week,
Happy Stitching!!


Remember: all the details about the series are collected in the QAL web page.

Let's play with quilting on our checkerboard!!

If you didn't hear about the QAL before, please visit the Play with Me QAL page! 
This is a wonderful Skill Builder, because every month I will be featuring a different technique and we will have step by step instructions to walk you through the entire process, from cut to finishing.

Visit the QAL page to find all the quilt layout, all the future boards and rules to participate.
I recommend you to subscribe to the QAL announcements via email, so you don't miss out on future posts! You find the subscription form on the same QAL page.

**IMPORTANT WARNINGS**
Please read carefully these two warnings, as I am struggling with several people not following these rules. I don't want anyone to be disappointed, but I make rules to be fair and to keep myself sane as managing a group with about 300 people is not so easy!

* as I mentioned before, the emails with the pattern come directly from me. This means that if you subscribed to the event after I sent out the pattern (Jan 4th) it is YOUR responsibility to send me an email and ask for the pattern. The pattern won't magically appear in your inbox. You can also comment on my blog and by leaving me your email I will get back to you within 24 hours.

* as mentioned several times before, if you post your picture on FB, your blog, Instagram, FlickR or anywhere on the web, I cannot count that as entry for giveaway or to send you the next pattern, because I cannot hunt down your email address!!! YOU have to either add your link to the linky, or YOU have to send me a direct email with the picture and you need to give me permission to post it in our linky. The LINK PARTY is the ONLY place where I draw winners from and where I get emails for future patterns. I can help you with that (I did it already for several people, it takes me about 15 seconds to do it) but YOU have to send me an email for that.

Now... let's get back to today's post and let's talk about quilting!


Remember that the pattern for the Checkerboard is shared for free, in January, via email
If you subscribed for the updates, you already got it!
If you didn't, please send me an email at tweloq(at)gmail(dot)com.
I will send you the pattern and add to the list of subscribers.
To get the next pattern for free you need to share a picture of the current month block.
For full rules and explanation on how/where to share your projects, please refer to the post listing all the QAL rules!

Next week I will give you some ideas on how to build your own checkers pieces, so you can start using the board to play!

So are you excited about this QAL?
I surely am!! Grab my button and share the love (button on the side bar)!
The more people join in, the more fun it will be!!

I am adding the linky to every post so it's easy to find. It's the same linky in every page!


Until next week,
Happy Stitching!!


Remember: all the details about the series are collected in the QAL web page.
(my beloved SK blocks)

 Many of my readers are here because of the Play with Me QAL.

However, I have many more patterns shared in the past couple of years and that I am slowly moving from my personal website (tweloquilting.blogspot.com) to here.

As I move them here, I will write feature posts to let everyone know about them!
During the year I may also design new patterns and those will also find their way to update posts.

But for today, let me share all the patterns I designed for my Stephen King (SK) project.
My goal is to make 2 blocks for each of his books: one with the opening line of the book and one with the book cover. For now most of the progress has been in embroider the opening line blocks, but I have few book covers done and more are in design phase.


Find all the patterns at alidatweloqdesigns.blogspot.com/p/stephen-king.html


Let's share our blocks, cheer each other up and inspire the quilting community!

If you didn't hear about the QAL before, please visit the Play with Me QAL page! 
Visit the QAL page to find all the quilt layout, all the future boards and rules to participate.
I recommend you to subscribe to the QAL announcements via email, so you don't miss out on future posts! You find the subscription form on the same QAL page.

Now let's get down to some details.

This month game board is the Checkerboard, 
and the skill used to make it is Bargello!

Remember that the pattern for the Checkerboard is shared for free via email.
If you subscribed for the updates, you already got it!
If you didn't, please send me an email at tweloq(at)gmail(dot)com. I will send you the pattern and add to the list of subscribers.
To get the next pattern for free you need to share a picture of the current month block.
For full rules and explanation on how/where to share your projects, please refer to the post listing all the QAL rules!

Few administrative issues:
  1. I had few people getting in touch with me because they didn't receive the pattern.
    Two of the main issues were: 
    • not being subscribed to the right mailing list. The specific one for the QAL is the one in the QAL page. This is the mailing list I (personally and manually) use to get in touch directly with you for updates, share patterns, etc. General updates from my blog(s) that get into your inbox may come from readers, bloglovin, etc... those are NOT the mailing list I use as I don't have control over those things. If you want to get updates directly from me, leave me your email on the QAL page, by using the Google Form on the main page (NOT the subscribe in the right side bar). You can leave your address multiple times, I check for duplicates :)
    • the attachment was "lost" somehow. This is not something I can control, as it depends on your email provider. The file was relatively big (5.3MB) but I couldn't make it smaller if I wanted to keep the quality of images, pictures, links, etc. I will try to keep them as small as possible, but if you find this issue, having a gmail account may help you. It's free to get one and their limit is 25MB. In general 10MB is considered safe for the maximum size of an email (that's what wikipedia says!) so I will not go above 10 but with pictures it could be hard to make it smaller than 5!
  2. the next pattern will be sent only to people that share their pieced checkerboard and leave me their contact information (either through the linky or as listed in the rules linked above). However all people subscribed to the QAL mailing will still get updates and reminders, so it's good to be there even if you don't follow along and you don't get the patterns.
  3. I had few people asking me about the sashing of the boards, if I can provide guidance on alternative layouts, etc. I put together this document and I hope it can help

    Click here to download the PDF version of the document

Fun "administrative" news: the Fat Quarter Shop is sponsoring the event and they offer a $25 gift certificate for a lucky winner each month. There will also be a surprise grand prize at the end of the QAL!!!

And to make the beginning of the QAL even more interesting, Green Fairy Quilts offers a $15 gift certificate for a second lucky winner!!


Show some love to these wonderful sponsors, and browse their great selection of fabric and tools.
If you show them some love, they will love you back with more prizes!! Wink wink :) :)

I will draw the random winners between all the people entering a pieced checkerboard.
I will announce the winners when I share the next month pattern.

So, let's link up our checkerboards, friends!
** You just need to have the board pieced, no sashing, quilting or finishing is required **



Next week I will give you some quilting ideas for the board, and the following week we are going to work on Checker's game pieces!

So are you excited about this QAL?
I surely am!! Grab my button and share the love (button on the side bar)!
The more people join in, the more fun it will be!!

Until next week,
Happy Stitching!!


Remember: all the details about the series are collected in the QAL web page.
© Copyright Alida (tweloq) Designs Designed by Template Trackers