Quilt-Alongs: Making the Same Quilt at the Same Time
A quilt-along — QAL, if you're typing — is when a group of quilters sews the same pattern on the same schedule, sharing progress, troubleshooting together, and finishing within a few weeks of each other. It's part class, part book club, part group cheer.
A quilt-along — "QAL" once you've been in a few — is a group of quilters making the same quilt at roughly the same time. The pattern designer (or the host) drops the instructions in weekly or monthly installments, and everybody sews along. By the end, your sewing room has a finished quilt and your phone has new quilting friends.
History & Background
Quilt-alongs in their modern form are a child of the internet, but the idea is much older. Sewing circles met weekly to work on the same block in 19th-century parlors. Guild project nights have always been a kind of in-person QAL — everybody around the same table, working on the same row of a sampler. What the internet added was scale: instead of eight people at a guild table, you could have eight hundred from twelve countries, all stitching the same quilt at the same time.
The first online QALs ran on quilting blogs in the mid-2000s. A designer would post pattern installments week by week — "this Monday we cut the background, next Monday we piece the stars" — and readers would post their progress in the comments. Camille Roskelley, Bonnie Hunter, and Amy Smart were among the early hosts whose QALs drew thousands of participants. Bonnie Hunter's mystery QAL, run every fall from around 2008 onward, became something of an institution.
When Instagram took over from blog comments, QALs went with it. The hashtag became the place to find your QAL community — #saturdaysamplerqal, #boniequilt, #patchworkschoolqal, on and on. Posting your finished blocks under the QAL hashtag is now the standard way to participate, with the host doing weekly roundups, giveaways, and Q&As. The format has spread to YouTube too, where some QALs are taught entirely through weekly videos.
Today a quilt-along can be free (most designer-run ones are; the pattern is purchased but the QAL community is free to join), or paid (a class subscription with weekly videos and a private group). It can run for six weeks or for a whole year. The common thread is the structure: same pattern, same schedule, same group of quilters cheering each other on. It's the friendliest possible way to push yourself into a new technique.
How It Works
Pick a QAL that matches your time and skill
Look at the timeline first. A six-week QAL is intense — you'll be cutting and piecing every weekend. A six-month QAL is leisurely — a block a month, plenty of time for life to happen. Then look at the skill level. Beginner QALs assume you know a quarter-inch seam but not much more. Intermediate ones expect you can do HSTs and basic stars. Advanced ones go straight into paper piecing or curves. Pick one that pushes you a little but doesn't overwhelm.
Buy the pattern (or download the free one)
Most QALs are designer-run, with the pattern sold separately from the QAL itself. You buy the PDF pattern; the QAL community is free to join. A few QALs are entirely free — the pattern is released installment-by-installment to QAL participants. And a few are paid memberships — typically class-based QALs with videos and instructor support. Check the host's site before you sign up so you know what you're paying for.
Gather your fabric before the first installment drops
Most QALs publish a complete fabric requirements list one or two weeks before the first installment. Pull from your stash, hit your local shop, or order online — but have everything cut and stacked before week one. Once the QAL starts, you don't want to be scrambling. Pre-wash if that's your habit, label your stacks, and store them in a project bin.
Set up your accountability — the hashtag and the group
Find the QAL hashtag (the host will publish it) and follow it on Instagram. Join the host's private Facebook group or Discord if there is one. This is where you'll get questions answered when something goes sideways at 11pm on a Tuesday. It's also where you'll see other quilters' progress photos, which is the engine that keeps you going when you fall behind.
Sew along — and don't try to be the first one done
When each installment drops, work through it at your pace. Some quilters are done with that week's blocks the day the pattern releases; some take the full week. Either is fine. What matters is that you don't quit when you fall a week behind — which you will, at some point, because life happens. Catching up is part of every QAL.
Post your progress (or just lurk if you'd rather)
Posting weekly progress photos on the QAL hashtag is the social heart of a quilt-along. You'll get encouragement, compliments, and questions from other quilters — and you'll do the same for them. But there's no obligation. Plenty of QAL participants never post a single photo and just enjoy the community quietly from the sidelines. Both are perfectly fine ways to participate.
Finish your top, your quilting, and your binding
Most QALs end with the quilt top finished — quilting and binding are on you to wrap up afterward. Some hosts run a "finish-along" linkup at the end so participants can share their fully-finished quilts months later, since most people don't quilt and bind in the same week they finish the top. Submit your final photo to the host when you're done if she runs one.
Tag the host, the pattern, and the hashtag in your finish photo
When your quilt is bound and washed, take a good photo (natural light, draped over a porch railing or quilt ladder, no clutter in the background) and post it with the QAL hashtag, the pattern name, and a tag to the designer. This is the etiquette. It's how the QAL community gets credit and grows — and it's how you remember which quilt came from which group.
Tips & Techniques
- Don't pick a QAL that's already in week three when you sign up. You'll spend the whole rest of the run trying to catch up and never feel like you're in the flow. Wait for the next one to start at week zero — or pick a self-paced QAL where the installments are all already published.
- Buy ten percent more fabric than the pattern calls for. Beginner QALs always tell you exactly what you need; experienced QAL hosts know that quilters will cut wrong and need extra. Both are right. Give yourself the buffer.
- Label each cut stack with masking tape — "Block 1 backgrounds", "Border strips", "Setting squares". You'll thank yourself in week four when you can't remember which pile was for what.
- If you fall a week behind, don't try to do two weeks' worth of blocks in one weekend. Just pick up where you are, on the current installment, and accept that you'll catch up on the back blocks during a future quiet weekend. Grinding doesn't make a QAL fun.
- Take a progress photo before AND after each installment. The before tells you what you started with; the after gives you a Polaroid-style record of the build. Stitch them all into a single image at the end and you have a beautiful progression to share.
- Ask questions in the QAL group when you get stuck. The host wants you to ask — it makes her job clearer and helps every other person who has the same question. Stuck quietly is no fun.
- If you fall further behind than you can recover from, give yourself permission to graduate to a finish-along. Drop out of the weekly cadence, work at your own pace, and submit your finished quilt to the host's wrap-up post months later. This is normal. Nobody's keeping score.
- Save the pattern PDF in three places: your laptop, your phone, and a cloud folder. You will lose at least one copy during the QAL. Designers don't always re-send.
Color & Fabric Selection
Most QAL patterns are written in two ways — "make it like the sample" and "make it scrappy". If you're new to the host's designs, follow the sample colorway your first time through. You'll learn how she thinks about value and how the pattern actually reads when assembled, and you can go wild on your second QAL. For scrappy versions, gather a wider range of fabrics than you think you need — scrappy quilts always need more variety than seems necessary, and running out of options mid-quilt produces a deflated effect. Pull at least 20 prints for a scrappy throw, 40+ for a queen.
Variations & Related Patterns
Mystery QAL
The pattern is released week by week, but the finished quilt design is hidden until the last installment. Bonnie Hunter's annual mystery is the most famous example. Requires trust in the host.
Sew-Along (SAL)
Same idea but for sewing projects that aren't quilts — bags, garments, embroidery samplers. Often runs through the same Instagram-and-private-group format.
Block-of-the-Month QAL
Pattern released one block per month over a year. Slower pace; less weekly commitment. See the Block-of-the-Month guide for the full version of this format.
Charity QAL
A QAL where all finished quilts get donated to a specific charity — Quilts of Valor, Project Linus, a local hospital. The community-build feel of a QAL paired with the donation tradition of charity quilting.
Designer QAL series
A single designer runs back-to-back QALs through the year — spring, summer, fall, winter quilts. Participants subscribe to the series and get a whole year's worth of patterns + community.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does QAL stand for?
QAL stands for "quilt-along". It's a group of quilters making the same pattern on the same schedule, sharing their progress online (usually through a hashtag and a private group). The term has been standard quilting shorthand since around 2010.
Are quilt-alongs free?
The QAL itself is almost always free to join. The pattern you sew during the QAL is usually purchased separately from the designer. Some QALs are paid memberships (class-based, with videos and instructor support); some are entirely free, including the pattern. Check the host's site before signing up.
How do I join a quilt-along?
Watch the designer's blog, Instagram, or newsletter for QAL announcements. When one is starting, you'll see a signup post, a fabric requirements PDF, and a kickoff date. Buy the pattern (if it's not free), gather your fabric, and follow the QAL hashtag on Instagram. That's it — no formal registration is required for most free QALs.
How long does a quilt-along run?
Anywhere from four weeks to a full year. Most modern QALs run six to twelve weeks, with weekly installments. Block-of-the-month QALs run twelve months, with one block per month. Bonnie Hunter's annual mystery runs from late November to early January — about six weeks, with installments dropping weekly on Fridays.
What's the difference between a QAL and a class?
A class is taught by an instructor with step-by-step lessons and (usually) individual feedback on your work. A QAL is a community of quilters making the same pattern together — there's a host, but she's facilitating, not teaching. QALs tend to assume you can read a pattern; classes don't. Some paid QALs sit in between (instructor-led with weekly videos), but the typical free QAL is community-centered, not instructor-centered.
Can a beginner do a quilt-along?
Absolutely — but pick a beginner QAL. The QAL world is full of patterns of every skill level. Look for words like "beginner-friendly", "first quilt", "easy piecing" in the announcement. Avoid anything that mentions Y-seams, paper piecing, or curves for your first QAL. A simple charm-square or jelly-roll QAL is a wonderful first one.
What if I fall behind in a quilt-along?
You will. Everybody does. The community is built around this — most QALs have a finish-along at the end where stragglers can submit their finished quilts weeks or months after the official end date. Don't quit because you're a week behind. Just keep stitching at your own pace and join the finish-along when you're done.
Do I have to post my progress in a quilt-along?
No. Posting is the social heart of a QAL, but plenty of participants never share a single photo. They sew the pattern, lurk in the group, enjoy other people's progress, and finish their quilt in private. That's a perfectly valid way to QAL. Post if it makes you happy; don't if it doesn't.
Put it to use
NiftyFifty has hosted 30+ quilt block swaps since 1997. Browse our archive or join an upcoming swap.
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Round Robin Quilts: A Guide for the Brave
Send your quilt center off to four or five other quilters, let each one add a border, and trust the process — that's a round robin, and it's one of the most rewarding kinds of swap there is.
Mystery Quilts: Trusting the Pattern You Can't See
A mystery quilt is one where you sew installment by installment without knowing what the finished quilt will look like. You cut the pieces the designer tells you to cut, you sew the units she tells you to sew, and the picture only emerges in the last clue. It's part patchwork, part puzzle, and entirely thrilling.
Block of the Month: One Block at a Time, Twelve Months Together
A block of the month — BOM, in quilting shorthand — is a year-long project where you make one quilt block each month. By December you have twelve blocks ready to set into a quilt. It's the most forgiving way to make a sampler, and it's been the backbone of guild programming for decades.