Thursday, January 31, 2013

My Favorite Quilt Block

Hi!  For those of you that are new to my blog, I'd like to introduce myself.  My name is Pamela and I am a quilter.  And yes, if there was a 12 step program for quilters my family would have to take me to re-hab because I am definitely addicted!  I have been quilting for over 26 years now, thanks to a dear friend who pulled me out of my former hobbies of cross-stitch and garment sewing.  I started out making traditional quilts in calicos using templates and finishing them by hand stitching and over the years have moved on to loving my rotary cutter and many rulers, pre-cuts, and the amazing fun of free-motion quilting on my Juki TL98-E. 

I'm really excited to be a part of the My Favorite Block Quilt Along - go check out Persimmon Dreams if you haven't been there yet to see my interview, then catch up on last weeks blocks - we've only just started so you can get your blocks done and be all caught up in a jiff! I really loved Katy's block earlier this week - a fun scrappy Churn Dash.  Her blog is here - monkey do.  Be sure you add your blocks to the Flickr pool, too.

I don't really have a favorite quilt block - I really love them all, so today for you I have what I think is an original block using my favorite method of piecing - strip piecing!  And it so happens that you can make both the 12 inch block and the 6 inch block using pre-cuts (bonus!)  For the larger block, jelly roll strips (2 1/2) inch and for the smaller, honey bun strips (1 1/2 inch).  I will start with the instructions for the 12 (12 1/2 unfinished block)

 

Reflections

For the 12 1/2 inch unfinished block you will need three strips of fabric 2 1/2 inches wide - one dark, one medium, and one light.



Cut your strips in half and match them up in pairs:  dark/medium, dark/light/, and medium light
Sew each pair together on the long side and press seams toward the darker side

Working with one strip set at a time, cut each one in half and layer right sides together so that the colors are on opposite sides -

Cut through both layers into 4 - 2 1/2 strips.  Repeat with the other two strip sets, and sew each pair together to make a total of 12 4-patch blocks.

Set aside one of your Dark/medium patches and line the remaining three up diagonally so that the dark patches form a diagonal line:
Use your four Medium/light blocks - two on each side to make diagonal lines of medium blocks beside your darks:
Then add two of your dark/light blocks, echoing the line of dark squares:
Flip the center colum of squares to the left and sew them together (keep them chained together to keep them in order -
Then sew the right side column of squares to the center (just keep them chained to make it easy to finish!)
Sew the top row to the center...

And the bottom row to finish!

Give it a press and admire your pretty finished block!



To make the 6 1/2 inch unfinished blocks, just start with 1 1/2 strips.  You'll need about 30 inch long strips to make your blocks.  Sew them the same way, but cut your strips to 1 1/2 inches.

The little four-patches don't behave as nicely as the larger ones do, they want to flip up!

They will submit however and become an adorable mini block!  (I think the lights in the corners look like hearts - might be cute in pinks!)

Here they are together -  love the results!

Note that you will have a few extra sewn 4-patches after sewing your blocks - you can save those for another project - at least that's what I like to do!

Thanks for joining us on the Quilt Along - can't wait to see the blocks you make using my pattern!  Feel free to like my facebook page and post a picture there, if you like.

4 comments:

FabricFascination said...

Nice block Pam! So handy to have it available in two sizes too.

Marcia - Crafty Sewing and Quilting said...

Cool can't wait til tonight after work so I can make it! I like the 4 patch method! Oh so cool! Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

Sweet looking block!

hugz
Pam

Mom said...

Great block!!! Am going to have to make this one!!