13th block

Did you notice that I took a week off?  Sorry, things were crazy.  But, back to it-and we are gettting to the point where the end is in sight.  First of all count your blocks.  You should have 24 blocks for the center of the quilt and have started some of the edge checkerboard blocks.  So, You should only need to make one of these blocks.  I chose to make 2 of them and choose another block to leave out.  Anyway, for the center section of the large quilt, you will need a total of 25 blocks that measure 12 1/2  inches square, unfinished. For the smaller quilt, you need a total of 16 blocks for the center section.  So, here is the last block...

For one of these blocks you will need the following:
Brown- 4 rectangles 6 1/2 X 3 1/2
             4 squares 3 7/8 square- two of these will be CUT on the diagonal, the other two just draw a diagonal line.
Blue- One Square for the middle 4 3/4 square
          2 squares 3 7/8
Gold/neutral-8 square 3 1/2 square-draw a diagonal line on the back of each one. 

Here's the pieces all ready to sew, along with the all important coffee cup-though it is filled with green tea rather than coffee-trying to replace some of my bad habits.

The star points are made as flying geese blocks.  Place a gold square with a brown rectangle and sew on the line.  Trim, press open, sew another square on the opposite corner and repeat the steps.

Match a blue 3 7/8 inch square with a brown one and sew on each side of the line.  Cut apart, press open, repeat once for a total of 4 half square patches.

Take the brown triangles that resulted from cutting two squares on the diagonal and sew one to opposite sides of the larger blue square, press open and then sew the other two on opposite sides, press open.

Lay out the pieces so they look like this.  Sew into 3 rows and then sew the rows together.  The seams start to get bulky here and I press them open to prevent this.  You can only press seams open if you will be using a high quality batting that does not "beard".

Now you need to go make some more of these out of 2 1/2 inch strips.  If you are making the large quilt, you will need 40 of these blocks.  see the last post for more information.

Next week we will make corner blocks and will begin constructing the quilt.  If you want to get started...

You will need a neutral fabric for the lattice-For the larger quilt: 60 pieces that measure 2 1/2 X 12 1/2 and a brown- 36 square that measure 2 1/2 inches.  You will need a border.  I am planning on using brown, that will measure 4 1/2 inches wide and you need about 153 inches in length. 

Center Block and Border Blocks

I don't know about you, but I needed an easy week for the Quilt Along this week.  So, we are skipping ahead a little and will have to go back to two more complicated blocks next week.
The first block we will be making this week is the very center block of the quilt and so you only need one!
It is such a simple and lovely block that I am thinking it needs a whole quilt all on its own!

Cutting:
2 strips of green 2 & 1/2 by width of fabric- add these to the Ziploc bag for later.
1 strip green and 1 strip blue cut at 2 inches wide by width of fabric.  Cut 4 green 2 inch square from the strip.  
4 rectangles of pink 3 & 1/2 X 6 & 1/2 inches
4 rectangles of gold 2 X 3 & 1/2 inches
1 green square cut at 3 & 1/2 inches

Piecing:
sew the green and blue 2 inch strips together along a long edge, press and subcut the pieces for the four patch.  You only need 8  pieces cut 2 inches wide.
match two of these pieces together so that the green and blue are opposite each other
 as pictured in the corner 4 patches.  Sew together matching the center seams.  Press them so that you have a swirl on the back as pictured below.  This helps to keep seams less bulky.

You should have 4 complete four patches.
Now we will put together the center of the block- the 9 patch variation.  

 

 sew two rectangles of gold to opposite sides of the larger green square.  Sew a green square to each end of the other two gold rectangles.  Press towards the green.  

Match the seams and sew the units together as pictured.

Sew a pink rectangle to 2 opposite sides of the center 9 patch.  Sew a four patch to each end of the remaining 2 rectangles but make sure they are oriented correctly.  See the picture below.

See how all the greens are connected diagonally?
Now sew these rows together, matching seams. 

And you have a lovely center block!

Now, you will start on the border blocks...Remember, this is the 4 block a week quilt along so you need to make at least 3 of them but I guarantee you won't stop at 3 once you get started.  I made 10 blocks quickly and easily.  If you are making the larger quilt you need 40 of these border blocks.  If you are making the smaller version, you need 32.  Don't panic, they are super simple.

This is the block and it should measure 8 & 1/2 square by the time we get it all put together.
remember those strips you have been keeping in the Ziploc?  Grab them out,  cut them all in half-this will give you more variety when putting them together.  You want these blocks to be very random-as much as you can randomize without getting too many of the same squares together.

Here are some of my strips laid out after I cut them in half and started sewing them together.  You want to sew them into sets of four.  Then we are going to cross cut them at 2 & 1/2 inch increments to come out with sets of  four 2 & 1/2 inch squares sewn together.
Then you will "randomly"  sew four of these sets together to make your block as pictured above.

Here are some of the ones I made in two short sittings. 
You do not have to make all these blocks at once.  Remember, the goal for this week is 3 of them.  I ended up with 10.  After next week, you will be spending more time on these.
I hope you are enjoying these blocks and I hope you have a lovely set of blocks on your design wall just waiting to become a special quilt.
Happy Stitching!

Blocks 11 & 12

Yeah!  I am getting caught up!  How about you, are you keeping up-probably better than I am, huh?  I think these may be my 2 favorite blocks in the whole quilt.  Do I say that each week?
I have never been particularly fond of basket blocks but I felt this quilt just needed one so I went ahead and put it in.  After making the basket block for this week, I feel like I should make a whole quilt of baskets.  It looks great and it went together so nicely and in a unique way!
But first, the Wind Works block...

Isn't it lovely.  I had originally planned this blocks with black where the brown is, and gold where the cream is with the same red.  Then when I was pulling fabrics to start making it, it ended up like this.
First, cut a 2 & 1/2 inch strip of your red and put it in your bag.
Directions are for 2 blocks.
Cut 3 & 7/8 inch squares:  16 Ivory, 12 brown, and 8 red
Mark diagonals on the back of all the ivory squares.

Sew together 8 red to ivory, 8 brown to ivory and then cut 8 squares of brown at 3 & 1/2 inches.

Draw a diagonal line on the back of the brown squares and place each one with a red/ivory square as pictured.  You want to sew them together so that when they are pressed open, the brown triangle will be on top and the red triangle will be on the bottom right.  See below.

Trim the seam and discard the part that was trimmed- or save for a scrap project :)
Lay out the units and prepare to sew into rows and then sew the rows together. 

Be sure to nest diagonal seams that fit together and to carefully match points.  The key to keeping those points is pin, pin, PIN!  When seams become bulky, make sure they are turned opposite each other or iron them open (remember you must use a quality batting that won't beard if using this technique). 

Congratulations!  You have two lovely Wind Works blocks!  Wouldn't a whole quilt of these blocks be just lovely?

Basket block- directions are for 2.

Cut a 2 & 1/2 inch strip of your pink.  (I liked my brown so much that I added one of those too)  Store in your bag o'strips.
Now, be sure to notice that we are, finally, working with squares of a different size!
The following squares  will be cut at 3 & 1/4 inches.
13 ivory ( background) Cut 3 of these on the diagonal.
1 of top pink
2 of second pink from top
3 of the blue
4 of the bottom row of "blossoms"
2 of the brown-cut both of these on the diagonal
Draw a diagonal line on the back of all the ivory squares.

Cut 2 ivory rectangles 2 & 7/8 X 7 & 3/4 inches
Cut 1 square of ivory at 5 & 5/8, cut this square once on the diagonal- that makes the bottom right corner under the basket.
Cut 1 square of brown at 8 inches and then cut it once on the diagonal-that makes the largest piece of the basket.

Sew the smallest brown triangle onto the ends of the rectangles as pictured, on only one end.

Pair each "blossom" square with an ivory square and sew on each side of the diagonal, using the line as the guide for the edge of your presser foot.  Cut them apart, press open and begin your lay out as pictured above.  Note the 3 ivory triangles that go along the basket edge.  Sew the blossoms into row 1, 2, 3, & 4.  sew these rows together and THEN add the brown basket to complete a square. 

It lines up rather nicely with the "triangle" made from the seams above.  Be sure to sew from the back side so that you can go through those points!

Line up the rectangle pieces and the last triangle.  Sew first one rectangle side, than the other.  Then sew the last ivory triangle on last.

Lovely basket block!  It was so much easier than it looked!
Now, I think I will go start on next week's so they aren't LATE again!  So sorry!
Hmmm...Maybe I will start us on the strip blocks next week, just as an extra...what do you think?

Block 7 and 8 of Quilt Along

Block 7 Tess's 4 patch  Square in a Square- Number of pieces are for two blocks of each design.  Remember to use only half as many if you are making only one block of each design. 

 First you will make the four patch in the middle.  You will make a 5 inch 4 patch that will then be trimmed down to 4 & 3/4 inches.  Cut 4 navy and 4 gold that are 3 inch squares.  Sew 1 navy to 1 gold and repeat with all squares.  Then sew one navy/gold pair to another navy/gold pair as pictured. 

 When you press, you want to press all the seams in the same direction, making a pinwheel out of the seams and a small 4 patch in the middle.  This save on bulky seams. 

 You will then need to trim the four patch to 4 & 3/4 inches.  Using a square up ruler, the center of the four patch should be at 2 & 3/8.  Trim the first 2 sides, then turn to trim the other 2 sides.

Cut 4 neutral and 4 red squares at 3 & 7/8 inches, then cut once on the diagonal as pictured.

Red triangles will be sewn to the four patch as pictured.  Make sure to line up the point of the triangle with the middle seam of the 4 patch.

 You will sew the opposite sides as pictured, press open, then do the other two sides.

 This is what your center will look like once the triangles are added.

Now cut 2 neutral squares at 7 & 1/4 inches.  Cut on the diagonal twice as pictured. 

 These triangles will be sewn to the sides of the previous unit as pictured.  Be sure to line up the middle of the triangle with the middle of the unit. 

 Make sure that you sew through the point on the back so that you have perfect points on your square.

 Now you will cut 8 strips 2 & 5/8 X 9 & 3/4 inches, then cut both ends at a 45 degree angle- I line it up with lines on my cutting mat.  You may have a ruler especially for this also. 

 The smaller neutral triangles that you cut in the second step with the red triangles are then sewn to the top of this unit to make a striped triangle.  This unit then is sewn to the sides of the completed unit above. 

Be sure to line the center of the triangle up with the center seam of the four patch.  Make sure you are sewing through the point on the back so that your neutral points are accurate.  Sew to opposite sides, press, and then sew the other sides and press.  Now you should have your 7th squares done. 

Block 8 Hour Glass Mosaic-

THIS BLOCK WAS A CHALLENGE FOR ME!  Don't let that scare you away though.
First I want you to see the different units in the block. 

As you can see, the block is made on point and the units may not be what you originally pictured.
now a more complicated division of the units...

As you can see, the triangles are not put together in half square method.  They are put together along one of the short sides and then added to an opposite set to make a triangle four patch or hour glass.

This is the first unit you will make.
Cut 6 pink, 8 navy, and 6 green squares that measure 3 & 7/8 inches.  Then cut these squares once on the diagonal as pictured below and just like we have done in all the steps up to this one.  .

You will sew  2 sets of a pink to a navy along the short side.  Lay them out first and then put them together to make the center unit, circles above.  Be sure to match the center seam just as you do in a four patch.  Then you will make 4 sets of the green to navy to make the green & Navy hourglass units.

Now you will make the half hour glass units that is circled below.  You need two of these units in each block but the units have the green and the navy in opposite places so make sure you lay them out.  You are  using, for each unit, one small green triangle, one small navy triangle, and then you have to cut the larger pink triangles by cutting 2 green and 1 pink squares at 7 & 1/4 inches. 

That larger squares, 2 green and 1 pink squares at 7 & 1/4 inches mentioned above,get cut twice on the diagonal- see the picture below for an example. 

Sew these half hour glass units to the sides of the pink hour glass unit, making sure the pink larger triangle is sewn to the navy side. 

Then sew the larger green triangles to the green hour glass units, laying them out first to make sure they are oriented in the correct direction.

Sew 2 small pink triangles to the end of the center pink strip, then sew the green units to each side of the pink center, then add the pink triangles to the last two corners (the green units) to complete your square.
Good luck with this one- and if you need help, do not hesitate to comment here or email me.

Additional strips to cut:  1 pink strip and 1 red strip: 2 & 1/2 by width of fabric -add to your Ziploc bag!

 I now have to go correct my second block of this last one because I sewed the hour glass units in the wrong orientation. It makes a different block all together!

Happy Stitching!
Plan for the rest of today:  Fix that block!  Work on Customer Quilt, start a little project for treadling!