Today is the start the QAL By the Sea with the release of Block 1! She Sews Seashells by the Seashore is written and designed by Becca Fenstermaker of Pretty Piney Quilts. Please visit her blog to download the pattern and read the tutorial.

Becca’s block has appliqued seashells with a wavy pieced background. I love how relaxed making this block made me feel. It embodies the feeling of walking on a peaceful beach and finding its beautiful treasures.

Sea Sews Seashells by the Seashore by Becca Fenstermaker

Making the free form waves was a fun challenge for me. And I know you will love each shell.

I raw edge appliqued each shell piece.

For this quilt I am using HITS the SPOT and seeing stars Grunge fabric from Moda and coordinating Kona solids.

Fun tidbit: Becca is also the designer of QAL by the Sea’s logo. Did you notice the shark fins in the water are a seam ripper? How cool!

To see this block in a variety of different colors and fabrics as well as get tips for construction, please visit the other hosts:

Jennifer Fulton of The Inquiring Quilter
Karen Thurn of Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, & Eats
Laura of Slice of Pi Quilts
Sandy Maxfield of SandyStar Designs
Sherry Shish of Powered by Quilting

Prizes!

Dream Green 60″ x 60″ batting from Quilter’s Dream. An earth friendly polyester batting made from 100% recycled plastic bottles!

and

A Fat Quarter fabric bundle of Island Batik “Kismet.” This line by Tammy Silver of Tamarinis has a bohemian vibe with vibrant colors!

International

A 6 month subscription to the e-magazine Make Modern. A magazine for quilters, by quilters, filled with beautiful patterns and articles to inspire quilters like us to make more modern quilts!

and

A PDF pattern of your choice from these Designers!

Becca of Pretty Piney.

Jennifer of the Inquiring Quilter.

Sherry of Powered by Quilting. (a $10.00 shop credit)

In order to include all eligible participants in our prize giveaway, we are having two separate prizes for each QAL Segment and for the Grand Prize; one for our USA participants and one for our International participants. Due to the demanding cost to ship to Canadian and International addresses, these prizes will be patterns and/or an e-magazine that will be sent in electronic format.

Eligibility for Prize Entry for all Participants:

Segments: Participants can enter the prize drawing by sharing a single photo with all the completed segment blocks on our Facebook group, IG #qalbythesea, or the hosts blog linky party provided at the end of each segment.

The QAL is divided in to three segments of four blocks each.

Grand Prize: Share one photo showing all 12 of your completed blocks, as above.

Entry is limited to one per person per prize. You must be 18 years old to enter.

This nautically themed QAL will have twelve 12″ x 12″ mystery blocks. Block patterns are provided by each block designer and are free during the duration of the QAL. There will be 3 Segments with four blocks each. Blocks will be released every week on Tuesday at 8:00 AM EDT with a two week period in between each segment.

For a complete list of designer’s and timeline visit my post here. Please join the community and fun!

All levels of quilters are welcome. Block techniques will vary and include traditional piecing, paper piecing and applique.

We hope you join us!