Celestial Star Quilt Along: Schedule and Sponsors!! Are You Ready???

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am for this quilt along!!! Your excitement is contagious! Thank you! I hope that it will all run smoothly, and perfectly, and you won't see my nervousness come through. ;) But no matter what happens, I am ready to have fun and make something gorgeous!! And I hope you are too!

Before I share the schedule, I want to share with you to the amazing line up of sponsors! I am so excited to have each of these shops as sponsors for this QAL, and for the generous prizes they have offered and I wish I could win them all! In no particular order:

           

I hope you will visit them and support them! Not only are they great shops, but they are wonderful people with lives and stories just like us. (I think it's easy to forget that when we only associate through a screen.) I will be spotlighting each sponsor throughout the QAL so you can learn about the wonderful things each shop has to offer!

The full schedule is below. Each week I'll post link ups and hashtags (on Instagram) for the specific week/topic. Three of the weeks will have prizes attached when you link up/tag your photos on time. So make sure to check back here for details on each post! No one needs more WIPs to add to the pile, so this will hopefully be some great motivation to keep us all on track. Note the guest bloggers!! They are awesome!


Celestial Star QAL Schedule:
(updated 9/15/14)

July 

Mon, 14th: Color & Design (a giveaway linky begins, IG: #CelestialStarDesign)
Wed, 16th: Fabric
Thurs, 17th: Sponsor Introduction: Pink Castle Fabrics
Sat, 19th: All the Prizes! and IG Hashtag and Link Up Guidelines
Mon, 21st: Cutting Fabric (I'll teach you all about my favorite thing: cutting templates!!)
Tues, 22nd: Giveaway Winners Announced!
Wed, 23rd: Paper Piecing
Thurs, 24th: Sponsor Introduction: Llama Fabrics
Fri, 25th: Guest Blogger: Cristy Fincher
Mon, 28th: Trim & Join Segments
Tues, 29th: Sponsor Introduction: Queen Bee Fabrics
Wed, 30th: Join Wedges/Create a Quilt Block (a giveaway linky begins, IG: #CelestialStarBlocks)
Thurs, 31st: Sponsor Introduction: Fat Quarter Shop

August

Fri, 1st: Guest Blogger: Courtney Lyons
4th - 8th: Progress Week: Time to catch up!
Thurs, 7th: Giveaway Winners Announced!
11th - 15th: Progress Week
18th - 22nd: Progress Week
Mon, 18th: Exciting Announcement
Tues, 19th: Sponsor Introduction: Westwood Acres  
25th - 29th: Progress Week
Tues, 26th: Sponsor Introduction: I don't do dishes

September

Mon, 1st: Progress Week
Mon, 8th: Joining Multiple Blocks
Tues, 9th: Sponsor Introduction: A Material Girl Quilts
Wed, 10th: Quilting (a giveaway linky begins, IG: #CelestialStarQuilting)
Fri, 12th: Guest Blogger: Jennifer Rossotti
Tues, 16th: Progress Post: ALL 12 blocks
Wed, 17th: Binding
Wed, 17th: Sponsor Introduction: Knotted-Threads
Thurs, 18th: Giveaway Winners Announced!
15th - 16th: Progress Weeks! Time to finish up!
Mon, 29th: Finish and Final Link Up! Open until Oct. 5th

October 

Mon 6th: Final Winners Announced!

The last week of the QAL will be the final link up, for everyone to share your FINISHED project. There will be three categories:

• Single Block: any finished project using only 1 block, such as a mini or pillow
• 2-4 Blocks: however small to however big that may be (You can enter a project that has 2-4 blocks in the single project OR you can enter all of your single block projects together as one entry (if you make 2-4 pillows, they can be entered together, though they CANNOT also be entered as single blocks.) ALL projects may only be entered once.)
• 4+ blocks for those who create a larger quilt). 

There will be a grand prize awarded for each category, so don't feel like you need to do more than you want, or have time for, in order to win something. :)


Please note:

• There will be more link ups than what is shown, the ones listed are the ones that are tied to prizes, so you know the dates to keep up with. You must be caught up to be eligible to win.
• My blog posts will be as detailed as possible with the techniques I use to complete each step. I want to make this as beginner friendly as possible!! LET'S CONQUER THAT PAPER PIECING FEAR TOGETHER!! :D
• I may add or cut posts as needed.
• On Saturdays I will share progress pictures from the link ups and hashtags on Instagram. If you don't want me to share yours, just send me a note and let me know. Let's keep each other motivated!
• IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS during any part of the QAL, leave a comment on the blog! I will do my best to answer all questions during the Progress Weeks, if not before.
• Dates may be scheduled to change. If there is a majority vote to add more progress weeks for those making full quilts, I will be happy to do that. BUT I don't want to drag this out too long... so no guarantee. 
• International Participants are welcome! All sponsors will ship internationally, so no one will be left out! :)
• Patterns are for individual use ONLY. Please do not share copies with others. Thank you for respecting this and for your support!

Added 7/17: Fabric Requirements: It is impossible for me to tell you how much you will need. Because of the diversity of designs that can be created, I have no idea of knowing the number of fabrics you will use, or how much of each. To give you a starting point, here is a basic idea of how much fabric per 1 block you will need. These are estimates only, and are based off using the cutting templates. If you do not use the cutting templates, the amount of fabric you use could be much more, depending on how you cut your fabric. These amounts do not include fabric for the border.

UPDATE 9/18/14: I just looked at this and realized I made a huge error! I am pretty sure these amounts are for 12 blocks of that size. I may be wrong, but there is no way that one 24 inch block uses 2.5 yards of fabric. That's crazy. one 12 inch block probably only uses about a fat quarter of fabric at most. So for one block, you can probably divide these number by 3 and be at a closer estimate. SORRY about that!

24 inch block: approximately 2 1/2 yards total (maybe a half yard at most for one block)
18 inch block: approximately 1 1/3 yards total (less than a half yard for one block - probably just over a fat quarter (FQ))
12 inch block: approximately 3/4 yard total (~FQ for one block)

There is only 1 Rule: Be Kind! 

Let's make this fun for everyone! I am hoping that there will be a wide range of skill levels joining in, lets be encouraging and supportive in all of our communications, whether we like something or not. All hurtful or negative comments will be deleted and you will be ineligible for all giveaways. Negativity simply won't be tolerated. :)

Ok, 2nd Rule for Instagramers: 

On ALL of your pictures, despite the week, use hashtag #CelestialStarQAL so we can all see what each other are doing! For the giveaway weeks there will be a second hashtag to use, which I will draw that weeks winner from. The topics are:

Coloring pages and Fabric Pulls: #CelestialStarDesign
Complete Celestial Star block (as in pieced and wedges joined): #CelestialStarBlock
Quilted block or quilt top (show us how you quiltedit): #CelestialStarQuilting

Are you on Threadbias? If so, I created an event which you can join and participate on that website.


Now let's get Started!!!

If you haven't already, grab your pattern on Craftsy or Etsy or now in my shop!! (Patterns are available as a collection or in individual sizes).

Starting NOW I am doing a quick flash sale, which will last for 24 hours ONLY! 
sale is now over. Thank you!

Start printing out some of the Coloring Pages and start playing around with designs! Monday will come quicker than we realize!! :)  I'm so excited!!



Congrats to Iris (comment 5) and Amy (comment 12)! Random.org picked you both as winners for a free copy of the pattern!! :) I'll contact you!

Thanks again for all your excitement and support!

Love ya all!