How to Make 8 Half Squares at a Time (8aat)

I have just recently discovered the terms 4aat and 8aat after going through a quilt terms article. I got curious and researched more about 4aat and 8aat since I'm working on making multiple lap quilt blankets. 

So aat means at a time. 4aat means making four half squares at a time, while 8aat means making eight half squares at a time. It wasn't easy to find tutorials via Pinterest so I put myself to work to try the trick. I decided to make a video so I don't forget how to make it. 

Here's how to make 8 half-squares at a time -

I just made this based on using 12.5" x 12.5" square fabric. It makes approximately a 6" x 6" square which is what I have set for the lap quilt blanket I'm making. I'll share soon how I complete the project. For now I hope the tutorial helps you with your project. 

Harry Potter Quilt Blanket

I started this project two years ago as a wedding gift for friends. I got my inspiration when I saw the Harry Potter fabric at Spotlight. I felt it would look nice as a blanket. I made several designs before I settled on a simple one since it's meant as a wedding gift. I just added mustard and maroon highlights as a salute to Gryffindor colors.

It took me two years to finish the project. I made the highlights by hand in-flight. This means parts of the quilt traveled across Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Australia and the US. Some aunties fawned over me when they saw me sewing in-flight. Haha. I finally completed the project during lockdown. Now I need to figure out how to send this to Canada.

Here's how I made the Harry Potter Quilt blanket:

Materials

Harry Potter fabric

beige fabric

maroon fabric

mustard yellow fabric

quilting thread

sewing thread

batting

backing fabric

a gazillion pins for sandwiching

Free template available here. 

Shophouse Quilt (A Sampler)

I saw a book on shophouses and was inspired by the colorful stores to create a quilt project. That's one of the reasons why I got pre-cut fabric from Lazada (short review here). I looked up templates on Pinterest, but none looked like a shophouse. The frontage of shophouses here in Singapore are intricate. I had to figure out how to simplify it. After several tries I ended up with a simplified version of the shophouse.

I like to play around with colors. I used my love for rainbows to select the colors for this project. I love that the pre-cut fabric I ordered gave a lot of options. That allowed me to experiment with the project. I will be using this as a sampler for future shophouse quilt projects I'll be making for our home.

Here's a short video on how I made it:

Materials:

Charm and layer cake pre-cut fabric (9 colors)

batting

backing fabric

fabric for the back of the pillow

quilting thread (9 colors)

sewing thread

Free template is available here.

Lazada and Shopee Fabric Finds Review

I normally buy fabric from stores (usually Spotlight). I spend so much time going around, comparing colors, designs to match the project I have in mind. Going to the fabric store is also a guilty pleasure for me. Unfortunately we've had to stay home to stay safe so I took the plunge and tried ordering fabric from Lazada and Shopee. 

Here's a short review of some of the bundles I bought -

Here are the links where I ordered the fabric -

Layer cake bundle: https://s.lazada.sg/s.Z7Ihq 

Charm bundle: https://s.lazada.sg/s.Z7pAZ 

Solid color fabric bundle: https://shopee.sg/product/284377017/6642452729?smtt=0.251221532-1625217986.9

*I couldn't find the link for the vintage fabric, maybe they got bad reviews and disappeared.

Will I order again? Yes! But I'll make sure to mark which stores provide good quality items.