6 Heads / 12 Blocks (ROM) - August - again!

Every block you make, every pattern you attempt, has so many possibilities! Somehow its a blessing and a curse. So, no surprise, I started thinking ...

Yes, Nadra's lifesaver row. You need 10 blocks. If you use the same fabric for the whole row you need 40 HST. That means you have to trim 40 to the correct size because you make them a little larger.

We all know there are several ways to make HST.
~   Make 2 at a time... (as suggested in this pattern by Nadra. Perfect if you make every block in a different color.
~   Make 4 at a time.
~   Make 8 at a time (you can find the link under my Quilt Tutorials/Patterns tab above).
With all you really should trim them afterwards.

Here is another way!

Cut two strips WOF (width of fabric) from your two colors.
To know how wide to cut these put your ruler with the line of the size you need on your cutting mat. For this pattern we want 3 1/2 inch squares. You can see that the tip goes to 2 1/2 inches. Add two seam allowances and you know you need 3 inch strips.

Btw the ruler I am using for this is Debbie Tucker's Trimmer. I am sure there are others around too but I got this one and I would not want to be without.

Right sides together sew both sides so you have a tube. Press it nice and flat.

Now you can cut your half square triangles by lining up the ruler line with the sewing line. I am right handed so I usually cut the right side first. 

When you want to cut the next HST flip the strip and cut another.

Don't be too stingy with the material. Sometimes I find I have to trim a little on the left side too. Happens probably because the width of the strip is not totally correct. If you find the tip goes straight to the other sewing line you might just gently have to nude that one stitch appart after cutting. It happened to me when I tried my method on 3 inch HST.

In this case I got 16 HST out of one strip. Only a little waste from the beginning and end.

And none need truing up. Press open. Make sure you pile them up the same way so that you sew your larger square always in the right corner. Don't you love chain sewing?

As another participant on FaceBook said: it makes sense to do all the larger squares first. Otherwise a mix-up could easily happen.

And here is another time saver!

To make corner triangles (like flying geese or this one here) I neither draw a line or iron a crease. I take an index card!!! You find the helpful hint also under that tab Quilt Tutorials/Patterns.

The four parts are sewn together. 

I have a confession to make. The white fabric was so flimsy that I left it double. I only cut the blue back away. It worked really well and looked so much nicer.

Time to do the outside corners. Same technique. Index card!

Another confession. I am not sure what I was thinking when I made the first block. Flimsy white fabric in the middle but I cut the other two layers away. I wasn't happy with it at all. I decided to appliqué a heart. My boo-boo gives it just a little bit more interest. It's ok.

I think that is all. I hope you find this useful. 

And I would be very happy if you would leave a comment.

Another tip: The 4-at-a-time method and this method will produce HST with bias edges. This is not a problem for me because I use starch (Best Press) before I iron and cut. This makes the fabric nice and stable and easier to sew. 

Woven Star

Love this block. I first saw it as the NQC Challenge # 2 Merope Star … but since then I have seen it out there in the quilt world written in different techniques. I like things simple and straightforward.  That’s why I wrote how I did it. I would like to make a whole quilt like this.

You need background fabric and 4 different fabrics which contrast against each other nicely.

Directions are for a 16 x 16 inch finished block

(16 1/2 square unfinished)

Background: cut 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inch square (1)

4 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch square (4)

from each of the 4 fabrics: 5 x 5 (1)

                                                  5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inch (1, then sub-cut)

Sub-cut:

Each of the four larger squares cut first in half diagonally.

Then cut one of the triangles into two again. The photo above shows how to line it up on the cutting board.

First make the flying geese using the “4 flying geese at a time” method. There are lots of tutorials and you-tubes available. I have one link on my tutorial page.

It really does not matter in which order you use the 4 different squares.

Trim each of the flying geese to 4 1/2 to 8 1/2 inches. I find the Tucker Wing Clipper incredible useful for this.

With the finished flying geese lay out the block with all cut pieces.

You can chain-sew first each of the four smallest triangle pairs. 

Then add the larger triangles to those resulting into the 4 squares in the middle.  Find the middle on the long side of the larger triangle and finger press. Line this mark up with the seam of the two smaller triangles.

After each step make sure to put the pieces back onto the board so you don’t mix up the colors.

Trim each of the squares to 4 1/2 inches. 

I find the Tucker Trimmer incredible useful for this.

Sew first the 4 middle squares together.

Then add a flying geese to each side.

Sew the corner squares to the top and bottom geese.

Sew the rows together. You might want to iron the last two seams open.

I always use my pattern after I have written it to make sure it works. I had much fun making the second block. Hope you do too.

                         Christa

PS: If you would like this pattern as a PDF click HERE!

And here is the Cutting Chart PDF for blocks finished size 16, 14, 12, 10, 8 and 6 inch squares.

The photo is the largest and the smallest woven star.

NQC Block # 6 update

I love learning new techniques and how to do things easier and better. 

I don’t know what this is called but when I wanted to make units like that for this challenge blog I had quite a time to figure out how to make it. I think I might have done it the hard way.

My friend Janet has brought to our quilting group a (not copyrighted) handwritten pattern from a person who taught her the beginnings of quilting. It too had this unit in it. The making was described with drawings. She told us that it was a "few" years old.

I wondered whether there was a formula because my unit was a different size. I tried it out and YES, THERE IS! I wrote it down so I remember what I did if I ever need it again in another challenge.

The pattern told to cut this:

The one with the yellow square is from Janet’s pattern. 

Size  3 1/2 inches square unfinished

made from (makes 2 - - - double cuts for 4 units)

yellow: cut 2 - - -  2 x 2 inches

B+W: cut 2 - - -  2 x 2 3/4 inches

white: cut 1 - - -  3 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches

And this is what you do (but the photos are from my trials):

Sew the 4 pieces as shown in photos (I finger press not to distort), snip the long seam in the middle so you can press to different sides. 

This photo shows making 4 units.

Use the 45’ line of the ruler (marked with red in picture on the left) to line it up on the left side so you can draw on the cutting edge from the upper left corner to the right side.  You will see that the line comes close to the square corner.

The line does not end at the bottom corner but on the side. Turn the piece around and draw another line from the top left corner to that side. Some rulers have 2 lines for 45 degrees angles = left side and right side. You just have to look.

Sew on the lines, cut in the middle and press. Done!

The above two were made trying a different size.

This seems to be the formula to make 2 of these units: (size 5” finished here)

Cut 2 of the corner blocks you need 

(mine cut 3 inches square for 2 1/2 inches finished)

Cut 2 for the small triangles the same size as the corner blocks but one side + 3/4 inches (mine 3 x 3 3/4 inches)

Cut 1 for the large triangles (the size the rectangle will be when the 4 pieces are sewn together as shown in the photos with the yellow squares, mine 5 1/2 x 6 1/4 inches - - - wide: 3 + 3 minus seam in middle = 5 1/2 - - - long: 3 + 3 3/4 minus seam in middle = 6 1/4)

Adding the 3/4 inch seems to work for all sizes!

That seems to be the whole secret!

If you would like to print this for your notes, HERE IS A PDF!   I don't know what this is called so I called it HST with square.

If you found this helpful, please leave me a comment.

May Threads

The month started of great. Tuesday evening May 5th Janet and Becky took me to a meeting of a chapter of the Richmond Quilters Guild in Mechanicsville. "Quilt in a day" Eleanor Burn's sister Patricia was the speaker/lecturer. What a treat. I thoroughly enjoyed it. So much that I bought a book, ha-ha.
She talked about the latest designs ... in a very funny way. This quilt looks so difficult. Once she explained it it is very doable.

The leftover fabric of her fussy cutting.

The same pattern in a different color scheme.

The use of log cabins and flying geese.

Show + tell at the Thursday stitchers (same week): An incredible sunbonnet sue.

May 12 = second Tuesday of the month = CR Quilters

Show + tell first. Becky sure likes bold colors!

This is the fabric she used for the above quilt. Isn't it interesting how the look changes?

Marsha had taught Helen how to appliqué when she was here. I had to show Marsha what Helen did with her knowledge: 4 mug rugs were my Mother's Day present!

The lesson? My turn!
I had found it on a German blog. How to make 4 log cabin blocks in one go the efficient way. Fun!

I wrote a tutorial in English. Here is the PDF if you are interested!

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